Are you looking for an experienced marketing mentor to help you grow your business?
Contrary to somewhat popular belief, truly great marketing mentors are hard to find.
Businesses lose thousands of pounds due to hiring fails. Their CV may look great, but they’re essentially a list of fleeting statements. Promises, which they may or may not be able to deliver on.
It’s up to you to carefully vet each candidate before spending your marketing pounds, and this article will teach you exactly what to look out for.
1. Good Marketing Mentors are Great at Show and Tell
They’ll demonstrate their experience for all to see on their blog or website.
Whether they specialise at using inbound marketing or traditional marketing channels to grow their clients’ businesses – they must have a portfolio of actionable content which demonstrates this experience in real-time.
If they post quality content on their blog for free, you can be rest assured they’re someone who encourages their audience to learn and apply proven marketing principles in their own business.
2. They’re a Fantastic Coach and they Know It
This is probably the most important quality of a great marketing mentor.
Whilst being able to tell you which marketing channels your business should focus on is essential, it’s not enough. Good marketing mentors help businesses succeed by teaching their clients how to do marketing well.
Telling you how to optimise webpages for SEO is great, but you can’t build an empire with that alone. You need someone who’s willing to walk you through the individual components of an effective marketing strategy in silos, and to show you how it all comes together as part of a holistic system.
Newsflash: You’re not looking for someone who can implement marketing in your business. You’re looking for someone who can teach you and your team how to do it better.
Listen closely during your initial conversation. Is the focus of their call more about what packages they have on offer, or the challenges your business is currently facing?
This leads us on to our next point.
3. They’re Intent on Solving your Biggest Marketing Challenges
Good marketing mentors are hired to solve key business problems which prevent growth.
You don’t want a marketing mentor who spends their time and your money on issues which don’t affect your bottom line.
Sure, it makes them look busy and they might even do a good job. But if your marketing challenges still remain, the only thing they’ve achieved is building their billable.
As I highlighted earlier, you must pay attention to how they communicate with you.
Finding a quality marketing mentor is a bit like dating. You must be aware of each other’s capabilities and intentions. If these intentions don’t match, expectations won’t be properly managed and issues such as scope creep can occur.
If there is no chemistry or common understanding of your business and its challenges, it becomes hard to trust them. And without trust, you’ll unintentionally second guess their suggestions which will only hurt your business.
If you’re a startup and your candidate can’t show an understanding of how important cash flow and lower churn rates make running a business more manageable – you’re not suited for each other.
4. They’re Thought Leaders who Deliver Marketing Workshops Regularly
Marketing mentors love teaching, it’s part and parcel of what makes them so good at what they do.
A marketing mentor who teaches marketing to working professionals, budding entrepreneurs and businesses, is worth paying attention to.
It shows they truly want people to succeed and learn how to do marketing effectively without a six-figure advertising budget.
Take a look at their website for any upcoming talks or workshops. Be sure to attend and cast a critical eye over their ability to make complex ideas easy to digest.
This shows whether they’ll use marketing jargon to reel you into ideas and theories which don’t hold up in the real world.
A good marketing mentor will spend time answering burning questions to business challenges rather than giving vague answers which leave you more confused before you started.
5. Marketing Mentors Never Stop Learning
Great marketing mentors understand that marketing is a fast-moving world. Strategies that were effective one year ago, no longer work. They strive to stay relevant by keeping their finger on the pulse of the latest marketing trends and happenings.
Ask them who they follow and trust for good marketing advice. What are they currently reading and/or studying. They should be able to give concrete examples of names and individuals who also “stay in the loop.” This step is important as it tells you their advice will be current and up to date.
6. They have Access to People who’ll Implement Growth Strategies in your Business
In the business world, people matter. Without talented staff, you can’t grow your business to the next level. A good marketing mentor will have quality contacts who can use tools and create processes that generate real business value.
They’ll also recommend essential software and tools you can use to reduce churn and increase recurring revenue.
Your ideal marketing mentor will not be afraid to recommend tools they’re not affiliated with. Promoting products which meet the specific needs of your business shows they’re worth partnering with. Even if it makes them lose money.
7. They have Fantastic Testimonials of Past Clients Worth Contacting
Marketing mentors believe in the power of referral marketing, and want you to make an informed decision about choosing them as your business partner.
They’ll happily provide contact details of previous clients so you can find out if they’re the real deal.
Be sure to look at their testimonial pages and pay particular attention to what they did for the client.
Whilst testimonials exist to foster trust, not all are created equally. In fact, some testimonials could deter your interest in a candidate all together.
But what makes a great testimonial and why does it matter?
Testimonials written with glitter fail to demonstrate the effectiveness and impact a marketer had on a business.
Outstanding testimonials almost always highlight the key business challenges, actions taken, results and overall business impact.
Go a step further and reach out to these clients on social media or email. Ask them pertinent questions related to your key objections. What they say, will heavily influence whether you choose this marketing mentor as your next business partner.
Summary
Hiring a fantastic marketing mentor is no easy feat. Just like any hiring process, you need to vet them to ensure they have real experiencing turning businesses around.
As you’ve learned from the 7 points above, simply interviewing them isn’t enough.
Grow has over 15 years experience delivering bespoke marketing programs and training for fast-growth businesses and organisations. If you need a marketing mentor to grow your business, read our marketing consultancy page here and judge us to see if we tick these 7 points.
