It seems that summer is one of the busiest times of the year when it comes to making marketing decisions, maybe surpassed only by the end of the calendar year.
In addition to the traditional marketing decisions – online, print, radio and TV – you have to deal with phone books, directories and an assortment of other opportunities. And that doesn’t even take into account nonprofits or other groups trying to get you to sponsor their cause or organization.
So the first thing to note is that if you don’t consider that last group as part of your advertising and marketing, you are making a mistake. While it’s true you donate to these organizations based on your interests and the value of the cause, the money to pay for that donation should be part of your marketing budget.
We tell clients to dedicate a certain percentage of their marketing budget to these causes and organizations. We also tell them to set some of that money aside because invariably the perfect cause will come along halfway through the fiscal year.
So the first step is to set a budget. A marketing agency can work with you to determine how much money should be in that budget. Once that’s done, the calls and inquiries should always be forwarded to the agency. We take the time to study the cost and value of each of these opportunities. That’s something you don’t have time to do.
Plus an agency can take an additional step you may not have time for or be aware is an option – negotiate.
Then a good agency, working as your partner, makes recommendations about the best opportunities and implements them for you.
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