Small businesses face unique challenges. Owners need to build brand awareness, create an online presence, attract their target client, and convert leads—all while managing operations, finances, and current clients. In short, small business marketing is a big task that requires time and resources to be successful.
Instead of trying to beef up your personal marketing know-how and spending your time split between different aspects of your business, what if you could just focus on what’s most important? That’s what outsourcing your marketing does for you.
There are many benefits to outsourcing your marketing needs to a qualified agency. In this blog, we’ll explain four of these benefits and offer tips for making your partnership the best it can be.
Team of Experts
The biggest advantage of partnering with a marketing agency is that you get access to a team of professionals. Marketing is their speciality, so you can rest assured that they know the right tactics for your business and how to implement them.
You’ll sit back and reap the benefits of their expert insights, opinions, and guidance about your marketing strategy. Having this expertise at your side helps you feel confident that you’re making informed decisions about growing your business.
Additionally, your team will help you with some key marketing decisions and tasks, such as:
- Establishing goals
- Defining your audience
- Clarifying your message
- Setting up a sales funnel
- Tracking progress of marketing efforts
They’ll listen to your needs and concerns and guide you through each of these aspects of a great marketing strategy and how they can help you grow.
Targeted Campaigns
Marketing agencies have access to industry tools that many small businesses can’t afford (or don’t need) to purchase for themselves. Most of these tools require a special knowledge and a full-time dedication to organizing and using their functions for best results. With a small staff, you just don’t have the time to dedicate to managing a marketing platform.
But your marketing team does. They use these professional tools every day to help businesses monitor their marketing campaigns and measure progress. Instead of you guessing which tactics might complement your goals, your outsourced marketing team can research past performance to find the optimal channels and messages to reach your target audience.
They can also use their tools to help you create campaigns with specific growth goals in mind. For example, they might use SEO research tools to help you optimize your web pages and content to drive more traffic to your website. Or set up automated email marketing to help nurture leads and encourage conversions. Plus, they’ll track the progress of these campaigns and let you know if you’re getting the desired results or if it’s time to adjust the strategy.
Measurable Results
Speaking of tracking progress, part of that is reporting results. Marketing is an investment and you want to ensure what you invest in is creating opportunities for your business. The good news is that every marketing initiative you set up with an outsourced agency will come with measurable results.
Your agency will use various reporting tools to measure the success of your marketing campaigns. Not only will they keep track of these, but they’ll also help you interpret them. In each of your update meetings, they should have a report of how things are going. They’ll show you areas of growth, areas for improvement, explain what’s working, and suggest any necessary changes.
These services allow you to continually monitor your marketing so you always know you’re on the right track.
Saves Time (and Money)
Marketing is a full-time job, but so is running your business. Few small businesses have the staff to maintain their own marketing, which is why marketing agencies exist!
When you hire an agency, you get hours back in your week to focus on more important things like your business’s financial health, managing your staff, and serving your clients. Your agency will spend its time and resources working on your marketing so you’re always moving toward your goals.
Additionally, working with a marketing agency can actually save you money. For most small businesses, the cost of hiring an agency to help their business is far less than keeping even a single full-time marketing employee on their payroll. Instead of worrying about a salary and benefits, you can pay once and enjoy the benefits of having a professional marketing team at your side.
Tips for a Good Relationship
When you choose a marketing agency, you want to ensure that it will be a good partnership. The last thing you need is to get stuck in a cycle of constantly finding new marketing partners.
There are three ways you can make the most of your professional relationship and feel confident that your agency will meet your needs in the long-term:
- Ensure they’re a good fit. Not every agency is made equal. You need one that has the tools and team to help you reach your unique goals. Ask questions about how they would handle the problems you’re facing and if they have the capability for any particular marketing initiatives you’d like to try.
- Set clear expectations. In the first meeting with your new marketing partner, work together to set clear expectations for the relationship. This typically includes the goals of your partnership, how you will achieve them, and what success looks like for your business.
- Make them part of the team. If you keep your marketing agency at arms length, you’re not going to get the results you need. Treat them like a part of your team and really bring them into the fold of your business. The more they understand how you operate and who your client is, the better they can help you.
Do You Need a Marketing Partner?
Are you tired of splitting your attention between running your business and managing your marketing? It’s time to hire a marketing agency. Working with a marketing partner gives you access to a professional team with professional tools that will help you reach your business goals.
At Hughes Integrated, we believe in helping small businesses grow with the power of StoryBrand Marketing. Schedule a free consultation today to see how we can help you reach your goals.
