Getting new customers is a challenge many businesses face. It can be a complex process, especially if you are just starting out. Small business owners may wonder how they could get better marketing results. They may ask themselves if they should hire a marketing agency.
Marketing plays an essential role in attracting new customers. A marketing agency can execute an effective marketing strategy that drives more traffic to your website and translates to walk-in clients.
If you are thinking about hiring a marketing firm near you, you may have a million questions about whether an in-house team could do a better job. Is it worth the investment?
Your business needs marketing. This may be the lifeline you need to gain an edge over your competitors.
Benefits of Hiring a Marketing Agency
A digital marketing agency is a one-stop shop specializing in helping small businesses attract potential clients through various channels. It consists of individuals skilled in different marketing areas, including:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social media management
- Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
- Content creation
- Web design
- Email marketing
- Influencer marketing
Hiring a digital marketing agency may feel like a big step, especially if you’ve just started your business. Fortunately, the advantages of working with a marketing firm far outweigh the disadvantages.
Here are some reasons you should hire a digital marketing agency:
1. Specialized Skills
Hiring a marketing agency means hiring a team of skilled marketing experts. This cuts down on the need to internally employ a jack-of-all-trades to run your marketing campaigns. When you work with a digital marketing firm, you have access to specialists like SEO experts, PPC advertisers, copywriters, social media managers, web designers, and data analysts. A digital marketing firm near you can be very beneficial, as they are already familiar with the local market.
If you decide to hire an in-house team with these skills, the costs may add up fast. Hiring a single in-house marketing specialist may also limit the marketing strategies your business focuses on.
2. Save Costs
Many small business owners think only large businesses can afford to hire digital marketing firms — they are wrong. The cost of hiring a marketing agency may be cheaper for a small business than an entire in-house marketing team. Hiring, training, and retaining full-time employees is expensive. Work benefits, payroll taxes, health insurance, and sick days may be too costly for any small business.
Remember, one person can’t handle all aspects of your digital marketing campaign. You may need to hire a team, dramatically increasing your recurring costs.
With a digital marketing agency, you take advantage of the skills and experience of the entire digital marketing team. You don’t have to worry about any tools, computers, software, or personnel. The agency already has the right people who can meet your marketing needs.
3. Free up Your Time
Many small business owners apply a do-it-yourself mentality. They may try to complete all types of tasks without the help of trained specialists. Let’s be honest, what would a lawyer know about website design? Would a chef be good at driving organic traffic to their website? Probably not.
The average business owner would find it challenging to execute a successful digital marketing campaign to drive traffic and boost revenue. There’s a huge learning curve for small business owners with little or no experience in digital marketing.
Outsourcing technical roles that require specialized knowledge and skills makes sense. If you bear the burden of running everything yourself, your business may suffer. You may not have ample time to focus on your business, affecting service delivery. Don’t let part of your business consume you and leave you with little time to run it.
4. A Fresh Perspective
A digital marketing agency can offer your business a fresh set of eyes. Wouldn’t it be great to hear new ideas on promoting your business? Working with a marketing agency team can give you a new perspective.
Marketing agencies work with small business owners in different industries. Whether in the tourism or auto repair sector, a digital marketing agency has experts working round the clock to make informed decisions that can help your marketing efforts.
For small business owners who can’t hire in-house data analysts, a marketing agency can develop data-backed strategies for multichannel campaigns that will get you conversions.
5. Speed of Work
Any business owner knows that time is of the essence. If you delay implementing the right strategies, someone else may set up shop and give you a run for your money.
A marketing agency may have experts working collectively to meet the same goals. The division of labor in marketing agencies makes workflow faster and more efficient. For example, if you want to relaunch your website, a specialist may be working on your site’s front-end design while others create blog posts or test your website’s technical SEO performance.
6. Workplace Politics
Your company is like your child. It may be hard for a business owner to see the real problems affecting their marketing efforts.
An in-house team may also have office politics that affect the quality of work. Great ideas may be shut down by people who feel they know what’s best for the business. But do they?
With an external digital marketing agency, you experience an unbiased point of view. They can point out real concerns without involving any personal feelings. An agency may also highlight issues that an in-house team may be nervous to voice.
7. Latest Trends, Technology, and Tools
As a business owner, you may not realize how important current trends can help your business. Should you post pictures on Instagram during the day or night? Should your business website have a WhatsApp number for messaging? What email marketing platform should you use to send automated emails to your customers?
A marketing agency can easily provide answers and objectively point you in the right direction. Using analytics tools, you can gain actionable insights on the best way to move your business forward.
8. Plan Ahead
How can digital marketing firms set you up for future success? This is a question that lingers in the minds of many small business owners.
Investing in effective marketing strategies during the early stages of your business can help you gain a competitive advantage. Working with a marketing agency ensures you come up with a long-term marketing campaign that can run for three, six, or even twelve months.
With an effective digital marketing strategy, you can set goals to meet after a certain period. For example, you may want your gym to show up on Google’s local 3-pack by the end of the year.
Signs It's Time To Hire a Digital Marketing Firm
Digital marketing firms freshen up marketing strategies, offer skilled expertise, and save time and money. This isn’t something that business owners can learn overnight. What are the telltale signs business owners should decide to work with digital marketing agencies?
Here are a few:
- You don’t enjoy marketing
- You don’t have enough time
- Your business sales are stagnant
- You don’t have the budget to hire an internal marketing team
- You don’t have the required skills or expertise
- Your website hasn’t been updated in over two years
- Your sales and marketing team is producing poor-quality or few leads
- Your content is outdated, and website traffic is declining
- Your business is growing, and you want to enhance your reputation
- You wonder if this is it — is there potential for greater opportunities and success?
Considerations When Hiring a Marketing Agency Near Me
Finding the right marketing agency for your business can be challenging. When looking for the right digital marketing agency to partner with, there are several considerations:
Budget
Cost is an important factor when looking for a marketing firm. Your marketing needs may affect your marketing budget.
A crucial question that you should ask yourself is whether there is enough work to warrant an internal team. If not, it makes sense to work with a marketing agency.
Agency Expertise
Some digital marketing agencies focus on specific industries while others focus on general services. For example, one firm may specialize in legal SEO only. It’s best to find a digital marketing agency that offers what you are looking for.
Client Retention Rate
You should research client-agency contracts. There are many reasons why these business contracts end. But if you spot a pattern of many previous clients ending their agency contracts early, that’s a major red flag.
Small business owners should also keep in mind an agency’s productivity and the time it takes to deliver results.
Hiring a Marketing Agency To Boost Your Marketing Efforts
Today’s world is crowded with brands, startups, multinational companies, and adverts everywhere you turn. Choosing to work with a marketing firm can help you grow exponentially and enjoy better returns.
It’s time to partner with Redstitch to drive real change and achieve your marketing and business goals. The team at Redstitch is ready to help generate conversions for your business. It’s time to take your business to the next level.