In an industry with constant news and needs, following a few simple tips can keep your messages efficient and effective.

In today’s world, there’s an endless array of marketing that could or should be developed for your A/E/P and environmental consulting firm. From a letter to a prospective client to a press release or a post on social media to a detailed response to an RFP, managing the outflow of materials and messages is a sizeable task. Getting input from the right people is a vital part of the process, but involving too many people or having unclear roles can grind all marketing to a halt. Here are a few tips to keep your marketing running like a well-oiled machine:

• Get input from the right people. Have someone in your marketing department who can solicit input from the people who might know more than he/she about the topic at hand. It’s important that this person knows when he/she should get input and how to take direction.
• Know your chain of command. Everyone who is involved in marketing the firm should know he/her role, and how long he/she has to perform it! If Bob is in charge of writing a press release and he has to get quotes from Fred and Stacy and then get the final draft approved by Sam, Fred can’t take two weeks to come up with a good one-liner!
• While the above statement is true, it’s also important to have someone in the firm who is allowed to pull the trigger on something without involving a committee. The industry can move quickly, and if a new marketing piece or proposal needs to be put together for a potential client on the fly, then it’s important to have someone who can act with speed and accuracy – and do so alone. This is especially true when it comes to news and press releases. Putting out vital news too late is as bad as not getting it out there at all.
• Be reasonable. Five people shouldn’t have to review a Facebook post or tweet before it’s sent out -- that’s just waste of time. If you can’t trust whoever is managing your firm’s social media to put together 140 characters, then he/she shouldn’t have that role.
• Don’t let too many cooks spoil the pot. Even for simple things, such as an e-blast, soliciting input from too many people can quickly leave the creator juggling polar opposite ideas. Trying to please multiple people – especially those that have opposing tastes – can ruin an effort’s look or message.
• Leave some things out. Yes, that’s right: Don’t be afraid to omit. Not every detail of every project needs to be included on every marketing piece – the goal should be to catch the attention of your intended audience and give them the resources to find out more on their own.

CHRISTINA ZWEIG is a Zweig Group marketing and management consultant. Contact her at czweig@zweiggroup.com. © Copyright 2015. Zweig Group. All rights reserved.