Don’t hire a plumber to do an architect’s job…

Jan 13 2009

If you were to build a house from scratch, there are a LOT of people who are absolutely crucial to the process. You need an architect to draw up the master plan, you need a contractor to put everything together and plumbers, electricians and landscapers to help finish the project. I’m oversimplifying of course, but the point is that within the context of building a house, we all know what role all those people are supposed to play.

Not so for many small business owners with regard to their Marketing Communications efforts. Truth is that “Marketing” has become one of the most overused and generic terms in the business lexicon. A lot of people will tell you they are in “marketing.” In fact, they may be printers or sign makers, sellers of advertising, promotional products or direct mail. These are the marketing support “trades” and have a similar role in a marketing project as plumbers, electricians and landscapers would have in a home building project: vital to the success of the project and both strategically + tactically valuable, but only within their realm of expertise.

This isn’t meant as a negative, by the way… The people you’ve hired in these roles may have an outstanding knowledge within their specialty and may be savvy and creative. But that doesn’t mean you should trust them with your marketing strategy. You probably wouldn’t want your plumber to design an addition to your home, nor would you allow your dental hygienist to perform your brain surgery.

Be careful of you allow to advise you regarding your overall marketing strategy and do be sure that it isn’t someone who stands to profit from your continued patronage of one particular marketing tool over another. And trust me, it isn’t that their intentions are less than pure, they just CAN’T be an objective voice for obvious reasons. Look for your printer or sign folks to refer you to a marketing strategist or other trade when your needs are outside their expertise. Oh, and if they say they can build you a web site, just run.

And by the way, if your marketing strategist is the architect, who’s the contractor in all this? The person doing the bulk of the work and ensuring that all your rooms come together exactly as planned? In marketing, that role usually goes to the designer who is usually singularly responsible for maintaining visual continuity in your brand through every aspect of your marketing efforts from web to print to trade show to promotional items.