The difference between a good marketing agency and a bad marketing agency…

At Novus, we believe we’re the former in that statement (well, of course we’d say that!). There are many marketing agencies out there, which can make it difficult for business owners to choose one from the next, given that a lot of the services most agencies offer can be carried out on behalf of companies that are not in the same geographical location.

The thing is, ‘marketing’ is such an umbrella term. There are so many disciplines, techniques and strategies that could be filed under that word. For example, one agency may focus on video content, whilst another may be predominantly busy with advertising; neither is ‘bad’, but what works for one client may not be quite as successful for another. On top of this, if a client were to cover every marketing approach, it would cost them a huge amount of money and possibly be less successful overall than adopting one or two techniques and carrying these out well.

So, back to the question: what does Novus do that a lot of other marketing agencies do not?

We focus on consulting with our client in the very first instance—to ensure that they understand their market, their ideal customer, the outcome they wish to convey (relative to what they sell) and the results they want to achieve.

The most important thing we discover is if their message is on point. If a client is not saying the things their target market wants to hear, no amount of SEO, PPC, advertising, video content or social media posting will make a difference. If you’re already shouting into a void, amplifying the volume won’t make the blindest bit of difference.

These agencies may be at the cutting edge of marketing, in that they understand the latest technologies and tools. But if they won’t dig deep with their clients, any results they do produce will either be through sheer chance, or it will be superficial and difficult to sustain. These bad agencies focus on the marketing vehicles and methods employed to shout on a client’s behalf; they promise their clients the world, but if they haven’t qualified that they have the right message in the first place, those poor clients will be on a hiding to nothing with them. Put it this way, if you, when carrying out your marketing, keep missing the target, having a handful of equally poor archers beside you won’t mean the target gets further hit.

Another fault that some agencies employ is their insistence that all clients are the same. They may have hit on the right message with the right client on the right platform/via the right vehicle. They see success and, quite rightly, brag about it to potential leads. However, so many, when faced with a separate client in a different sector with a completely different product, opt for the same pattern of promotion, in the hope that history will repeat itself. This is absolutely the wrong approach. Every business has its own pool of ideal clients, and these clients will buy for a cluster of reasons. These reasons, however, are likely to be very different to the next business, even if it’s in the same sector.

At Novus, we drill down, with our clients, to the feelings and thoughts of their clients. We ascertain what their customers think and feel when they make a purchase. We clarify the outcome they’ve sought, and the problem they will likely have solved, when they part with their money. This outcome could be any one of hundreds: to alleviate fear, to impress, to reduce risk, to feel happiness, so they can feel good from giving to someone else, to feel better about their body, to feel young again, to escape their worries, to save time, to improve their confidence, to save money, to educate themselves…and so many more. For this reason, we cannot and do not use the same cookie-cutter approach with each Novus prospect. We’d just be wasting their time and money as well as ours.

Essentially, we determine and build on our clients’ fundamentals. We highlight our clients’ USPs. We understand customers’ motivation behind the products/services our clients offer. We show our clients how they can help themselves when it comes to promotion.

Advertising, social media content, videos, etc. are just the vehicle. They convey a message, they’re not the deliverer of success on their own. Understanding the difference is what makes Novus Marketing Solutions a good marketing agency.

Call 07983 575934 or email info@novusmarketingsolutions.co.uk.

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