Brand And Deliver - Growing Your Consulting Firm With Marketing - With Professor Joe O'Mahoney
Jan 11, 2024
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Join Alex Lewis and Dan Gibson as they talk to Professor Joe O'Mahoney, the leading authority on growing boutique and small consulting firms through marketing. They discuss the crucial role marketing plays in propelling consultancies to new heights, from finding your niche to harnessing the power of AI. Discover the importance of a clear value proposition, developing marketing strategies, and leveraging thought leadership. Explore the impact of AI on marketing firms and learn how to accelerate sales through strategic marketing.
Marketing plays a crucial role in the growth of a consultancy by filling the top of the sales funnel, enabling better-positioned services and a well-defined value proposition.
Smaller consultancies should define their unique value proposition, focus on growth markets, differentiate their services, and invest in marketing to expand their client base.
When consultancies reach around 50 employees, it becomes critical to invest significantly in marketing to ensure continued growth, professionalize the marketing function, and position themselves effectively in the market.
Deep dives
The Role of Marketing in Growing a Consultancy
Marketing plays a crucial role in the growth of a consultancy by filling the top of the sales funnel, allowing for outbound marketing, and enabling the offering of better-positioned services and a well-defined value proposition. It is important to focus not only on digital marketing tactics, but also on understanding what the consultancy should be about, gathering client feedback, and analyzing competitors. By viewing things from a buyer's perspective and aligning marketing efforts with the goal of profitable growth, consultancies can increase both their top and bottom line.
Developing a Clear Value Proposition
Many smaller consultancies struggle with developing a clear value proposition, offering too many services, or competing in a declining market. It is essential for firms to define their unique value proposition by examining client feedback, identifying growth markets, determining where they can charge higher prices, and focusing on strategic alignment. Smaller firms often need to refine their services or describe them in different ways to differentiate themselves. As firms grow, they should invest in marketing to generate a consistent pipeline and expand their client base.
Investing in Marketing as Firms Grow
When consultancies reach around 50 employees, it becomes critical to invest significantly in marketing to ensure continued growth. At this stage, firms often face the challenge of scaling beyond the growth phase and need to professionalize their marketing function. This is driven by the need for a consistent sales pipeline, the limitation of relying solely on founders or partners for sales, and the competitive landscape. Firms should carefully consider their marketing strategies and potential investments to effectively position themselves in the market and drive business growth.
The Benefits and Challenges of Thought Leadership
Thought leadership is an effective marketing strategy for consultancies, helping to establish their brand, demonstrate expertise, and provide value to clients. Investing in high-quality thought leadership, such as research and original content, can differentiate a consultancy and attract clients. It is essential to focus on improving the quality of content, engaging in industry conversations, and providing insights that address client concerns. Thought leadership can enhance brand perception, generate leads, and contribute to the overall success of a consultancy.
Embracing AI in Professional Services Marketing
Artificial Intelligence (AI) presents significant opportunities for professional services marketing. While it is still in the early stages, AI can support ideation, market analysis, value proposition creation, content creation, and distribution. Despite its current limitations, AI has the potential to automate tasks, improve content reuse and distribution, and personalize marketing efforts. Firms that embrace AI early on and strategically incorporate it into their marketing strategies will likely gain a competitive advantage in the future.
In this first episode of Brand & Deliver - your go-to resource for ROI-focused marketing strategies in the professional industry, Alex Lewis and Dan Gibson are joined by the leading authority on the growth of boutique and small consulting firms, Professor Joe O’Mahoney.
With two decades of experience and groundbreaking research under his belt, Joe brings an unparalleled level of expertise to the table. In this episode we delve deep into the crucial role marketing plays in propelling your consultancy to new heights, from the importance of finding your niche, to harnessing the power of AI.
If you’re a marketer working in professional services, this episode has some golden gems for you.
Tune in now to gain a seasoned perspective on how to boost your marketing efforts.
Interested in finding out more about Joe? Check out his website: www.joeomahoney.com.
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