High growth advisory firms do many things differently, but in marketing they tend to do something VERY different to the norm.  

We can’t ignore that it takes many differences to achieve outstanding results, not least of which is a difference in attitude and focus.  Simply maintaining a relentless focus on being 1% better in every aspect of the practice and advice delivery than competitors rapidly compounds into multiple points of difference and excellence.  And THAT gets results.

Staggeringly different results:

a.  High growth firms typically grow their revenues at more than 20% p.a. while spending about 1% of revenue on marketing

b.  Low growth firms barely maintain the same performance year on year and usually spend more than double the amount on marketing

So, average firms are spending plenty but face diminishing margins through their increased costs combined with poor ROI whereas the high growth firms are accelerating ahead and spending a negligible amount comparatively.

So the question becomes “what are the high growth firms doing in marketing that the others are not?“

The best firms are spending a lot more effort, but not money, on:

• content creation (emphasising thought leadership and/or specialty);
• educational events (showcasing their expertise);
• professional networking, client events & trade shows (leveraged prospecting methods); and;
• building a great online presence & SEO (ensuring they get found, and look good when they get found by all their prospects and COI’s)

Low growth firms spend more money trying to generate activity to get busy. Their focus tends to be on areas like sponsorship, advertising, outbound lead generation activities and trying to incentivise short term activity.

High Growth firms spend more time trying to demonstrate expertise and value in advance, and betting on those prospective clients finding them and engaging at their own speed.

One could surmise then that the low growth firms are busy doing what worked 20 years ago, and it is costing an increasing amount to market that way, with diminishing results.  High growth firms have tapped into the fundamental shift in consumer buying behaviour.  There is need to demonstrate expertise in advance of the client engagement, and there is a need to have an effective digital presence that supports your professional positioning.  Above all though, they are delivering value before consumer commitment.

They are de-risking the consumer engagement experience and showcasing expertise and outcomes they can create instead of product or process solutions.