We talk with a lot of business owners, and many are keenly aware when they need marketing help. Typically, some or all of the following issues exist within their company:
1) Declining sales
2) Lack of brand awareness
3) Little insight into what’s working or not working.
4) Inconsistent messaging
5) Difficulty reaching their ideal target audience.
6) Limited resources to make a difference.
Marketing experts understand the specific strategies associated with solving each of these problems. Hiring an in-house marketing professional – someone you have control over – might seem to be the obvious solution.
Hiring an employee may be beneficial when your company is small, and a somewhat singular approach may meet some basic marketing needs. For example, you may want social media posts developed and published. On the other hand, hiring an agency gives you an entire team with multiple specialties, equipped to strategize and execute on a larger scale and with the bigger picture in mind.
How do you know which choice is a better fit for your company? Here are a few questions to ask yourself when considering whether to bring someone in house or hire an agency:
Question #1: How would we benefit from an agency vs. an employee?
An agency provides you with an already-in-place team of seasoned experts, with experience and specialized knowledge in a variety of disciplines that can get you to your goals faster. An agency with depth will understand strategy, digital marketing, creative design, content development, email marketing, CRM management, social media marketing, and more to address your unique, marketing mix needs.
It may seem that there are endless ways to market your business. An experienced agency knows that starting with a strategic plan can help the business owner think through the goals they are working to achieve, what they want the company to look like in six months, one year, and three years, the audience they want to engage and the methods that will most effectively reach it.
A savvy agency will be tuned into ways to capitalize on the use of channels that get their customers’ brands known faster and will have the bandwidth to take on multiple projects at once – a key benefit. A single employee may be limited by his or her specialized area of expertise and may lean in that direction since it’s what they know. And with only one individual, your marketing campaign may move at a slower pace.
Question #2: Would it be more expensive to hire an agency vs. an employee?
Hiring an agency may seem more expensive up front because there are high level strategies to uncover and consider when you first enter the engagement. However, when you weigh the cost of recruiting, hiring, and potentially bringing a junior-level team member up to speed, the cost difference is likely negligible. The longer-term dividends you reap by working with an agency far outweigh those of hiring an individual staff member since you don’t have the ongoing financial obligations associated with employee overhead (benefits, training, equipment, federal and state requirements).
In addition, your access to expertise is not limited by the experience of one employee. Instead, you have access to senior-level partners who have seen, over decades, what works and doesn’t, based on a variety of clients in a host of industries – strategic, creative, and tactical experts for the price of one! Working with a seasoned marketing agency means you have a strategic partner, focused on moving the needle and getting results.
Question #3: Do we have enough work/are we big enough to hire an agency?
The best response to this question is another question:
Is yours a growing company, aspiring to achieve tangible results, and ready to hand the marketing keys to experts so you can get back to the business of running your business?
Companies are big enough to hire a marketing agency when they are ready to make a leap into growth. As a boutique marketing agency, 5280 Accelerator’s clients are not those companies that are looking for “quick fixes” to their marketing conundrums – there are no silver bullets. Our clients are companies who know they need help, realize a few posts on LinkedIn are not their answer, understand the value of a thoughtful and strategic marketing plan, and want to partner with a team they can enjoy working with.
Getting Started
Our experienced team loves to collaborate with companies and people we click with and know we can help. Our first steps involve getting to know you, your company’s goals, what you envision for your company’s future as everything comes together, and the type of marketing support you feel you need.
We love helping companies grow. We begin with a Discovery Call to learn about your challenges and to gauge whether our association is a good mutual fit. Reach out and get connected! In the meantime, check out our Results page to read short case studies and results achieved for numerous clients.