Hollinden | positioning. process. people.
Firms should invest more time, money, and resources toward developing and maintaining a consistent and integrated marketing strategy.
Houston, TX (PRWEB) June 19, 2014
Hollinden | positioning. process. people., a strategic consultancy for professional service firms headquartered in Houston, has released the results of its annual Professional Services Marketing Survey. Over 400 principals, partners, managers, marketing, and business development professionals completed the nine-question survey. Survey respondents consisted of professionals in accounting, engineering, architecture, and commercial construction fields, with 49.5% of respondents holding leadership (partner-level) positions.
The report revealed clear inconsistencies in the views between firm leadership and the marketing and business development professionals. Almost 90% of the marketing professionals viewed their efforts as active and consistent, while 46.9% of leadership viewed their efforts as inconsistent and reactive. Similarly, views varied between industries with 80% of A/E/C professionals reporting their marketing programs as proactive, while only 59.7% of accounting professionals felt confident in their efforts.
The report goes on to reveal that 73.8% of firms cite revenue growth as their primary purpose of marketing. Yet, the results show an inverse relationship between revenue growth expectations and the actual investment amount with the overwhelming majority of firms only investing less than 5% of gross revenues in their marketing efforts. Compared to the 2013 CMO Survey, professional service firms are late in adopting marketing as an investment in their firm’s future with B2C leading the way at 15-25% of gross revenues being invested in marketing initiatives.
“The inconsistencies further reveal the need for leadership to change its view on marketing, and invest in future growth,” states Christine M. Hollinden, CPSM, Principal of Hollinden | positioning. process. people. “It was surprising to learn how many firms had no marketing budget and how many managers had no idea how much their firms invested in marketing – they just knew they weren’t being successful.”
The report provides further insight on time spent on marketing, consistency of marketing efforts, marketing investment, and lead generation tactics. The published report uncovers inconsistencies in marketing efforts within professional service firms, and makes a solid argument for increasing marketing budgets and resources to promote future growth.
“Firms should invest more time, money, and resources toward developing and maintaining a consistent and integrated marketing strategy,” according to Christine Hollinden. “The keys to successful marketing are threefold: focused, consistent, and measurable – much of which is lacking.”
To download the complete 2013 Professional Services Marketing report visit:
http://www.hollinden.com.
About Hollinden
For more than 20 years, Hollinden has been a valued consultant to expertise-driven professional service firms. Hollinden helps clients identify market opportunities, develop solid strategies, create scalable processes, and build stronger teams to achieve their goals.
The Hollinden Branding Protocol® is a proprietary process providing strategic marketing and branding services that leads clients through goal setting, branding and positioning to the development and implementation of specific tactics. Hollinden serves professional service firms in the accounting, consulting, engineering, financial, insurance, information technology, human resources, architecture, commercial construction, investment banking, and commercial real estate sectors.