Everyone knows that a good marketing strategy is hallmark to the success of any business. And it has become ever more relevant in recent years—a survey from McKinsey and Company found that 40% of marketers believe that marketing is a key differentiator in delivering growth to a company. It’s no secret—business’ marketing efforts are increasingly becoming a standout influencer in its ability to gain new business.
However important it may be to solidify a powerful marketing campaign, it can be difficult prospect to wrap your head around. Allocating resources, hiring the right talent, and building a brand are all common woes for those looking to beef up their marketing plans, and this rings especially true for small and burgeoning businesses.
Fortunately, outside marketing consultants and agencies are a viable option for most companies’ marketing needs, and oftentimes the benefits even outweigh those of hiring an in-house team. Let’s find out how!
You’ll have low overhead costs
In the not-so-distant past, finding an executive of a company that valued the efforts of a marketing team was not very common. They viewed them as ineffective, untrustworthy, and most of all, expensive!
But today, you’ll see that marketing strategies are being heralded as a legitimate money-making investment for business. While marketing has received more kudos in its ability to drive growth, one pain point remains true: it is not a cheap department to fund. U.S News reported that the median salary for a marketing manager in 2016 was just over $131,000. And that’s just the manager’s pay. An effective marketing team has many different key players with quite lofty salaries as well:
With these kinds of numbers, it’s fairly understandable why executives might want to pinch their pennies when it comes to marketing. But there are other, less-expensive avenues for you to consider.
When you choose to hire an outside marketing agency, there is a host of money-saving benefits. For one, you won’t be responsible for paying for their payroll taxes or benefits/healthcare cost (hopefully their employer does, though!). The marketing agency is also in charge of supplying all of its own equipment and licensing for tools used to run marketing campaigns which can get expensive. But perhaps the biggest difference is the rate at which you pay an agency. Depending on deliverables and the workload required, a marketing agency is going to charge you a fraction of the cost of the price of bringing on a team of in-house marketers.
You’ll have access to a team of expert marketers
There’s an old adage: a jack of all trades is a master of none. While this may be a proverbial truism for many of life’s trappings, it doesn’t necessarily ring true when you’re trying to run a business. In order to provide a quality product or service, you need to be specialized in your craft.
Unfortunately, this can’t always be accomplished in the small-to-medium business realm—you are oftentimes required to wear many hats to get the job done. This is because the business may or may not have the resources required to hire a specialized individual to run an entire department.
When you hire a marketing agency, it’s as if you are hiring a whole marketing team all at once. Agencies offer an array of marketing services such as design, content, social, public relations, and SEO to fill out any and all of your needs. That way, you are able to focus on what matters most for your business: providing quality products and services.
You’ll have a brand that shines
Your customers should be the defining factor in driving your marketing strategy, says Kirsten Newbold-Kipp, research director at Gartner for Marketers. And if you don’t engage them in the fashion they want, your brand will never grow.
“To stay relevant, [you need to] strengthen those capabilities that enable marketing deliverables to match elevated customer expectations,” says Kirsten Newbold-Knipp.
Advances in technology have made marketing a multi-channel landscape that can be hard to navigate. It’s now standard for a company to offer information, content, and service across several touchpoints. Not only that, you have to be able to provide a seamless experience through those touchpoints. Your customers demand a convenient and personalized interaction with your company, and your capability to do so will greatly affect your brand perception.
A marketing agency is steeped in the tactics to help you create a coercive brand. As aforementioned, a marketing agency has an arsenal of skills to resource from and can advise you on which areas of your marketing strategy needs help. For example, the agency’s web team can give your website a fresh new look, the content team can write compelling copy, articles, and blogs, and the SEO team can help monitor and analyze traffic to the site.
The process of ramping up an entire marketing department can be a head-spinning endeavor. Finding the money, hiring the right talent, and executing strategy is undeniably stressful for smaller businesses. But, with the help of a marketing agency, you can buck all three of these concerns, and it’s a great jumping off point for your new or developing business.