As a society, we typically expect everything to happen right now, right when we want it.
Just think about all the apps we use for almost instant gratification these days: Just Eat, Uber, Netflix. Just about everything we want we can get on demand, there and then.
Even in the world of marketing consulting, you'll find consultancy 'on-demand', just like ordering a pizza!
But in my experience, not all brand marketing consultants are equal. At the opposite end of the scale are the consultants justifying their fees with a lot of unnecessary complicated language and navel gazing!
If I was an SME business owner or marketer looking for external support, I would want to avoid two types of marketing consultant:
Category 1 - The ‘On-Demand’ consultant who has all the answers.
They don’t need to know anything about your business, you just pay £199 to download their winning brand formula, a fool-proof guide to everything you need to know about branding.
Usually followed with an upsell add-on such as ‘my tried and tested brand content templates’ for only a further £49!
You never speak to this individual, they don’t ask you any questions about your brand and business, but you can access their all-knowing ruminations instantly. Sounds convincing, right?!
Category 2 - The ‘System’ consultant
They’ve created a unique 'system' with an acronym for a name, usually followed by a ™ symbol (they aren’t willing to pay to register their trademark but they want you to know it’s an important acronym).
The 'system' will usually require lots of consulting time, the output of which will be an overly complicated powerpoint presentation that requires a PHD in said 'system' to interpret it.
The chances of you being able to take this document to educate the wider business and build your internal brand understanding are slim. Worst case scenario, everyone disregards the output of this work as the marketing team’s latest ‘flight of fancy’ with no practical application.
Watch out for a lasting side effect of this approach - other departments rolling their eyes and saying ‘it’s a marketing thing’ every time they’re presented with something by you or your team.
What do good brand consulting services look like?
The truth is that brand marketing isn’t rocket science but it is as much science as it is art.
Here is my list of no-nonsense questions to ask and answer to give your brand a health check and diagnose any problems.
Any brand marketing consultant worth their salt should be asking you these questions and helping you find the answers:
1. What is your brand?
Where did you begin? What was the idea that started the brand in the first place? What is your brand story, heritage, DNA? What do you want to stand for?
2. What is your vision & mission?
Do you have one? How does it link to customer needs? Do you have an agreed set of company values that link to your brand?
3. What do you already know?
Do you have access to any data? Particularly interested in any qualitative or quantitative research here and any other insights you can lay your hands on from Google Analytics, social media or your own CRM system. Asking these questions should also help you narrow down what you don’t know which is equally important to understand when developing your marketing strategy.
4. Who is your target audience?
This is more than just a sweeping segment, I've lost count of the number of businesses I've worked with who say 'everyone'! Maybe you have more than one audience for different products and services that will require distinctive messaging. Who are your loyal customers and why do they love you? What does the whole shape of the market look like? What attitudes exist towards your products or services?
5. What needs does your brand meet?
Do you solve a problem regularly experienced by your customers? What concepts resonate the most with customers and how do you wrap these up in a way that gives your brand more meaning?
6. How do you demonstrate your brand personality?
What is your brand archetype? Are you a hero, magician, sage or ruler? You can read more about brand archetypes here.
Get Started
To help you get started with your brand health check, I’ve created a pdf checklist that you can run through to work out where you have gaps.
I hope it’s helpful and gets you moving in the right direction.
I’d like to say I created this out of the kindness of my heart ❤️ (I am kind, I promise!) but actually I’m shamelessly hoping you use the checklist and realise you’ve got some gaps. ☑️
I love gaps - because gaps are where I can help and add some value.
No gaps? Good for you! We may never work together, but I hope we can still be LinkedIn connections. Here's my QR code - simply visit the LinkedIn mobile app, it's a small icon within the search bar that takes you to a screen where you can either scan someone else's code or see your own. (Just a little tip for you there!)
What next?
Visit the Sarah Lambley Marketing website
Access my Brand Health Checklist
Take a look at the marketing services I offer on my Services Menu
Book a free, no obligation call in my calendar
Read some of my other blogs:
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