It’s just a sales call, right? Will I get any useful information from it? What’s the catch?
We just read your mind, didn’t we? Don’t worry, we’re not offended. We understand you value your time enough to question how to spend it and we’re with you on that. It’s exactly why we’ve structured our free marketing plan consultations to be nothing less than valuable, informative and productive.
Before we dive into exactly what your free 30-minute session will look like and what comes out of it, let’s talk about the type of businesses that it benefits the most.
What Type of Company Is Right for a Session
Starting with the obvious, Sagefrog is a B2B agency that specializes in marketing healthcare, technology and business services companies. While some marketing agencies serve both B2B and B2C clients equally, our expertise really lies in the strategy and execution of selling one company’s value to other businesses. If your company falls into one of our three B2B specialties, you’re on the road to being a qualified candidate.
Does your company have a documented marketing plan in place that strategically outlines the tactics you’ll execute each month? If your company doesn’t have one, you’re not alone. Our 2018 B2B Marketing Mix Report found that more than 50% of B2B companies don’t have a formal marketing plan. When we dove deeper to understand why so many companies overlook it, we found a common misconception: companies think that marketing plans don’t make sense for them because their needs are always changing. Al contrario! That’s the exact reason why you do need a marketing plan. If you have a set but flexible marketing plan in place from the start, you’ll execute strategic and consistent marketing rather than one-off materials or campaigns on the fly and under “always-urgent” requests.
On the other hand, there are plenty of companies that have spent time creating and adhering to a marketing plan but aren’t seeing results. In this scenario, it’s likely your marketing plan isn’t catering to today’s buyer’s market. Or, it could be your branding that’s throwing things off track. In either scenario, and there are dozens of others, you need to take a quick step back and refocus your marketing efforts.
A free marketing plan consultation with Sagefrog is right for you if:
- You’re a B2B healthcare, technology or business services company
- You don’t have a formalized marketing plan
- You aren’t seeing return on marketing investment (ROMI)
- Your company is kicking-butt and wants to keep the momentum going
What Your 30-Minute Session Will Look Like
Before our scheduled call, which will be led by our CEO and Co-founder Mark Schmukler and a certified Sagefrog Marketing Associate, we’ll do our due diligence to get up to speed on your company. We’ll start with introductions, asking any clarifying questions we have about your company or offering.
Then, we’ll let you speak about your marketing situation: your current efforts, challenges and results. Once we have an idea of the tactics you’re executing, how you’re prioritizing them and why, we’ll have a fluid discussion around your marketing objectives. Another misconception among today’s business leaders is that marketing has one objective, which is to generate leads. And while that is a common and certainly important goal, your marketing objectives depend on the maturity stage of your company and your unique business goals.
If you’re a startup company looking to disrupt the marketplace with your innovative health IT app, for example, your marketing objectives will be focused on awareness to build credibility and trust among prospective buyers. If you’re an established company that has great brand recognition, you’ll want to harness your reputation through referral programs and direct selling initiatives to focus on generating leads.
Here’s what your 30-minute session will look like:
- We’ll lead introductions and ask clarifying questions about your company or offering
- You’ll tell us about your current marketing strategy, tactics and processes
- You’ll explain your marketing challenges, whether internally or in the marketplace
- You’ll get us up to speed on what marketing efforts typically perform well for you
- You’ll tell us where your company wants to go and how it plans to get there
- Together, we’ll discuss your marketing objectives and suggest tactics to support them
What Comes Out of a Session (What You Get!)
Within one week of our session, we’ll present a Marketing Plan Summary to you that will include our recommendations on the strategy and tactics that will help you achieve your marketing objectives (which is different from a proposal). To develop this for you, we hold an internal brainstorm session after our consultation to ruminate on everything we’ve discussed. We’ll consider your target market and process to understand why your strategy, tactics or execution are posing challenges for your business. When possible, our plan will be categorized into six buckets where we’ll provide actionable best practices and recommendations for improving your execution or incorporating missed opportunities into your program.
In most cases, your Marketing Plan Summary will include these 6 categories:
- Marketing Objectives
- Branding & Identity
- Digital Marketing & Website
- PR & Social Media
- Traditional & Integrated Marketing
- Best Practices for Next Steps
How to Schedule Your Free Marketing Plan Consultation
Have we convinced you that your time will be well spent? If you’re a business leader at a B2B healthcare, technology or business services company who can use help boosting your return on marketing investment – and are willing to tell us about your challenges for 30 minutes – then we’re ready to listen. Schedule your free consultation with Sagefrog today. If anything, you’ll find 30 minutes discussing your challenges to be therapeutic – and well, that’s a win-win for everybody.
Do you have still questions? Contact Sagefrog Marketing Group today.