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Is it Time to Hire a Marketing Agency?

A common challenge for mid-to-small businesses is how to best extend your marketing budget. You know you need help, but the thought of hiring a marketing agency can seem daunting, expensive, or even unnecessary—especially in a time where do-it-yourself websites and social advertising are widely available.

Marketing, as you’re probably realizing (because you’re here) is an ongoing cycle that never lets up, needing constant attention, tweaking and refining. The issues vary by channel, by demographic—even by the weather.

Maybe you’re getting lots of hits to your website, but you’re not getting very many sales. Maybe you’re not getting quality leads. Or maybe you’re getting sales, but you’re not getting repeat customers.

Before you add a marketing professional to your team, you should know what to expect so you can make the best decision for your business.

Here are the biggest differences between an internal marketer vs. a full-service marketing agency:

In-House Marketer

  • Usually one person
  • Has one primary focus
  • Skill level varies
  • Few resources
  • Lower cost

Marketing Agency

  • Small to Large Team
  • Each team member specializes in different areas
  • Expert-Level Skills
  • Many Resources
  • Higher Cost

While many firms stick with hiring a marketer because of the low cost, the calculation changes when you consider building out your marketing team and/or increasing your media investments. If you start out with a marketing coordinator or director, you’ll inevitably realize that you need a team to execute and produce the marketing plan (a designer, social media expert, etc.) While outsourcing these tasks to various vendors might seem like a logical answer, you’ll find it typically costs less to hire a marketing agency than it is to try to manage in-house.

Why Hire a Full-Service Agency?

Consistency Across Mediums

Rather than hiring multiple vendors, hiring one dedicated agency to create all your marketing resources will ensure a consistent image for print, web, and video. Your voice, font, tone, and logo will all look and sound the same across all mediums. You’ll also have results delivered to you in one report that tells you what’s working and what can be improved.

Your Image Will Be Professionally Managed

A marketing agency obsesses over your brand and makes sure your image is always presented in the best light. Everything from your logo to your digital media will look and sound great, and you’ll benefit from getting a whole team working on growing your business for less than the cost of a highly qualified in-house person.

You’ll Be Getting Vetted Experts

Typically, marketing agencies know how to hire top talent for their firms, and they only recruit qualified professionals. This saves you from the task of vetting marketers who may or may not have the experience you need to get your brand to the next level.

What It’s Like:

Building a Website with a Marketing Agency
For example, when you contract a marketing agency to build your company website, you’re taking a big step up from hiring a marketer. While the cost is often more expensive, you’ll enjoy some of the following benefits.

  • You’ll get a truly custom build
  • You can choose the features
  • You have an on-call development team
  • Your website will be aligned with the rest of your marketing

Watch Your Ideas Come to Life

When you interview a marketer about building a website or running a digital campaign for your brand, you may find they try to talk you out of ideas that may be important to you. This is often because the marketer lacks the essential skills needed to bring your idea to life.

When you work with a marketing agency, the agency’s team often has the experience and skill to make your ideas come to life. They can also improve on them to make them more effective. They can even suggest advanced features for your site, and work to optimize benefits from your campaign results month over month.

Get a Quick Response from the Team

Ad agencies also are great for providing quick responses to after-hours emergency issues, such as website crashes or crisis communications. Instead of fighting tooth and nail for a response, you’ll benefit from white-glove treatment and proactive innovation that you won’t get anywhere else.

Professional Consistency Across All Channels

In a perfect world, your website should look like the rest of your brand. Because your marketing agency creates all of your advertising, it’s no surprise that your image will be consistent across channels. When it’s time for a brand refresh—no problem! You’ll have one team managing every aspect of the process, including your website.

When it’s time to take your business to the next level, we hope you’ll consider hiring a marketing agency, like MDR Advertising Agency to elevate your image and grow your brand. We’ve been in the business of building client brands with ambition for almost 50 years, and will be ready when you are.