How Your Research Can Pay Off For You AND Your Clients
Part of your work as a Fractional Marketing Officer should be keeping track of industry news and trends which could impact your clients and their customers or clients. Bringing them helpful information, whether they have it or not, shows them you are going above and beyond. Results include additional work, more referrals, and better recommendations to help grow your business.
Many assignments awarded to Fractional Marketing Officers, whether ongoing or one-time, involve being aware of and up to date on industry specific trends and events. However, some employers are not as helpful in providing helpful data as they should be and as you need them to be.
There can be situations where the content you provide can be subject to compliance or strict policies not determined by the business(es) you are working for. Healthcare companies and banking and finance are the most prominent examples. Let’s face it. Some companies are more aggressive about checking against compliance than others. However, you and your business can’t afford a compliance mistake either. The damage caused from one mistake could have a much larger, and very costly, negative impact on your ability to grow your business.
Making sure your clients never have a reason to question your work is a strength you can increase if you have not already done so. Being able to assist your clients in more ways than you are technically being paid for serves to increase your value. Increased value typically results in stronger reviews and referrals, helping your professional growth and future endeavors.
These are reasons why DoneHQ partners with FMOs to enable them to provide technical advancements and solutions, whether direct to clients or by being part of the work completed. As a fractional, you can add value by providing additional insights or information.
Suppose you find out about a newly proposed ordinance which could directly impact your client. Examples might be a possible zoning change for retail, a medication being pulled from the market, or a measure designed to change a tax regulation. You have the information. The strategy is to ask your “boss” if he or she is ready for fresh content about it or if you can show how the results could impact their customer base.
Chances are the person you ask will either not know what you are talking about or he/she will appreciate you “being on top of this”. Maybe that business has other fractionals or has employees that never mentioned the topic.
No matter how busy you get, part of your working day should be spent on research and tracking the industry or community you work within. Doing so may not reflect in your earnings for the current week, but could help you increase your bottom line for the long-term.
