Successful small business owners work long hours. Often they’re unable to spend much time with friends and family – and they push hard to establish their brand and network connections. You may have had the thought, “Marketing, what marketing? There just isn’t time.” Perhaps the question you need to be asking is, “How am I strategically growing my business?”
Marketing is essential for every business. Having a marketing strategy and conscientiously following it through is one of the key elements of a successful growth plan.
The next question is whether you need to hire a Marketing Manager or an Agency. Obviously, we’re completely biased, and we think Marketing Agencies are the best! But we will do our best to be objective and lay out the pros and cons for you.
Option One: Marketing Manager
Pros
- Can attend strategy meetings
- Will gain intimate knowledge of your business and industry
- Easy access for face-to-face and impromptu meetings
Cons
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- High cost for one person in a role – Can be upwards of $100,000.
- You would probably need to hire a second person to outwork the day-to-day activities in order to utilise the managers’ time appropriately which adds to the cost. Approximately $60,000 to $70,000 a year should do it.
- A marketing manager is only one person with a specific skill set. Jack of all trades can end up being a master of none.
- Putting together and implementing strategy alone quickly becomes overwhelming.
- Ideas can become difficult to generate when working in a single industry on one campaign.
- Training and development costs.
Option Two: Marketing Agency
Pros
- You get a team of experienced digital specialists across SEO, Social, SEM, Email Marketing, Web Development, and Design.
- If something happens to your Marketing Manager – nothing happens to your existing marketing efforts as all the information sits with the Agency.
- Cost is almost always significantly less even with a comprehensive spread of services.
- Strategy is created, managed, and rolled out with your approval and you can rest easy.
- Agencies work in a competitive industry and will work hard to be sure clients are happy and their campaigns are succeeding on every level.
- Can draw on their previous experience to create successful campaigns earlier in the rollout.
- Work to deadlines.
- Trained specialists in every area of your marketing strategy will be working on your campaign.
Cons
- Less contact than an in-house manager.
- May have less intimate knowledge about your specific industry, to begin with.
The result of all the above is that you really do need to do your research.
First, work out which of the two options will work best for your company. Then, if you decide to hire an agency, find out what kind of marketing agency will work best for you.
Read reviews, talk to current clients, and when you think that agency might be a perfect fit, book a time to chat.
One of the most important things you can have is a good rapport with your marketing team. If you can build a good relationship, your agency will work hard for you!
Here at TheOnlineCo. it’s our mission to put people first. We specialise in creating strong partnerships with clients, by being an outsourced Digital Marketing Department. We have a team of 20 local Digital Specialists who can implement your digital strategy across Social, Google Ads, SEO, Email Campaigns, and Website builds.
Before the campaign even begins, we’re thinking about the needs of our clients and understanding their customers. Then we’ll work together to apply a best practice strategy on how to reach customers at the right place at the right time.
James, April and the rest of the team at TheOnlineCo. would love to partner with you and build a marketing strategy tailored specifically for your business that will see your company grow! Contact us today.
