Name: Tabitha Beasley
Business: The Marketing Associates
Location: Ashford
Founded: 2015
➡️ What does your business do, and who do you help?
The Marketing Associates is a Marketing Agency helping Small and Medium sized professional service businesses achieve business alignment and growth through strategic, practical and results-driven marketing support. The Marketing Associates provide flexible, personalised consultancy marketing services tailored to the unique needs of B2B SMEs.
Working with sectors including legal firms, accountancy practices, manufacturing companies and university enterprise units, The Marketing Associates delivers strategic marketing expertise to businesses with or without a Marketing department to Launch, Boost and Support their business objectives and get real ROI growth results giving you peace of mind.
➡️ What sparked the idea for your business?
I worked in London Marketing and Advertising agencies for over 10 years and wanted to offer Kent-based offer small businesses the same high-quality advice without the London price tag. Having sat through meeting after meeting after meeting with little results or actions, I wanted to create a streamlined and results orientated Strategic Marketing Consultancy that got clients’ results.
I care passionately about good marketing, client growth and aligned success. The Marketing Associates starts with the client’s problem and then builds a strategy to achieve their short, medium and long-term objectives bringing in professional experts to deliver the different marketing verticals such as SEO, PPC, Brand design, web development, copywriting, videography & photography.
➡️ How did you win your very first customers?
I met my first client at a networking event in Tenterden. We worked together for a number of years until he retired.
45% of my business comes from Word-of-Mouth recommendations and 30% from networking, I feel that speaks volumes about how successful the marketing campaigns we deliver, as well as the service we offer, is for our clients.
➡️ What do you enjoy most about running your own business day to day?
The best thing about running my own business is the flexibility and freedom that it gives me around my family. I am happy to work hard at weekends and evenings if I can do the school run. I also love working so closely with other business owners and sharing their passion and goals to support their growth.
Finally, supporting my staff in their personal knowledge, growth and development is very rewarding. Knowing how I was helped and supported in my own early career at London agencies, and being able to do that to others is very special. Running The Marketing Associates is a very rewarding job and brings me much joy every day.
➡️ What has been the toughest challenge you have faced as a business owner so far?
Whilst growing The Marketing Associates, I have grown my family, homeschooled during Lockdown and dealt with various economic and political uncertainties and well as constantly evolving technical advancements.
The world is a very different place to what it was when I did my degree in Marketing and PR at Lincoln University, and again is totally different to where it was eleven years ago when I started the business. I would say that business is a constant challenge and it is all about constant learning, growth and adaption.
➡️ Have any mentors, role models, or other business owners influenced your journey?
I have a couple of key people who have supported and mentored me since my first job at a small agency in Richmond in 2004.
Simon Barbato was my very first boss and taught me that I knew nothing and needed to learn everything.
Susie Spiers took me under her wing and let me shadow her, attend client meetings and taught me to sit, listen and then ask questions.
Susie Warren Smith has also been very generous with her time and knowledge.
Finally, Matthew Hunt from 11 London who is a constant source of support and inspiration.
Being a business owner is a lonely place and having a trusted person to 'chew the fat' with is most helpful.
➡️ If you were starting your business again today, what would you do differently?
Tough question. I would get systems and processes in place earlier. Look to outsource what I can't do / don't have time for and be more confident to network more.
➡️ What are you most proud of building so far and what is next for your business?
I am very proud of all my clients and their achieved success through the marketing strategies that we have created and delivered. I am proud of how I have grown The Marketing Associates to a small team and the hardwork and dedication everyone gives TMA and our clients.
Moving forward I plan to grow the TMA team to ensure the very best client services, as well as grow the Associates who provide the channel specific expertises. AI is an area that we are constantly training in and is soemthing that we are monitoring closely.
➡️ What makes your way of doing things different?
Clients work with The Marketing Associates long term due to the excellent results that we deliver to their marketing and business efforts. We are not only an experienced and knowledgeable team of professional marketeers, but based in Kent our local knowledge, experience and relationships with events, networks and publications as well as the Chamber of Commerce supports our clients even more.
We approach all of our clients in a friendly and open manner, working together to understand their business situation alongside their short, medium and long-term goals. We work in an honest, timely and professional way, ensuring the clients are involved in all of the decisions and activities. TMA have been in business for over eleven years and have a clear and results driven formular that is designed to support, align and grow with the client.
➡️ Can you share an example of a customer, project or job that sums up what you do well?
We achieve different results for all clients, weather it is a new brand launch, a boost of an existing business or supporting a business with their in-house marketing. The Marketing Associates creates and delivers bespoke marketing strategies and activities. One of our most successful and long-term clients is an Enterprise based at a UK Russell Group University, that specialises in materials and surface science, mechanical testing, failure analysis and corrosion control.
The challenges were fragmented marketing activity with inconsistent messaging across channels, no dedicated marketing skillset internally, and over-reliance on existing clients as new business declined.
Our solution was stakeholder engagement to define a consistent tone of voice, LinkedIn training, an SEO review, PPC alignment, website copy rewrite with new case studies and Call to Actions, a full competitor review of the top competitors, a comprehensive marketing audit for overall channel alignment, continuous marketing optimisation, and the launch of a newsletter, backed by monthly status sessions.
Results included:
Turnover of £1.1 million – more than the previous two years combined
SEO effectiveness score grew from 61% to 91%
Website traffic grew 67% in 12 months
Annual new clients grew from an average of 12 to 35
Additional expert hired to support demand
Services delivered: Marketing Kick-Off, Strategic Marketing Plan, Competitor Review, Ongoing Strategic Consultancy, SEO onboarding, PPC review, Website review, Newsletter launch.
➡️ What do customers tend to appreciate most about working with you?
We get fantastic client feedback at The Marketing Associates. Clients love the hard-work and determination that we put into achieving their business success. We are highly organised and pragmatic, we work well in teams and we deliver on time.
In client reviews that say things like:
'The Marketing Associates took the time to really understand our organisation and provided clear, practical guidance at every stage. Their professionalism and strategic insight have made a huge difference to how we communicate who we are and where we’re going as a business, we are delighted with the results.'
'The Marketing Associates bring an energy, a sense of purpose and confidence which is amazing. They are not imposing but very facilitating of the vision we have and how we want to shape our marketing.’
‘I've been sceptical about marketing and the value it brings, but working with The Marketing Associates has changed this. In a short period of time, many things have been fixed and we are already starting to see the value of working with the Marketing Associates translating into leads and sales.’
‘Tabitha is incredible and one you choose first to be on your team!’
I feel that with client testimonials like that it clearly shows the real value and results that clients get out of working with us as well as the enjoyment of working together.
➡️ What is one thing people often misunderstand about your industry or the work you do?
Everyone thinks that they can do Marketing from clients to so called good marketing experts! Not only do clients try and do their own marketing without a clear plan or any professional support but often wait too long until they outsource. The other biggest issue in Marketing is that many people say that they can do marketing or are marketing experts just because they like social media or are good at content.
Marketing is a very complex beast that covers everything from Strategy, Planning, Delivery and Analysis, to the different marketing activity verticals such as Search, Paid Media, Design, Communications and Delivery. Marketing needs to be studied and understood. The challenge is bringing togther the What / Where / Why / Who and How, in a compelling way.
➡️ What advice would you give to someone in Kent who is thinking about starting their own business?
Start with a solid proposal and brand. Then go out and network as hard as possible, talk to people, make contacts, understand the marketing and landscape, barter your services to gain experience and case studies, be open to anything.
➡️ What is your favourite place in Kent to grab a coffee, take a break, or find inspiration?
There are so many wonderful places in Kent from the Harbour Arm for a stroll, a country pub like The Five Bells for Lunch. Hamilton Airfield for brunch or Leeds Castle for a day out. I love to walk through woods like Bedgebury or feel on top of the world about the White Cliffs of Dover.
➡️ Is there anything we haven't asked that you'd love people to know about you or your business?
TMA really gets results. The reason why is because in this noisy busy world we stop and listen to what the client says. We research and analysis, we build strategies to get real results. We cut out the fluff and jargon and focus on people.
Success is a two-way street though and we need clients who want change, who want success and are willing to work with TMA to get that. Our best results come from SME B2B professional service businesses who are open to ideas and willing to provide the information required, be that copy, images or budget!
You can contact Tabitha and the team at The Marketing Associates here:
Name: Tabitha Beasley
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07811 111390
Website: www.themarketingassociates.co.uk
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tabithabeasley/
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