Download the Marketing Planning Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n A marketing planning process<\/strong> is a systematic approach to developing marketing goals, strategies, and implementation tactics. It may be adapted to a wide variety of situations, from the launch of a new firm or practice area to the repositioning of an existing firm\u2014and, of course, the planning of a firm\u2019s ongoing marketing program.<\/p>\n Depending on your specific situation, certain phases of the process may be more or less important. For example, when launching a new practice area, it\u2019s prudent to focus on its strategic components. This is sometimes referred to as developing a go-to-market strategy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n If you are repositioning your firm in the marketplace, often as part of a larger rebranding<\/a> initiative, you will likely need to determine both your strategy and what tactics will be needed to increase the visibility of your new brand.<\/p>\n Most firms update their marketing plan<\/strong> and marketing budget<\/strong><\/a> once a year, spending the majority of their time evaluating current performance and adjusting tactics. While they may take a look at the bigger picture, few firms retool their entire marketing strategy each year.<\/p>\n How important is marketing planning for professional services? Some would make the case that marketing planning, and indeed any marketing, is a waste of time and resources. They would argue that professional services marketing is based entirely on referrals, personal contacts and repeat business. Marketing, therefore, is a non-essential activity, a \u201cnice to have\u201d when there is available money and time.<\/p>\n This view is held by some executives, usually in senior management positions, who have long histories in professional services. The only problem with this view is that the data doesn\u2019t support it. In other words, it is wrong\u2014and short sighted.<\/p>\n Two lines of research support the importance of marketing planning. The first is an ongoing study by the Hinge Research Institute<\/a> into\u00a0<\/span>professional services buyers’ behavior<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n This study shows that while referrals remain important, their significance has been in steady decline for a number of years. The research also shows that buyers value firms that can demonstrate superior relevant expertise over those with a strong referral. And importantly, the visibility of most professional services firms has waned over the years. So from the perspective of your buyers, the marketing process is more important than ever before\u2014to differentiate you, raise your market profile and make the case for why your firm is a superior choice.<\/p>\n The second line of relevant research comes from our annual studies of the fastest growing and most profitable professional services firms<\/a>. In this research series, we seek to answer the question, \u201cWhat do the fastest growing firms do differently than their slower growing peers?\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ve learned that firms that don\u2019t actively track marketing results, or that base their plans on older historical data, tend to grow more slowly and have lower profitability. Conversely, firms that track marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) and the return on investment (ROI) of their marketing activities are more likely to be in the high-growth (which we define as exhibiting 20% or greater compound annual top-line growth) and high-profit (25% or greater profitability) categories.<\/p>\n Advantages like these do not arrive by accident. If you want to enjoy superior growth and profitability, the marketing planning process is essential. Now let\u2019s focus on the specific benefits of a systematic professional services marketing planning process.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to take a thoughtful, step-by-step approach to your marketing plan. When done right, marketing planning can yield a number of valuable benefits that can jumpstart your success:<\/p>\n Download the Marketing Planning Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are many ways to approach marketing planning. After testing and developing plans for hundreds of firms, we have some strong opinions on the subject. Follow the seven steps below, and you will not only cover all your bases, you will uncover new opportunities to build engagement and visibility.<\/p>\n Look closely at the factors that affect your standing in the marketplace:<\/p>\n These are just a few of the key business drivers of marketing strategy.<\/p>\n Often, you can use a SWOT analysis to organize and evaluate your business drivers<\/strong>. Within this framework, observations about the firm or practice are categorized as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities <\/strong>or threats<\/strong>. You want to do everything you can to root your planning process in reality. While that may seem obvious, many firms spend little time on their SWOT analysis, relying instead on personal beliefs and anecdotal experience.<\/p>\n There is a better way. Start conducting regular, systematic research into your marketplace. Firms that do this kind of research at least once a year\u00a0grow faster and are more profitable<\/a>.<\/p>\n Different types of research<\/a> apply to different stages of the planning process. For example, opportunity research<\/strong> compares the viability of different markets or target audiences. Client or persona research<\/strong> helps you get a better understanding of your target clients and how they select a firm. When we assist clients with the planning process, we often combine several types of research into a comprehensive package we call brand research<\/strong> that can be applied throughout the planning process.<\/p>\n See also: EH&E Case Story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n For example, you may realize that your clients value you as a trusted advisor. What you may miss, however, is that almost no potential client goes looking for a trusted advisor. Instead, they are almost always looking for someone to solve a specific business problem.<\/p>\n If you understand that key distinction\u2014and build your marketing plan accordingly\u2014you will win more new clients, and then evolve into their trusted advisor. Remember this every time you see a competitor position their firm as trusted advisors. They\u2019ve got things backward.<\/p>\n When you are doing research, focus on your best, most desirable client segments. Which ones do you want more of? This will help you isolate which important benefits you derive from them and equip you to find more clients like them. It will also help you learn where your clients get information and how they search for new providers. These insights will help you in subsequent steps.<\/p>\n This starts with identifying what makes you different. These are called your\u00a0differentiators<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>and they must pass three tests. Each must be:<\/p>\n Aim to uncover three to five good differentiators. If you have fewer than that, take heart. Sometimes one great differentiator may be enough.<\/p>\n Next, use your differentiators to write a focused, easy-to-understand positioning statement<\/a>. This is a short paragraph that summarizes what your firm does, who it does it for, and why clients choose you over competitors. It positions you in the competitive market space and becomes the DNA of your brand.<\/p>\n Of course, you have to actually be different. Read over your positioning statement and make sure it actually separates you from your key competitors. At the same time, check that your most important points of differentiation are simple to understand. Prospective buyers should be able to describe how you are different in just a few words.<\/p>\n Each of your audiences (e.g., potential clients, referral sources, potential employees) is interested in different aspects of your firm. As a result, you may need to develop different messages<\/a> <\/strong>for different audiences. Each of your messages should be consistent with your firm’s overall positioning, but they may focus on different benefits or address different objections.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Download the Marketing Planning Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n As clients\u2019 needs change, you may want to create entirely new services to address those needs. Your research may uncover issues clients are not even aware of yet, such as an impending regulatory change that might suggest a range of possible service offerings. Or you might change or automate part of your process to deliver more value at a lower cost with higher margins.<\/p>\n Whatever these service changes turn out to be, they should be driven by your business analysis and your research into clients and competitors.<\/p>\n See also: Schnackel Engineers Case Story<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Achieving high-level visibility requires a balanced approach to marketing. Our research has shown that a roughly 50\/50 blend of offline (traditional) and online (digital) techniques often works best. <\/p>\n In addition to balancing your marketing techniques, you\u2019ll need to create content that addresses each level of the sales funnel\u2014attracting prospects, engaging them and turning them into clients. To keep things as efficient as possible, you can use content in multiple ways. For example, content you develop for a webinar could be repurposed<\/a> as blog posts, guest articles, and a conference presentation. This saves you a great deal of valuable time.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t forget the skills you will need. Even the best strategy will accomplish little if you don\u2019t fully implement it. Many leaders find it challenging to build a full marketing strategy that achieves just the right balance. And it can be even more challenging to keep teams trained and up-to-date on today\u2019s ever-changing digital tools. That\u2019s one reason the fastest-growing firms use more outside talent.<\/p>\n You will need two key documents: a marketing calendar<\/a><\/strong> and a marketing budget<\/a><\/strong>. The marketing calendar should include every tactic you will use to implement your plan. It can cover the upcoming quarter or even the entire year. Begin by entering any events you know about, such as annual conferences and speaking events. Include regularly scheduled blog posts, emails, trade shows, webinars\u2014everything in your plan. Recognize that you may need to adjust your calendar from time to time. The purpose is to establish consistency and predictability. Leave room for last-minute changes, but don\u2019t get too far away from your plan and budget.<\/p>\n To build a budget, start with the tools and infrastructure we just mentioned. For recurring elements such as advertising, estimate the cost for a single instance then multiply by the frequency. Use benchmarks when available, and don\u2019t forget to allow for contingencies, typically 5\u201310% of the overall budget.<\/p>\n Download the Marketing Planning Guide<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n To help you understand the marketing planning process in more detail, let\u2019s look at each step in the process through the lens of two real-life firms. We\u2019ve changed a few details to keep them anonymous, but in all other respects these stories capture the process in action.<\/p>\n The first story is about a small technology consulting firm that has grown through referrals from current and former clients. The second is about a large accounting firm with multiple practice areas and industry verticals. We\u2019ll walk through each of the steps in the planning process to compare and contrast how planning is done at firms of different sizes.<\/p>\n Our small technology firm has reached the limits of its referral base. Growth has slowed and they are not sure how to revive it. Their clients come from multiple industry sectors, with the highest concentration in manufacturing.<\/p>\n The large accounting firm has many audiences with little concentration in any industry. Its goal is to grow its advisory practice, as its traditional tax and accounting service lines are becoming progressively more commoditized.<\/p>\n Our small consulting firm is faced with a decision. Who should its target client be? To answer this question, its management team looked at their manufacturing clients and compared them to their other clients. After conducting brand research, they learned that the manufacturing segment was a better match with their experience and this segment valued their services more highly because of their industry experience and understanding.<\/p>\n Our large accounting firm sampled its advisory clients\u2014which were their highest business priority\u2014as well as clients from other segments. They learned that among clients that had used their advisory services they were highly regarded, but few clients were aware that the firm even offered this service.<\/p>\n Our technology consulting firm had few differentiators. \u201cWe do great work\u201d just wasn\u2019t going to cut it. They made a decision to focus on their area of greatest strength and repositioned themselves as specialists in manufacturing firms. While they would continue to accept work from existing non-manufacturing clients, they would focus their marketing on this narrower target market.<\/p>\n The accounting firm decided to position itself primarily as an advisory firm that also supports their clients with tax, audit and other services. While this was a somewhat aspirational goal at the time, their business priority moving forward was to focus on selling advisory services to their existing tax clients. They would, with time, grow into their positioning.<\/p>\n Our technology consulting firm realized that it would have to offer a broad range of services to the manufacturing community. Its research suggested that process automation was a service that was especially in demand by its clients. This required hiring a new staff member with that experience and skill set.<\/p>\n The accounting firm was already offering advisory services so did not feel a need to broaden their portfolio of services. What they did need was to cross train their existing tax professionals to pitch and deliver basic advisory services.<\/p>\n There are a wide variety of marketing techniques to choose from. The primary goal is to use the techniques that will get you in front of prospective clients where they are looking for business advice and insight. But where do you get this information? From your research.<\/p>\n Our small consulting firm is focused on techniques that help them be found during web searches. This involves producing valuable content that easily can be found online. The firm invested in search engine optimization (SEO) and paid digital advertising to make sure their valuable thought leadership would be discovered by people searching for this information on Google and other search engines. In addition, to build visibility among their key audience they also began attending two key manufacturing conferences.<\/p>\n The large accounting firm can afford to employ more marketing techniques. They are focused on developing more valuable educational content around advisory services. This content includes a series of webinars on issues that can be addressed with ongoing advisory services. The webinar series is accompanied by an executive guide that describes how to make best use of advisory services. These materials target existing tax clients and new prospects.<\/p>\n The technology consulting firm needed several new tools. The website needed a total upgrade to reflect the firm\u2019s new focus. And their marketing collateral and case studies had to be reconceived. In addition, they set up new SEO and digital marketing campaigns, as well.<\/p>\n The accounting firm required a training and skills development program to equip their team to cross sell and deliver services. They also needed new webinar infrastructure and training to facilitate the transition to this new marketing strategy. They would also need an advisory brochure to use in the selling process.<\/p>\n In this step we consider the timing of your marketing efforts (your marketing calendar<\/a>) and their cost (your marketing budget<\/a>). Consider both one-time and ongoing costs separately.<\/p>\n Our technology firm laid out the one-time costs and estimated the time and budget needed for ongoing marketing efforts. As a small firm, its marketing expenses are higher as a percentage of revenue than at most larger firms. Also, since this was their first real marketing plan, there were also more set-up expenses than in organizations with established marketing functions.<\/p>\n Our large advisory-oriented accounting firm went through the same process. There were a number of one-time expenses to set up the infrastructure, train people and produce the needed content. After the initial materials were produced, however, the implementation expenses were much lower. Their marketing calendar laid out the schedule and the budget captured the costs.<\/p>\n These two examples show how professional services firms of different sizes can produce specific, actionable marketing plans using the seven step process. Now let\u2019s turn our attention to some of the top marketing planning tips. These may help you solve common planning challenges.<\/p>\n The planning process can be daunting. Here are a few tips to make it go more smoothly.<\/p>\n We call these people Visible Experts\u00ae<\/sup><\/a>, and our research shows that buyers seek them out when they have a specific problem or challenge that requires a solution fast.<\/p>\nMarketing Planning Process Defined<\/h2>\n
Why Marketing Planning is Important<\/h2>\n
Benefits of the Marketing Planning Process<\/h2>\n
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The 7-Step Marketing Planning Process for Professional Services<\/h2>\n
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\nExamples of Marketing Planning for Professional Services<\/h2>\n
Step 1: Understand your business situation<\/b><\/h4>\n
Step 2: Research your target audience<\/b><\/h4>\n
Step 3: Position your brand<\/b><\/h4>\n
Step 4: Define your service offerings<\/b><\/h4>\n
Step 5: Identify your marketing techniques<\/b><\/h4>\n
Step 6: Identify new tools, skills and infrastructure<\/b><\/h4>\n
Step 7: Document your schedule and budget<\/b><\/h4>\n
Top Marketing Planning Tips for Professional Services<\/h2>\n
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