Running a small business may be your ultimate goal. Yet, what might start as a grand adventure can soon become an immense burden, as every task is on your shoulders alone. And as your company continues to grow, you may worry that all of this multi-tasking might eventually crush you. So what is a business owner to do in this situation? It is time to bring in the professionals, more specifically, an experienced marketing partner. Agencies are the perfect solution to tackle your complicated marketing woes while providing you with a plan to grow your sales and achieve your overall business goals. If your company is experiencing stagnant sales, fewer qualified leads, or if your team simply doesn't have the time or skills to get the job done, you may want to consider hiring a marketing agency. Here are five ways to know it might be time.
1. You Don't Have Time to DIY
If, on average, business owners spend 20 hours per week marketing their business, how are they supposed to find time to do anything else? With everything that needs to get done to run a successful business, it is no surprise that marketing strategies are one of the first things that suffer because of a lack of time and workforce. Yet, without them, your business cannot grow.
Do you know why large companies like Microsoft and Symantec outsource their marketing to an agency? They know that they can grow quickly by investing in an agency that can take care of their marketing needs leaving them to take care of all the other stuff that needs to get done. Your business can reap these same rewards. Marketing agencies can help make your advertising plan a success while they free you and your staff to get other business operations done quickly.
2. You Want Quantifiable Results
Every business wants quantifiable results, and they achieve these goals by studying their key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs help an organization figure out whether their strategic goals are being met, and whether they are progressing toward the results they want. These figures are a great indicator that can help a business zone in on what matters most to them.
So how can you figure out what KPIs to track? Through the help of a digital marketing agency. These agencies have the tools and software to keep track of all your critical KPIs, including your company's effectiveness, quality, efficiency, compliance, project performance, and resource allocation, which can mean significant results. Some companies have even found that just tracking their KPIs for a few months led to a sales increase of 50%.
3. You Need to Find More Clients
Most companies know that to grow, you need more clients. Where the issue lies, however, is where can you find these clients? How can you convert leads into sales? And how can you expand your network?
A marketing agency's primary goal is to help you cultivate long-term clients. They do this by implementing effective methods that include detailed reports, tracking programs, establishing a client/product fit, and setting you up with realistic goals. These methods can produce substantial rewards for your company. Organizations have reported that they have experienced a 451% increase in their qualified leads when they use marketing automation.
4. You're Not a Marketing Expert
Many business managers and owners may be fantastic at running their business, but very few consider themselves a marketing expert. Marketing trends are constantly changing, and it is a lot harder for business owners to stay on top of everything, especially in digital marketing. Even though an owner may not know all the in's and out's of marketing, as long as they understand what they want to achieve before hiring a marketing agency, the result can still be quite advantageous.
Marketing agencies house experts at public relations, sales, and advertising. With their collective knowledge, they have access to the expertise you need that most in-house marketing employees cannot provide. This translates into sales for your business. A recent study by AdAge indicates that companies who hired a marketing agency saw a 7% increase in year-over-year revenue.
5. You Need a Team of Professionals Without the Heavy Price Tag
Let's say that you want a winning digital marketing plan, but you want to do everything yourself. Do you know what this entails? For starters, you will need to handle creative and ad development for all platforms, execute a proper paid search and a paid social campaign, which means having to learn and optimize all platforms. Not to mention, proving that the campaign actually worked when it is done, while also completing all of the on-going campaign performance, retargeting and optimizations that have to take place to make the campaign really work. And this list does not even cover half of the tasks that make up a robust digital marketing team.
What’s great about hiring a marketing agency is they can perform these functions at a fraction of the cost.
Bottom Line: You Need a Digital Marketing Agency
An advertising agency can be the solution you need to solve your digital marketing problems. Hiring a team of professionals to help you identify your goals, execute a plan, and achieve measurable results allows you to focus on what you do best. That means you’ll have more time to spend engaging with customers, developing new ideas, and ultimately scaling your business. If you’ve realized it’s time for a change, consider working with a media partner to establish a marketing strategy and achieve your overall business goals.
