Opinions expressed by entrepreneurs are their own.
Finding the right people to help you grow your business can be tricky. That's why I recommend looking for talent outside of your company. Transferring important tasks to specialists can be an impetus for the rapid growth of your business. One of the main tasks that you can outsource is marketing.
You might think that hiring a marketing agency is a risk. At first, you can understand the hesitation when you first collaborate with a team outside of your organization. But some of the risks are worth it if the benefits outweigh.
1. If you don't hire a digital marketing agency, it could cost you more.
The main reason companies avoid hiring a marketing agency is because they think it's expensive. Often times, a marketing agency can be a profitable strategy when you factor in salaries, benefits, taxes, and staff hours.
Hesitancy in hiring experts can unnecessarily slow down the growth of your business. A marketing agency can help your business grow faster and generate revenue faster. This will allow you to focus on working with clients and effectively run your business.
Related: Why Your Own Digital Marketing Is Actually Costing You Money Instead of Saving You
2. You decide which marketing efforts you want to outsource to a marketing agency.
A digital marketing agency usually has a list of services. The advantage of using a marketing agency is that they will have the necessary resources and it will take a lot of time and effort to set them up.
Instead of wasting time learning about digital marketing, you can take advantage of the experience and resources of an agency. Since marketing is your bread and butter, agencies will have the people and tools to start executing your vision as quickly as possible.
Speak with agency representatives to agree on the services and resources that you can best use, given the stage of development of your business. For example, you can outsource specialized aspects of digital marketing such as SEO, ad buying, or email marketing campaigns.
Research digital marketing agencies to see what each can do for you and agree on a budget.
3. Help them help you achieve your marketing goals
For a digital marketing agency team to be of maximum benefit to you, they need to understand their vision. If they don't understand who you are, your values, your brand, and your marketing goals, your efforts will fail.
Make sure the hiring team has enough material to learn more about your brand so they can develop campaigns using your voice. Develop brand guidelines to follow that reflect the look and feel of your brand. This way, no matter who joins your team, everyone will have the same idea of your brand.
The agency also needs to understand your technology stack and the tools you use to capture and analyze your business performance. They will need access to the funds and data you return. Creating clear channels of access, sharing, and communication will reduce friction, increase efficiency, and accelerate the realization of your vision.
4. Collaborate and communicate with project management tools
Project management tools like Trello, Slack, Asana, Monday or Clickup are more than just productivity tools. They also provide your marketing and agency team with a single workspace, creating a collaborative environment.
Trello, for example, serves as a communication and collaboration hub for my team. My team can communicate and work together effectively through comments and tags on specific tasks, and everyone can track progress.
A sense of team cohesion through digital tools will help create a sense of shared purpose. This way, every member of your team and the team you trust will be eager to help you achieve your goals and will be involved in the big picture, not just the current tasks.
It's nice and rewarding to see your entire team working in unison and collaborating seamlessly with an outside agency.
Increase the strength of your brand
Growth requires more work. Sometimes this strength can be found in external agencies. Hiring a digital marketing agency can seem overwhelming at first. However, if you take the first step, you will find that outsourcing frees up your time to work on growing your business.
