It seems like any business can make a claim to offer marketing services.  Printers claim to help grow  your business just as an ad agency, promotional item supplier or local publication.  The reason is that marketing is such a broad term that offers a vague description of the end product.  Each of these businesses can, with every right, claim to offer marketing services but the question is: What is their client really looking to buy?  I would say for the most part the client of any marketing service is ultimately looking for increased revenues, client retention or acquisition of new clients. 

Now the sales rep at any of these companies can use everything from the pathagorian theorm to the theory of relativity to show how by the transitive property that using their product or service will eventually in the long run produce the desired results.

However, they would not likely to be at the table when the results are being measured against the initial objective.

The problem is that most clients do not know how to ask the right questions to ensure that their vendor is expecting to deliver on the initial objective which is almost always increased revenue.

The answer is a structured marketing plan which identifies the client’s business in the world as a whole and within the market it serves.  A written explanation of the value the client’s business offers its customers and who else is offering similar value.  The right solution is to analyze the target audience and to understand the amount of business that audience is giving to the client’s competitors.  To look at the competitor’s position in the marketplace and what value, strength’s and weaknesses the competitor’s deliver along with their product.

Once these issues are solidified in written format any company can start to have  a clear understanding of how to market themselves.  It is at this time a printer can be interviewed to understand specifically how printed collateral will help with marketing efforts.  Promotional suppliers and ad agencies can be called in to offer themselves as value added resources to the marketing plan that has been written in a tangible format.

Using a written marketing plan ensures that every player is moving in the right direction.  Otherwise, the client must deal with multiple creatives who are moving in multiple directions and carrying their ego every step of the way.  This equals stress and headaches for everyone involved including the client who is paying for increased revenue and only receiving increased frustration.

Speaking in strictly interogotives (who, what, when, etc…) this is the winning scenario:

The owner of the company must have the what in place.  My gig is to give the who’s the tools they need in a way that explains the how.  All wrapped in a neat package so the where is put on a timeline that determines when.