Having the bank holiday out of the office gave me a bit of time to review the previous week’s activity. One thing in particular stood out; a fantastic initial meeting with a potential public sector client.
During the build up to the election the TV and newspapers have spent a lot of time talking about cuts in public sector budgets, because of this the meeting really stood out.
As with most clients in the public sector the big topic for discussion right now is budget savings or efficiencies. It’s never easy to get clients to sign off budget for new projects during a time of economic uncertainty, even more so when an impending general election means that nobody knows the breadth and depth of the cuts.
That’s why face to face conversations with clients are so important. Not emails, not conference calls, time spent in a clients company, helping you understand what’s important to them. What challenges do they face? What are their key objectives? What internal and external factors influence their decision making?
The phrase “adding value” is one which is too often used in games of buzzword bingo. In fact it’s up there with “low hanging fruit”. In this case it is particularly pertinent. The conversation eventually got round to the budget cuts that client will no doubt have to make, and it’s there where online can come to the fore. How can an online agency add value and become indispensible?
They may have no products to sell, however it’s just as important to measure the success of past and present activity. Just because it’s been the way things have been done in the past doesn’t mean that it’s right to keep on doing it. In difficult times reviewing every last penny of your marketing spend is the right thing to do. Spending time taking stock of present strategies informs your future planning.
Online can’t do it all, there will always be a need to engage with your audience through offline channels and in the case of this client it’s as important to speak to primary school children as it is pensioners. So overall reach is hugely important; however at what cost?
Are there better, more effective ways to communicate with your target audience? If so then the legacy strategies have to go. Difficult times call for inventive use of budgets. It’s time to break the status quo.
Tags: Adding value, budget cuts, buzzword bingo, Online Marketing, public sector, understanding needs
