You know that one of your responsibilities as a business owner/executive is equipping your employees with the tools and resources they need to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.
For your company to grow, your marketing must work in lockstep with your salespeople to attract new leads and convert them into customers. Building brand loyalty and generating repeat purchases factor into the equation as well.
Marketers have numerous channels they can utilize. It’s good (and necessary) to have a healthy mix, but it can also be a challenge to juggle everything effectively. Just consider the options:
Traditional Channels
- Printed sales collateral
- Direct mail
- Tradeshow materials
- Promotional products
- Print ads
Digital Channels
- Website
- SEO/SEM
- Social media
- Marketing automation
- Digital ads
Success hinges on your business’s ability to reach the right person at the right time with the right message on the right channel. The hurdle for many companies is that their marketers wear many different hats and become jacks of all trades but masters of none.
Without mastery of the numerous facets of marketing, can you really expect maximum effectiveness? How do you swing the odds in your favor?
A generous marketing budget helps, no doubt. But even a well-funded marketer will discover that marketing is a waste of money unless they have the knowledge, tools and time to develop and manage a fine-tuned omni-bound marketing machine.
Perhaps your marketing manager has approached you asking for additional support. Or maybe they haven’t said anything, but you can sense them struggling at times and not getting the results they or you expect.
The bottom line is that if you want your marketing to reach its full potential, your internal marketer needs the help of an agency. This article will dive into the numerous reasons why.
Tap Into a Team of Experts with Diverse Skillsets
Solve the jack of all trades, master of none dilemma by working with a team of masters. Marketing agencies employ experts in all areas of marketing: strategy/planning, graphic design, copywriting, automation, social media, SEO, web design/development, print production and more.
Agency specialists have focused on their particular areas for years. They know the most effective tactics and the least effective after working with a variety of clients.
It’s not realistic to expect your in-house marketer to be a pro in every possible marketing task. When you hire an agency, that’s not something you need to worry about.
Get a Fresh Perspective on Your Marketing Strategy
It doesn’t hurt to shake things up with your marketing strategy once in a while. This is especially true if your marketing has gotten stale and results are starting to decline. Even if you’re happy with your marketing results, why not see if there’s something you can do to make them just a little bit better?
A marketing agency can provide a fresh perspective and new ideas that your internal team hadn’t considered. External input can be just what you need to rejuvenate a tired campaign, take advantage of previously undiscovered opportunities or weed out strategies and tactics that just aren’t cutting it.
Gain Access to Top Marketing Tools & Technologies
The good news for internal marketers is that there are many top-notch tools and technologies available to help them make their jobs easier, produce better results and access more in-depth insights. From marketing automation platforms to social media listening/management tools, chances are there’s a tech tool that could be utilized to streamline most marketing initiatives.
The bad news is that each of these technologies comes at a cost, and prices can be high and add up quickly. When you partner with a marketing agency, you can gain access to these tools without needing to purchase them yourself. In all likelihood, the agency will allow you to utilize them at less than full price as part of your contracted marketing package.
In addition, an agency may introduce your internal marketer to helpful technologies they didn’t previously know about that can make a difference for your company.
Increase Your Scalability
A marketer’s biggest hurdle to scaling up marketing efforts is personnel. They can only do so much by themselves. And even if hiring a new team member is an option, there will be that orientation period where the incoming employee will need to be trained and get acclimated to their position.
Those aren’t concerns when you have a marketing agency at your disposal. A phone call or email is all it takes to get an initiative into motion. Having a marketing agency on standby means existing campaigns can be more easily enhanced and expanded. It also means new campaigns can be up and running faster.
Divide & Conquer
Having a trusted partner means your marketing department can get more done faster and better. Your internal marketer can manage the projects and tasks they excel at while outsourcing the other projects to the agency.
Dividing tasks not only increases the productivity of the marketing department but also enhances its effectiveness. When you’re able to ensure the best possible talent is working on a particular assignment, the end result is marketing execution at the highest level.
Ensure Continuity Regardless of the Circumstances
What happens with your marketing when your internal marketer is out on a business trip, taking a vacation or at home sick? For many businesses, the answer is, honestly, not much.
Sure, email blasts and social media posts can be scheduled ahead of time. If implemented, an automated drip campaign can continue to run. But what if there’s a technical issue that requires attention? Or what if a sales rep requests some sales literature and needs it in a hurry?
In situations like these, your marketer will either need to respond remotely (if it’s even possible) or wait until they’re back in the office. Neither option is ideal.
If you employ a marketing agency, things can continue to run smoothly even if your marketer isn’t in the office. Agencies provide continuity by being familiar with your brand and knowing the ins and outs of your marketing campaigns. If called upon, they can seamlessly step up in the absence of your internal marketer.
And in the event that your internal marketer leaves your employ, your marketing agency can bridge the gap and keep your marketing efforts going without a hiccup until you get a new internal hire in place.
Get Measurable Results
A top-quality marketing department maximizes ROI by generating leads and business without wasting marketing dollars. The challenge in today’s business landscape is that there are so many marketing channels. Your marketer needs to not only identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each channel but also collect data that indicates how effective campaigns are. This process is easier said than done.
Strategists and data analysts from a marketing agency can draw from their resources and experiences to identify the most valuable KPIs and implement data-collection tools so you can assess campaigns in great detail. These valuable reports will tell you what is working and what isn’t so you can optimize your marketing for maximum results.
By hiring a marketing agency, marketers gain the reassurance that they aren’t just shooting from the hip but are following a data-backed strategy that will provide the most bang for their buck.
It’s a Cost-Effective Solution
It’s the great dilemma for any business looking to beef up its marketing department. Do you bring someone in-house to help your marketing manager or go external and hire a marketing agency?
There are certainly pros and cons to each option. But if you’re looking solely at the impact on the bottom line, the answer is clear. Marketing agencies are the more cost-effective option of the two.
Consider the expenses that go into hiring in-house: salary, benefits, equipment, training, continuing education and more. That all comes with a hefty price tag.
On the other hand, an agency provides the manpower, tools and technologies for less. You also have more flexibility when you hire an agency because you can select your package of services based on your level of need. It’s not an all-or-nothing proposition like an in-house hire is.
Stay Up to Date on Marketing Trends, Systems & Software
It’s a fast-paced marketing world. Trends, systems and software are constantly and quickly evolving. The industry best practices of today could be outdated a year from now… if not sooner.
Part of being a good marketer is getting out of your internal company bubble and staying plugged in to what is going on in the many areas of the industry as a whole. However, many marketers will admit that they don’t have time to juggle all of their responsibilities AND keep tabs on the latest industry news and recommendations.
In order to stand out in a competitive arena, agencies must remain at the leading edge of marketing innovation. They can keep you informed about the latest trends and make recommendations based on reports and data. That way, you always have the best chance at success.
Is Hiring a Marketing Agency Right for You?
There are many advantages to hiring a marketing agency to help your internal marketer. It’s a way to expand your capabilities so you can elevate your marketing, achieve your goals and grow your company.
One important thing to stress is that a marketing agency should be viewed as a partner for your in-house marketer, not a replacement. An agency can offer many great services and support, but it’s still critical to have a marketer within your company overseeing everything on a day-to-day basis.
Your marketer shouldn’t feel threatened by the prospect of hiring a marketing agency. The purpose is to make their job more manageable and empower them to strengthen their department. Ultimately, it’s the agency that works for them, not the other way around.
If you do decide to hire an agency, make sure you vet your options carefully to find the right fit for your needs. And after you hire them, make sure they deliver on their promises. For advice on grading your marketing partner, click here.
A strong partnership can benefit your company for years to come.
Have additional questions about working with a marketing agency or want to learn even more? Call us at 815.431.1000 or submit this form to contact us.
