As a small business owner, you may have overseen your marketing efforts since you started your business. This may be out of necessity due to budgeting or because you believed no one could market your business better than you. Now that you’ve gotten things off the ground, you may be wondering if there is room for improvement.
Whether you’re looking to take the job off your hands or want to grow your business, hiring a marketing agency is the solution you’ve been looking for.
How do you know it’s the right move for you and your business? Here are four signs it’s time to hire a marketing agency.
#1 You Are Experiencing Burnout
You. Cannot. Do. It. All.
As business owners, it’s tempting to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You believe that you’re the only one who can manage the responsibility. But the truth is, this practice is setting you up for failure. By stretching yourself so thin, you will inevitably create situations where certain areas of your business begin to fall through the cracks and get neglected.
Have you begun to see important areas of your business sit on the back burner while you struggle to play catch up? Are you unable to focus because your mind is juggling so many moving parts? Are you feeling overwhelmed but unsure how to pick what you can take off your plate and who to hand it off to?
According to a study by Statistic Brain, over 50% of U.S. businesses fail after five years and over 70 percent after 10 years. While studies show several consistent causes of this phenomenon, owner burnout is one of the potential factors that contribute to business failure.
Marketing is one area of your business that can have a direct impact on your bottom line when it is not managed properly. It is also an area that, when managed without experience, data, and effective strategies, cannot produce the results you desire. It is in the best interest of your business to stop trying to hold the reins on marketing and hire an agency that can lighten your load while simultaneously propelling your business forward.
#2 You Don’t Know What You’re Doing
Just because you know your business, does NOT mean you know your audience. And your audience is who matters in your marketing strategies.
Every business owner has a zone of genius. That’s why they started their business – there is something they can offer that is unique to them and needed by their customers. They have the knowledge, experience, and skills to make those products or services possible. But recognizing you have that zone of genius doesn’t mean you also have the right tools for reaching the right people.
Many business owners who oversee their own marketing make decisions based on their personal preferences or experiences. They are biased. They forget that not everyone thinks like them, lives like them, or shops like them. And THIS – is a fatal flaw for any business.
According to Investopedia, having poorly planned or executed marketing campaigns, or a lack of adequate marketing and publicity, are among the top reasons that small businesses fail.
It’s hard to admit that you’ve been “winging it” when it comes to your marketing strategies but taking that step and realizing you may be in over your head doesn’t mean you’re a bad business owner. On the contrary, making that recognition and taking steps to remedy it means you’re a good one. If you’re reading this and it sounds familiar – it’s time to hire a marketing agency.
#3 What You Are Doing, Isn’t Working
Have you been pouring money into local magazines and Google Ad campaigns without any sort of strategy, rhyme, or reason? Have you watched your sales decline and your leads diminish? Have you wondered if it’s time to try something else? While marketing isn’t the end all be all for driving sales, it sure is the main ingredient for connecting your products and services to the right audience.
By hiring a marketing agency, your business can be evaluated with fresh eyes. Agencies know to ask the right questions and gather the right information in order to develop customized marketing strategies that can be measured for their success ensuring you are getting the ROI (return on investment) you desire.
More specifically, hiring a digital marketing agency will show you what opportunities you’ve been missing out on and how impactful the right strategies can be for business. From SEO services to social media management and brand strategy – hiring a reputable agency can completely change the success of your business.
#4 You Can’t Afford to Hire an Internal Team
While the thought of hiring a marketing agency may make your pockets feel like they’re on fire, the truth is bringing in an agency can be more feasible than bringing in an in-house marketer.
When you hire an agency, you are getting an entire team of professionals who have varying areas of expertise all working together for YOUR business. From content creators to SEO experts and web designers, you will reap the benefits of seasoned marketing professionals for far less than it would cost you to hire less experienced individuals who need to be trained and onboarded.
There is no doubt that hiring a marketing firm would be a significant monthly investment. However, that investment still would not compare to the benefits, annual salaries, and cost of daily resources required to hire less than a handful of in-house employees.
When reviewing the financial impact of an agency vs. an in-house employee consider what would happen if your in-house marketer were to take a temporary leave of absence? This could negatively impact revenue growth and your inbound marketing efforts. Agencies on the other hand are scalable and have contingencies in place so they do not affect your business. Agencies also know how to put the best people on the tasks they are best suited for. If your in-house marketing specialist is a great writer but poor with web design or SEO that is another service you may have to pay out of pocket to implement or hire additional workers to cover those deficiencies as well.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for a marketing professional in 2021 was $133,380 a year which comes out to $11,115 a month. And that is for ONE person who may have only one particular area of true expertise if any.
Marketing agencies are one of those rare commodities where you actually do get more bang for your buck.
Did you fall into one or more of these areas? Are you ready to hire an agency but unsure where to go from here? The Vinci team wants to help guide you through the process and break down what you should expect from a top-tier agency experience. Reach out so we can connect with you and show you what’s possible.
