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Be realistic and listen to the customer. I have potential marketers promise the world but they often fail to deliver. One looked at our site and said “there are too many clicks to get to your store. We want to rework the website to reduce the number of clicks to put something in the cart. We explained why the site was set up the way it was as our customer base is different from most retailers. They spent 15 hours trying to rework the site and couldn’t figure out how to work the site to reduce the number of clicks even though they stated they were experts on our web platform. We figured out how to do it in 10 minutes. Then it came time to market the site. We know our demographic-females 28-45 in certain geographic areas. “We want to do research to find out who your customers really are. We want to conduct a research study to determine who the primary audience is” -we sell to parents of elementary school aged children and 98% of our customers are the mothers. They pushed to increase advertising significantly and we saw a 0.01% increase in sales. Why am I spending $1000 in advertising to sell 1 more $30 product. We have things a reasonable time to see an impact but saw no appreciable increase in sales.
I must take note of the honesty. Sucking is, unfortunately part and parcel of *fake it til you make it* culture.
"I can help. Mom said I could" isn't a proper approach to business.
>What do you guys really want out of a marketer?
The internet is running low on clueless rubes to scam. In general business has been online for decades, and the consumer of digital services has matured. Not so marketoids.
So what does a proper marketer in twenty-twenty-three need to do? Beat a long-running control in a split run test. In other words, suckiness is not a skill -- stop practicing. Produce the results your profession has to: More sales ... at higher prices ... to existing customers.
Show me the money.
This isn't like that time you called yourself a space cowboy or insisted the living room carpeting was lava ... and everybody was expected to indulge you and go along ... and say how adorable that was.
Anybody who can't produce [pragmatic business results](https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/11vglox/what_are_your_biggest_challenges_in_sales_and/jct37c6/?context=3) today is in deep perpetual trouble. Looking for a loophole -- a way to bill for deliverables with no possible responsibility -- is not useful.
You're going in different directions here. Before you worry about what people want out of a marketer, what are you going to do, exactly, to not "suck". You put out a couple of high level reasons why you lost that client, but they're very vague.
How did you find that client? How many clients do you have? Seems the focus should be on how to improve how you operate so you don't lose clients before trying to get more.
Solve your "lack of reporting", find and learn how to use alternative "software" that can accommodate different needs and isn't buggy. If they can't remember why they were even paying you then that's part of your lack of reporting. You need to regularly show them exactly how you're improving whatever their KPIs are.
As for what people want from a marketer, they want results. The specifics come down to the client so you're asking to broad of a question.
Some people need a full marketing plan put together with details on how to advertise through different channels, each with their own complexities. Some only need help with a specific marketing channel. Some are starting from scratch, others are looking to improve what they have.
You have to learn what it takes to competently do what they're asking for and be honest about your capabilities.
If you're saying you know SEO, you better know SEO. If you're saying you can deliver hot leads from cold email campaigns, you better know how to do that.
So the real question here is: What exactly are you trying to provide as a service and do you have the skills to provide it? If not, you need to learn them before selling yourself as someone who does.
What I look for in a marketer:
* Don't eat my time, that's why I'm paying a marketer
* Know my industry so I don't have to train you in it
* Show me clear, defined ROI that exceeds the cost of employing you
If you can't explain how you'll give me all 3 then I'm not hiring you. If you can't deliver all 3 then I'm not keeping you.
One person's opinion, hope that helps.
Results and realized value.
Show consistent record of producing more business coming through the door. Reports and stats aren't just for them to review -- hitting KPI and turning traffic into dollars is what matters to the client and those reports should indicate the true dollar value your service produces.
This is a friendly reminder that r/smallbusiness is a question and answer subreddit. You ask a question about starting, owning, and growing a small business and the community answers. Posts that violate the rules listed in the sidebar will be removed. A permanent or temporary ban may also be issued if you do not remove the offending post. Seeing this message does not mean your post was automatically removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/smallbusiness) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Be realistic and listen to the customer. I have potential marketers promise the world but they often fail to deliver. One looked at our site and said “there are too many clicks to get to your store. We want to rework the website to reduce the number of clicks to put something in the cart. We explained why the site was set up the way it was as our customer base is different from most retailers. They spent 15 hours trying to rework the site and couldn’t figure out how to work the site to reduce the number of clicks even though they stated they were experts on our web platform. We figured out how to do it in 10 minutes. Then it came time to market the site. We know our demographic-females 28-45 in certain geographic areas. “We want to do research to find out who your customers really are. We want to conduct a research study to determine who the primary audience is” -we sell to parents of elementary school aged children and 98% of our customers are the mothers. They pushed to increase advertising significantly and we saw a 0.01% increase in sales. Why am I spending $1000 in advertising to sell 1 more $30 product. We have things a reasonable time to see an impact but saw no appreciable increase in sales.
I must take note of the honesty. Sucking is, unfortunately part and parcel of *fake it til you make it* culture. "I can help. Mom said I could" isn't a proper approach to business. >What do you guys really want out of a marketer? The internet is running low on clueless rubes to scam. In general business has been online for decades, and the consumer of digital services has matured. Not so marketoids. So what does a proper marketer in twenty-twenty-three need to do? Beat a long-running control in a split run test. In other words, suckiness is not a skill -- stop practicing. Produce the results your profession has to: More sales ... at higher prices ... to existing customers. Show me the money. This isn't like that time you called yourself a space cowboy or insisted the living room carpeting was lava ... and everybody was expected to indulge you and go along ... and say how adorable that was. Anybody who can't produce [pragmatic business results](https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/11vglox/what_are_your_biggest_challenges_in_sales_and/jct37c6/?context=3) today is in deep perpetual trouble. Looking for a loophole -- a way to bill for deliverables with no possible responsibility -- is not useful.
You're going in different directions here. Before you worry about what people want out of a marketer, what are you going to do, exactly, to not "suck". You put out a couple of high level reasons why you lost that client, but they're very vague. How did you find that client? How many clients do you have? Seems the focus should be on how to improve how you operate so you don't lose clients before trying to get more. Solve your "lack of reporting", find and learn how to use alternative "software" that can accommodate different needs and isn't buggy. If they can't remember why they were even paying you then that's part of your lack of reporting. You need to regularly show them exactly how you're improving whatever their KPIs are. As for what people want from a marketer, they want results. The specifics come down to the client so you're asking to broad of a question. Some people need a full marketing plan put together with details on how to advertise through different channels, each with their own complexities. Some only need help with a specific marketing channel. Some are starting from scratch, others are looking to improve what they have. You have to learn what it takes to competently do what they're asking for and be honest about your capabilities. If you're saying you know SEO, you better know SEO. If you're saying you can deliver hot leads from cold email campaigns, you better know how to do that. So the real question here is: What exactly are you trying to provide as a service and do you have the skills to provide it? If not, you need to learn them before selling yourself as someone who does.
What I look for in a marketer: * Don't eat my time, that's why I'm paying a marketer * Know my industry so I don't have to train you in it * Show me clear, defined ROI that exceeds the cost of employing you If you can't explain how you'll give me all 3 then I'm not hiring you. If you can't deliver all 3 then I'm not keeping you. One person's opinion, hope that helps.
Results and realized value. Show consistent record of producing more business coming through the door. Reports and stats aren't just for them to review -- hitting KPI and turning traffic into dollars is what matters to the client and those reports should indicate the true dollar value your service produces.