Hiring a marketing company is an area that many company owners tend to ignore, yet it is the heart of any successful business. Think of website designing, site videos, television advertisements, social media marketing, and so on; a marketing firm helps you build your brand in the most efficient way possible.
Some common concerns that might make you recoil at the phrase ‘marketing company’ include a drain on your budget. But if you ask yourself a few questions: Are you creating leads and not closing deals? Are you facing challenges generating those leads? Then you might consider engaging a marketing firm.
Take a look at the following signs that your company needs to hire a marketing agency.
- Corporate Branding
Standing out in the marketplace is a requirement for better sales and profits. And if you have not yet come up with a branding campaign, you will find it overwhelming even to decide where to start. You will feel like you do not have the energy, resources, and time to ‘start over’ with your website, Facebook page, email marketing, marketing materials, and so on to make your business all look branded.
A marketing company can fix all this. It will audit your business’s existing brand. Takes a look at your brand’s visual identity, brand messaging, website appearance and feel, and much more.
What’s more, the company will define your brand’s promise; your mission, products or services, and customers. And this will be through an open discussion with your company leaders to help determine what the company stands for.
There is a lot of work to be done, and hiring an agency would be more advantageous.
- Digital Marketing Tools
Marketing companies are always on the forefront of technology and trends. They use software, data, and analytical reports to target the appropriate offers and the most potential customers. And they do this at the right time.
Even better, these companies have the latest software to help you manage your SEO, social media, paid media, email, training, and reporting.
You must have these marketing tools to remain relevant in the current crowded market. For example, you need marketing automation tools. They help you create automated workflows such as email marketing, landing pages, content creation, and lead nurturing. Other significant tools include product management and information tools.
Therefore, your need for an external marketing consultant is paramount.
- Cost-Effective
It is cheaper hiring a marketing company than having an in-house marketing department. It’s more operational, and perhaps the only way out for startups who need professional services and have a limited budget. An internal marketing department requires staff, systems, training, facilities, and benefits. All these can eat up your preliminary budget.
Since several other businesses hire the agency, their operational cost is split across their clients, making them the most cost-effective option.
What happens after your marketing company starts giving consistently poor results? You would quickly replace it with a more efficient company. But you would hesitate to do so to an in-house team because you will have to pay large severance packages. Thus, outsourcing saves money.
- Work with Experts
Think of the agency as a pool of pros, and the pool is bottomless! Today’s inbound marketing needs several areas of discipline like social media, SEO, branding, content, and paid ads. Your in-house department might lack the bandwidth to accommodate all these channels.
That’s not all. The consultancy brings with it talent, exceptional solutions, and better results. They will be ready to start projects with superior strategies that an internal team may never develop.
Additionally, agencies work with a diverse scope of clients. So the power of diversification comes into play. They never get burned out of marketing ideas because they deal with all types of brands. And because of their many clients, they spend most of their time professionally engaged, and chances of thinking outside the box are high hence giving your brand a unique look.
- Work Flow
A marketing company provides workflow and continuity. It can chip in at short notice and continue from where a departed in-house team left off. They can be an effective remedy in times of work overflow situations and during periods of peak demands. And this means there will be continuity of your brand message across all your marketing channels.
The trick here is to create a workflow that is consistent enough to make marketing more effective. For instance, the agency will scrutinize your current procedures, map out any similarities as stages, then move to a more flexible management tool – which will be easy for them to access and use.
- Monitor Competition
It is critical to know where your company stands regarding the competition and the market. Your marketing consultant will help you monitor the competition, and you will know what your competitors do best. Also, you will identify their mistakes and ensure you do not fall into them.
There are many tactics marketing companies use to monitor the competition:
- Analyzing competitor’s video content
- Tracking their social media presence
- Reviewing their high performing content
- Identifying competitor’s best keywords
- Attending competitors’ webinars
These and a lot more creative techniques require a lot of time and planning, which your in-house team may lack. An external consultant can assist with this.
- Complement Your Existing In-House Marketing Department
Divide your work and win your promotional projects. Let your existing team deal with the areas where they are best at, and hire a marketing company to tackle other areas. The division of labor allows your staff to perform better. In this case, there will be no learning curve for your staff to use new technologies and methods.
Since the two parties have joint goals and a clear understanding of what your company wants to achieve, the effectiveness of efforts doubles, similarly, the volume of your marketing campaign amplifies.
Final Thoughts
A marketing company offering robust brand strategies will put your business’s products and services directly in front of your prospective customers. It will allow you to focus on improving the bottom line and running other company operations. So, the big question would not be whether you can afford a marketing agency, but how much time and money are you losing by trying to handle marketing services by yourself or in-house. All the best!
