5 things to consider when hiring someone to handle your marketing:

Successful marketing and promotion can feel like a full-time job which is fine if it is your full time job, but far less ideal when you have a whole entire unrelated business that you’re trying to run. Based on this it’s not uncommon for business owners to outsource this aspect of their work either because they’re too busy to do it themselves or because they’d prefer to leave it to a professional. The problem is that this isn’t in and of itself a solution and so there are times when businesses end up with marketing materials and campaigns that aren’t really relevant to them. In order to help avoid that here are 5 things to consider when hiring someone to handle your marketing:

1. How well can you communicate your needs? Clarity is a huge deal when you’re hiring someone to do anything and is especially important when it’s tied to expectations. For example when dealing with social media marketing telling someone that you’d like 2 posts a day is far less clear than saying that you’d 2 posts per day, 1 on Facebook and 1 on Instagram. Based on this my advice is that you figure out what it is you’d like before you try to engage someone to do it.

2. Can you communicate your brand story? Similar to needing to be clear when communicating what it is you want a marketer to do for you, you also have to be able to clearly express to them what your brand story is. While you can, and should, advise them to familiarize themselves with your brand, this may not provide them with a complete picture regarding what your brand is and who you serve. To avoid any confusion or mixed messaging you should be able to share this information with them.

3. Where are they located? In a digital age location may not seem to matter but it can play a huge role in the quality of marketing you’re getting. For example if you have a product or service with a wide regional appeal then it can be helpful to use a marketer who lives in close proximity to you as a means of being able to authentically capture that. Similarly, you need to be cautious if you’re considering outsourcing your marketing to an individual or company outside of the United States; I’ve seen firsthand how their low prices can translate into an equally low quality of work.

4. Do they speak your consumers language? The ability to reach consumers is a central element of any good marketing campaign. This however becomes difficult, if not impossible, to do if your marketer isn’t communicating to them in a way that they identify with. While the differences may be subtle consider any company that has more than one set of consumers that it’s trying to reach and note the slightly different ways that they do it. This isn’t a happy accident, it’s a clear understanding of how to speak to different markets.

5. What exactly are they offering? The term marketing can be used to encompass a wide array of services so rather than assume to know what you may be getting you need to ask outright. Be prepared to ask questions if you don’t know what something is or if it’s unclear and make sure that ultimately what they can provide you with is actually what you need.

The above information should be used as a starting point when looking to hire a marketer. Other factors to consider will include price, their terms of service, and what type of commitment you both want.