Walking the Walk: The Challenge of Marketing Your Own Marketing Business

By July 18, 2012Marketing

The Jaggers Communications team had lots of heated discussion over lunch yesterday. At the heart of it was our decline in “walking the walk” — we’re not blogging enough or strategically marketing the company enough; we’re not engaging at the level we expect our clients to engage; we’re not focusing enough on business development while still maintaining focus on client needs.

It was a tough conversation. And I’ll admit it, I felt a little defensive.

When our clients tell us how hard it is to find the time to keep up with social media, to stick with the plan, to keep producing content in a way that is compelling to their audiences, believe me when I say, “I get it.” It is the challenge of doing business in a digital world. We’re empathetic but at the same time, I don’t accept excuses on my company’s behalf any more than I do clients’.

I accept the challenge of setting a better example through my own firm’s marketing and social strategy efforts. I welcome it, in fact. The best business development case study I’ve had to tell so far is that of my own business; it’s time to take it to the next level.

2 Comments

  • nicksargent says:

    So true, MJ. It’s a constant struggle to feed the beast. I’ve found myself telling people that producing content is like exercising. Once you stop making excuses and just start doing it, you feel invigorated by it. But it’s so easy to fall back into bad habits. Good luck to you and your team. I’m looking forward to more of your blog posts in the future. 

  • Marijean says:

     @nicksargent Thanks, Nick — I know that every business struggles with this but the ones that feel the heat of it the most are the ones preaching the gospel. The excuse of “we’re too busy working on client work” FEELS really valid and so it’s hard to combat that, but at the same time, consistent work without any marketing effort will make it so there are no new clients coming in the door. It’s a balancing act, to be sure.