When you hire a marketing agency, your primary goal is to add value to your business strategy. But, how do you know if a marketing team is adding the value you’re looking for? Let us take a few moments to share how Green Apple adds value to our clients’ strategies in hopes that it helps you determine how an agency might help you reach your business goals.
Should I Hire an Internal Marketing Team or Outsource to a Local Agency?
Marketing is crucial to the success of a business. It helps you meet your sales goals, increase your brand awareness, and tell your story. Though many understand the importance of marketing’s role in growing a business, few are sure of how to go about it. Should you hire an internal team, or should you outsource to a local agency? For the most robust, effective marketing strategy, we recommend outsourcing. Let’s talk about why.
In this article, we’ll cover a few reasons to consider outsourcing, including:
- Staying ahead of the curve
- Getting more out of your marketing budget
- Having a comprehensive marketing team without searching for employees
- Focusing on your core business operations
With an outsourced marketing agency, you can…
Stay Ahead of the Curve
A marketing agency lives and breathes innovative tools and effective strategies. They are working daily to research new methods, test the effectiveness of a tactic, and identify the best way to connect with your audience. Not only do agencies stay ahead of the latest trends, but they also invest the time into learning about your internal operations and your target audience’s expectations and needs. Agencies live in the marketing mindset, whereas internal teams are living inside of your industry’s world. When you outsource your marketing, you know that you’re working with a team that will identify your vision, build a strategy, monitor that strategy continually, and do everything in its power to deliver results.Get More Out of Your Marketing Budget
Can you believe that hiring an external marketing team could actually make your budget stretch further? When you think of it in terms of overhead, you can skip hours of searching for an internal employee and the countless dollars you would spend hiring, training, and managing that new person. Having an agency on retainer also ensures that your marketing strategy will not be put on hold when someone leaves your team—allowing you to continue growing even during times of turnover. Finally, consider the continual training costs necessary for professional development, such as conferences and classes, and industry organizations’ membership costs. All in all, agencies bypass your overhead costs and provide you access to a diversely talented and well-trained marketing team that always has a finger on the pulse.Have Access to a Comprehensive Marketing Team without Hiring
An agency removes the need to hire someone to fill every role—content, digital marketing, graphic design, photography, web development, and so on. You will have access to each of these skills, all in one place. It’s as simple as that. In Green Apple’s case, we approach each new client strategy by handpicking a team of marketing professionals to fit your business’s specific needs. We serve as a full-service, one-stop-shop for all things marketing, and you’ll find that it takes the stress off your plate. Rather than piling marketing tasks onto your to-do list, you know that an agency is already five steps ahead of you.Focus On Your Core Business
Your business’s core operations are where you want to spend your time. If you’re a roofing company, for example, you don’t want to spend your days wading through marketing tasks, nor should you have to. When companies have the internal capacity to tackle their core focus, that’s when they reach their highest potential. An agency identifies that potential and makes sure that your marketing aligns appropriately. You, on the other hand, focus on what you know and what you love doing. We take care of the rest. Are you ready to take your business goals to the next level? Contact Green Apple Strategy today to schedule a consultation. To have marketing insight sent straight to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter—The Core.How Can You Find the Right Agency Partner?
Let’s face it: Finding the right agency partner can be unnerving. You spend a lot of time, energy, and resources researching various agencies, putting together a brief or request for proposal, and meeting with potential partners. But, what if you choose the wrong one?
Speaking from an agency perspective, I’ve met with hundreds of business leaders looking to partner with our firm over the years. And, the ones who end up turning into the most mutually-beneficial relationships have specific things in common. The businesses that end up finding the best fit all take certain steps before signing on the dotted line.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Finding the Right Agency Partner
If you want to increase your chances of finding the right agency partner, here are three essential steps from businesses that have done well:
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- Make sure your team is on the same page. It’s essential that key stakeholders on your team have aligned around the same expectations. Are you in agreement on the type of agency you need (e.g., agency size, category expertise, capabilities)? Have you set clear goals? Have you defined characteristics to know whether or not an agency would be a good fit? What are your long-term expectations for the relationship? These are all questions to be answered before you start the search process.
- Make it easy for agencies to know exactly what you need. While a formal RFP might not be necessary, it’s important to set clear expectations for potential agencies on the front end. This includes a summary of the challenge you’re facing, specific objectives, deliverables, expectations for the relationship, budget, and timing. It’s worth taking the extra time to ensure you’re providing clarity before you meet with potential partners.
- Make time for a face-to-face dialogue with prospective agencies. Once you find a few agencies that fit your criteria, it’s important to get a better sense of the agency style and culture. Setting up a time to meet face-to-face with an individual or team at the agency will make it a lot easier to decide if you are a good fit for each other.
The 3 Biggest Factors for a Successful Business/Agency Relationship
In today’s world, it’s not uncommon for a business to partner with a marketing agency, even if they have a full-time, in-house marketing team. Whether it’s a specific project or ongoing partnership, many businesses realize they simply don’t have enough time and resources internally to accomplish everything that needs to be done from a marketing perspective.
However, marketing agencies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes; each has its own unique philosophy, approach, style, and strengths. Some are better fits for your business than others…and vice versa.
While many businesses choose an agency because of their impressive creative portfolio or industry experience, the truth is that there’s a lot more that goes into a successful business/agency relationship. In many ways, it’s the intangible factors that make the biggest difference on both sides of the relationship.
The 3 Biggest Factors for a Successful Client/Agency Relationship
So, how can businesses and marketing agencies work together to form a relationship where everyone wins? Here are three key factors:
- Chemistry Across the Entire Team
- A Common Approach to Business
- Sweet Spots that Align with Your Greatest Needs