Your Future Marketing Department
How are those campaigns going? Could results be better? Are your in-house team the best you could get? Is there a better way?
Well here are some things to consider when planning your marketing department of the future.
Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone you’ve read our blog.
1. Objectivity
One of the biggest advantages of outsourcing is the point of view that an agency can take while looking at your business. Objective, yes, plus the ability to find the true USPs of your business that make you truly stand out from the competition in the eyes of the potential customer/client as well as through search engines. In addition to this, they will identify the “danger zones” i.e. the extremely competitive aspects of your business which will require extra care and attention while developing your strategy. The agency will be, should you choose the right one, highly experienced at providing structure to your campaigns and will give you timelines to work to, giving you that extra push that an in-house team may not have the confidence to do.
2. Experience
When developing your marketing strategy your agency will have the experience from many businesses/marketing campaigns to draw from. Historically, what has worked for businesses not just in your sector/field, but from a large variety of companies. This means your agency will be looking at all of the possibilities available, not just the standard strategies for your sector. The strategy will be made from a buyers point of view, therefore, the agencies combined experience of studying and understanding buyer behaviour will add extra focus to your campaigns and provide a greater ROI.
3. Team of experts
Your agency will be made up of a team of experts, specialists in their field, who have the experience of building and running many campaigns, typically for a variety of sectors, and though the individual may be specialist on one particular channel i.e. Google Ads, they are still very much aware of all the marketing channels available and are in an office with experts in them. Meaning you have a multi-disciplined team available to you plus the massive network that comes with that i.e. connections to the best web developers or content writers. To hire an in-house team with this level of knowledge and experience is going to cost you an awful lot of money, far more than the fee the agency will charge.
4. Drive new ideas
Your agency will have the confidence to stand up for what they believe in far more than an employee would. The in-house team will always feel more comfortable following your orders and agreeing with your ideas, even when they know they aren’t necessarily the best ones. Meaning you could end up running the same old strategy time and again, when there may well be a more profitable option.
5. Finger on Pulse
Your agency is at the forefront of new advances; new ideas, new technologies, services, concepts, developments and they have the tools to implement these very quickly. Furthermore, as they’re running many campaigns for many clients, their learning process is much quicker than the in-house team who can only take learnings from one company’s campaign, which can be a very slow process.
6. Performance measuring
An agency will be constantly self-evaluating the value they bring to your business. They need to have the evidence that shows how strong their performance has been and this will be reported to you as often as you need it to be. Metrics driven, all activity is measured and analysed on a regular basis, which means you can quickly capitalise on successes and change any campaigns which are not performing well, minimising exposure.
7. Always on
Always on, always working, never on holiday, never calling in sick. Agencies are made up of multiple people so, in the event of the Account Manager not being available, there is always someone who can step in and pick up the work load . Meaning you aren’t at risk of falling behind or missing something important just because your marketing manager’s car broke down on the way to work and he’s stuck on the motorway. This level of consistency and reliability is what makes campaigns run successfully, for a long time, with ever improving results.
8. Business Partnership
Agencies strive for long-term relationships with their clients, at least the best ones do, client retention is king for them. Therefore, it’s important to view your agency as a business partner, together striving towards the same goal, your business’ success. Working closely with the in-house marketing manager to deliver the results while sharing their knowledge, expertise and learnings. Having this infrastructure in place means you can accurately plan your business’ resources, safe in the knowledge that the “new business” element is secured.
9. The Elephant in the Room!
The cost of an employee, need I go on? Ok, just a bit. Recruitment, PAYE, insurance, holidays, illness, pensions, equipment, office space……….
With your agency you have a fixed price, thankfully, making cash-flow management much easier and giving you the ability to predict your business growth much more accurately. You also have the ability to quickly ramp-up your activity, or draw back for a while, without the cost implications you would have with staffing in this manner.
With all of this in mind, it a no-brainer! Having a fully functional, highly experienced marketing team in place at a fraction of the cost of employing such a team makes a lot of sense to me!
To find out how we can work with you, call us now on 0203 890 4426 to get the ball rolling. You could have all of our knowledge and experience, our expert team and resources as well as our close connection to Google, bringing you the results you need much more quickly than you’d expect.
