As an online marketing firm, we understand how stressful it can be for a client to write out a check for thousands of dollars only to have a project, whether it’s a new website, fresh content or local optimization, still be incomplete months later. However, it is important to reflect on whether or not you as a client have done everything in your power to move the process along smoothly.
You may be thinking to yourself,
“I paid all of this money so that I wouldn’t have to do the work! Why am I being badgered with all of these emails???
The fact is that no marketing firm will ever know your company better than you do. There’s some information only you as the client can provide. Sometimes how quickly your marketing efforts come to life will hinge on how quickly your marketing firm receives information from you.
How You May Be Delaying Your Online Marketing Firm
Local Optimization- If you’ve invested in local optimization, be prepared to provide login information for any business accounts on Google, Yelp, social media or any citation sites where your business may be listed. You’ll also need to provide your business name, address and phone number exactly the way you’d like it to be listed. Even small details like “and” instead of “&” in a business name can cause inconsistencies which will delay your local optimization efforts. Your local optimization consultant will also need to know the top services you provide, a brief description of your business and photos of your business. Each of these pieces is crucial to your local optimization, and without them, your online marketing firm may not be able to proceed, slowing down the entire process.
Web Design and Development- In a new website, your role comes down to providing a logo and general idea of color schemes and styles you’d like. After that, it’s about approving each step of the web development process: wireframe, sitemap and comp. If you’re unresponsive when asked for approval to move forward, or get into a back-and-forth of minor changes, your website may take longer to be completed than the previously quoted deadline.
Copywriting- Copywriting is another area where your help is needed in order to proceed. As previously stated, you know your business better than anyone, so scheduling meetings with copywriters hired to write your content can be a great way to make sure that the job is done not only quickly but correctly the first time. Content such as images, “about us,” company mission statements and any technical information about your industry or information specific to your product or service are all necessary for a copywriter to write content that accurately reflects your business. If a copywriter must wait on information from you in order to even begin writing, it may take longer to deliver your content in a timely manner.
What You Can Do to Speed Up the Process
From a marketing firm’s perspective, it can be difficult to work without the proper material, whether that be information or approval. As a client, the best thing you can do to help your marketing firm is to be sure to maintain constant communication and provide whatever items they may need in order to ensure that the project runs smoothly and that you won’t inadvertently become an impediment to their progress.
Results
We know your priority is to see results – preferably in the form of a return in your investment. A good online marketing firm’s priority is completing the work in a timely manner so that you can start to see those results. As long as you can work together toward that goal, there should be nothing standing in the way of your project getting done quickly and efficiently.