Grow Profitably Through Effective Marketing

For years, Amy Hubler, one of our top revenue growth consultants, has worked with manufacturers to develop strategies that increase customers and grow sales. But once the plan is crafted and clients are on their own, execution runs the risk of falling short. That’s why Enterprise Minnesota is adding fractional marketing to its menu of services.

These services couldn’t have come at a better time. Companies face a continued urgency for well-crafted and implemented marketing approaches to ensure steady revenue growth and a diverse customer base. And, they need real-world data to make their marketing efforts effective.

While each arrangement will vary, Enterprise Minnesota’s fractional marketing services will fill gaps by helping clients:

• Oversee agencies, vendors, and internal resources
• Align marketing activity with sales goals, and
• Define metrics and report progress toward goals

“A lot of clients struggle with who is taking responsibility for marketing, follow-through, and coordination. I often hear comments such as, ‘We don’t have anyone internally leading marketing’ or ‘We hired an agency, but we’re not sure it’s working,’” Amy says. Those frank self-assessments are a clear indicator of a need for trusted marketing counsel.

The necessity for seamless marketing efforts is a 10 on a scale of one to 10, regardless of a company’s current revenue. “You can’t wait until times are tough to try to quickly develop a marketing and sales strategy because effective marketing takes time,” she says. Companies with a large chunk of sales coming from one or two customers are especially vulnerable if they don’t have successful marketing strategies in place.

Amy also shares that Enterprise Minnesota’s fractional marketing services are proven, objective, and data driven. “With fractional marketing, we tie metrics that meet business results,” she says. Enterprise Minnesota guarantees its work, including its fractional marketing services.

As manufacturers who have worked with Amy know, she is highly focused on delivering results for clients—with data that goes beyond just percentage impact on revenue. She’s developed what she terms the “growth scorecard” to track a host of performance metrics over time, from win rates on the number of quotes or proposals issued, to email marketing open and click-through rates. “Analyzing key metrics on a regular basis allows manufacturers to make adjustments that optimize their efforts and improve results,” she says.

Two types of companies are good candidates for fractional marketing services: those that have a marketing plan, but their execution has stalled, and those that don’t really have a plan, making their marketing feel fragmented, reactive, unclear, or non-existent.

“The value of fractional marketing comes from leadership, coordination, and accountability as we provide ‘hands-on’ help to guide staff and vendors to effective outcomes,” she says. “The goal is simple: make sure that strong strategy translates into consistent execution and measurable business results.”

For more information on fractional marketing, please register for Enterprise Minnesota’s manufacturing workshop on the topic, scheduled for April 2nd at Marsh McLennan Agency, in Golden Valley.

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