In this episode of the Thoughtful Entrepreneur, your host Josh Elledge speaks with marketing consultant and the President of Parkin Consulting, Tim Parkin. 

Tim is a marketing advisor to global marketing executives. He helps them dramatically improve the effectiveness of their marketing and their marketing teams. In short, he discovers what works and what doesn’t for specific teams. His journey throughout his career has been wild, but he shares that he realized along the way that software and products weren’t the issue with businesses he encountered – it was their marketing. 

Marketing is understanding the consumer, how they think and what they feel. He shares that you have to deeply connect with and understand your audience in order to execute marketing successfully. If you aren’t connected to what resonates with your target audience, you’re probably wasting a lot of money on poor strategies. Consumers are as sophisticated and savvy as ever – and there is now pushback on data privacy. With data privacy challenges, you have to be creative and find new ways to tune into your audience. 

Tim sees some common issues as companies grow; they either hit a wall as far as scaling, or they struggle to accelerate that growth. Tim offers expertise on accelerating growth and addressing bottlenecks – as well as implementing the long term solutions that permanently bridge the disconnect between consumers and businesses. 

Josh and Tim also explore the issues with companies that think they’re customer-centric. The truth? They aren’t talking to their customers at all. Data and numbers are great, but it’s not keeping eyes on the customer’s needs and thoughts. Don’t just send out a survey, actually make an effort to engage with and find what your customers want and need. 

Tim shares a trick to get better customer data – read your own reviews and the reviews of your competitors. Take those reviews into account and take them to heart. Another trick? Hire your customers! Hire those who would purchase and use your product or service and build an internal community around that. This is a great way to have access to real, impactful feedback that will resonate across your customer base. No more assumptions, just reliable data straight from the source. 

Tim works in a wide range of industries (B2B and B2C businesses) and shares some of his predictions for 2022 in the world of marketing. Data and privacy changes are at the top of the list – he believes in the next year, more data breaches will cause more privacy issues and blocks. Data is integral to marketing, and relying on advertiser data isn’t ideal. Use authenticity and sensitivity with your customers as these issues continue to change. 

Want to learn more? Check out Tim Parkin’s website at https://www.timparkin.com/. 

Check out Parkin Consulting on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/parkin-consulting/. 

Check out Tim Parkin on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/marketing-consultant-tim-parkin/#experience. 

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