Why Using Industry Specific Marketing Can Be a Bad Thing
Industry-specific marketing can be a bad thing when it becomes complacent. In-industry marketing is a term used for marketing companies that predominately (or only) work with clients in your field. They are well-acquainted with your niche and therefore can become very successful at navigating your brand in that market. But like all facets in life, there is a good and bad side. A company’s analyst(s) must then decide what actions to take.
When you are researching what marketing firms to use, it’s understandable that you would want to go with a company that knows your field. It’s an easy way to make an incredibly tough decision by entrusting other people with your brand and company outreach. In-industry marketing consultants will be able to understand your jargon. This means spending less time explaining and training a marketing company that is not field-specific. You save more time and money. So, why would it be detrimental to hire these industry-specific companies?
Size:
These types of companies become large because of the industry-specific fields they go after. They’re usually healthcare, engineering, accounting, real estate, construction, food, and other industries of that caliber. At some point you become a number in a large factory. You might be assigned different representatives many times since the turnover rate can be high in large companies; which can make for impersonal experiences. It becomes increasingly hard to reach an actual person or representative. This can lead to a slow process of quick and innovative ideas.
Quick Innovation:
Every field evolves and needs to be able to have a high turn-around. In marketing, it’s important to stay on top of trends and relate that into each of your client’s content. If you’re working with a company that has a large size, they might not be able to move as quickly with new technologies or innovations. If your representative has echelons above their head that require approval, it could be hard to try something new before your competitor does. A good example of a great re-branding outcome is Southwest Airlines. This example is used many times because of the incredible accomplishments they had when re-marketing themselves. They used the ad agency GSD&M – www.gsdm.com out of Texas when rebranding. This company has helped Walmart, other airlines, and even presidential campaigns. Southwest used another non-specific firm when they hired Lippincott https://lippincott.com/, and saw great success. This decision allotted them the financial world’s top pick, as well as named airline of the year and top investment pick in 2014.
Using companies who don’t see the same thing every day allows for a fresh perspective. A campaign that works in one field could be transferable to another and become extremely successful. We saw that with Southwest Airlines when they used a new humorous and heartfelt branding. So when deciding on whether or not to go with an industry-specific marketing company, you’ll want to think about whether you want to play it safe or be innovative.
