When it is time to focus on growing your company strategically, marketing is the next logical step. Companies ready for growth inevitably face the daunting task of deciding whether to hire a marketing agency or do the marketing in house. How do you decide what’s right for you? The reality is that you face a handful of options:
- Do nothing. When growth is the goal, this is clearly not a viable option. Attracting new customers, solidifying your brand in the market, and expanding your products and services requires a solid marketing plan and ongoing, consistent marketing outreach.
- Do-it-yourself. You’ve likely read articles and books touting tips and tricks that make marketing sound simple, and even a little fun. Doing it yourself may also sound like a great way to save money, but when it’s not your core competency, you may actually find yourself wasting valuable resources and money, spinning your wheels, frustrated, and unsure of what specifically is working and what is not. When you’re running a business, this is not an efficient use of valuable brain power.
- Delegate. When it makes perfect sense that the marketer is not you, surely someone else in the company has the bandwidth or interest, right? The truth is that marketing without focus fails. It’s very difficult for it to be a side gig, regardless of the initial excitement it may bring. Inevitably, the time or the interest, or both, disappear.
- Hire an entry-level marketer. This may seem feasible when looking at the cost of an affordable marketing agency. It sounds good to have someone full time who is committed to your company and can grow with you. Before you make the decision to write the job description, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Calculate your fully burdened headcount costs, such as insurance, unemployment, etc., so you are comparing the true expense vs. an agency.
- Remember that an entry-level person has only basic knowledge. They likely have not launched numerous products and companies or ever had to pivot on a dime. Most are only familiar with marketing plans from textbooks and may not possess decades of real-world learning about what leads to success.
- Entry-level marketers’ ideas are limited by their experience. They are only one person and can therefore bring only one perspective. This makes it difficult to excel at the wide breadth of marketing skills needed to get the job done, including social media savvy, website design and implementation, materials design, and writing – not to mention, strategic marketing expertise. But if you can afford the time to grow a junior-level marketing person and let them test their learning with your brand, this may be a viable path for you.
- Outsource to a BtoB marketing agency. For small businesses that are ready to build their brands, raise awareness, and grow sales, tapping into the right agency that fits your needs is the best way to get the results you seek and to alleviate, not add to, your stress and workload.
Here are a few ways an agency can move you forward faster:
Leave It to the Experts
Marketing is more than a website or a few social media posts. To do it right, it must be guided by a comprehensive strategic and creative vision. It includes a variety of essential functions, including content development, social media, KPI definition and tracking, email marketing, website development and updates, task management, and more. Most marketing do-it-yourselfers skip over strategy and go directly to execution, and don’t even consider measuring results. This can lead to ineffective efforts and wasted time and resources.
Stay Nimble and Financially Efficient
The right marketing agency can provide an excellent return on your investment by being your objective set of eyes in the market. By seeing your company the way your prospects and clients see it and by staying on top of market trends, you can capitalize on your strengths and take advantage of opportunities. Hiring experts can save you time, increase your client base, and eliminate the need for extra staff. If you have a small team, an agency can help you expand your capabilities within your required timeframe.
Put Your Best Foot Forward
Marketing experts are professional innovators. The best agencies have a breadth of inter-disciplined experts who work together to solve your company’s unique marketing challenges. The great agencies have been around for more than a decade, have seasoned marketing experts on staff who’ve worked in a variety of industries and settings, and have a process-driven approach that enables great decision-making throughout. Agencies know how to get results because you’re not their first rodeo, and they can bring their wealth of knowledge to the table faster. On the flip side, poor marketing can actually alienate potential clients, and if your efforts are inconsistent, your target audience may be left with more questions than answers.
Your final decision point comes from the answer to the question: Where is your time best spent? Your business is based on the unique products and expertise you offer, and distractions can be costly. Outsourcing marketing enables you to place the focus on efforts that will yield results and increase productivity, but even more importantly, will provide a proven path forward.
5280 Accelerator is a team of creative collaborators, bringing a process-driven, professional, and strategic marketing approach to small businesses. Reach out to me personally at Cindy@5280Accelerator.com to find out how a team of marketing experts can help make the difference your company needs to enable growth.