With so many tasks to complete each day, business owners don’t always know
when to hire a marketing agency. You might think steady sales and a couple new customers a month is a sign of success. You might even think that your business model needs no adjustments.
We’re here to tell you this isn’t true. You might be doing fine, but you shouldn’t trick yourself into thinking that your business has no areas for improvement or couldn’t benefit from a marketing specialist
As much as business owners like to take on the superhero role — handing the finances and client-facing and even the website support — a specialist might be what you’re missing.
Let’s briefly consider two examples of when hiring a specialist makes sense:
- You don’t do a part-time law degree to write your contracts — you ask a lawyer for help.
- You don’t do your own tax returns — you ask an accountant for help.
Often, it just makes sense to outsource roles that require specialist expertise. And it’s the same with marketing. But, how do you know when it’s time to stop handling the marketing yourself (or delegating it to an overworked support person)?
7 WAYS TO TELL IT’S TIME TO HIRE A MARKETING AGENCY
1. When Nothing Is Getting Done
We’re living in a busy, busy world. More often than not, there are multiple things that need to be addressed at the same time. In fact, one of the exciting challenges of being a small business owner is handling multiple responsibilities. However, if you’re supposed to be doing five jobs and only getting two completed, it’s time to reconsider your priorities.
It’s only natural that something slips between the cracks. While it only makes sense to give priority to the tasks that immediately pay the bills or put out the fires, this could tempt many business owners to neglect other important tasks. But when the important jobs aren’t getting done, it’s time to reach out to an agency.
The thing about marketing, specifically, is that it takes time and strategy, making it a victim of first task neglect. Agencies, however, are specialists and can get on with the job easily.
Since marketing is the only thing a marketing agency does, they can simultaneously take it off your plate and make it top priority.
2. When Sales And Growth Are Stagnating
We want to clarify that steady sales don’t necessarily equate to a profitable business.
There are many things that can stall sales. It can be ineffective marketing, poor customer service, or mismanagement. No matter the reason, if you spend most of your time putting out fires rather than being productive, something’s got to change. However, you can find a solution with an experienced marketing agency.
3. When your ambitions exceed your capability
Sometimes, businesses can have ambitions for the future that they simply can’t achieve with their current capabilities. It can be as simple as not having the necessary manpower or it could be an inherent lack of knowledge on how to achieve these objectives (we’ll address inadequate skillset in a bit).
Regardless of the reason, if you don’t have what you need, an agency can either provide it to you or find it for you.
Related article(s): Articulate – Should you hire a marketing agency or a marketing person? [2021]
4. You Don’t Enjoy Marketing
Have you ever interacted with an employee and you could just tell their job didn’t make them happy, at all? Sadly, no one is exempt from wearing their unhappiness on their face. And, trust us, if you don’t enjoy marketing, it’ll show… maybe not on your face, but in your digital presence. For example:
• Blog posts with little effort
• Uninspired email blasts with no copy that invites engagement
• Half-hearted social media posts
These types of marketing “efforts” (or lack of) will not bring the desired results. But thank goodness marketing agencies love this stuff. So let them bring their passion for marketing to your passion so your business can get the results you actually want to see.
5. You’ve Realized You Don’t Have the Skills
We talked briefly about this in point three: Sometimes, you just don’t have the skills to complete the task. And you shouldn’t feel bad about this. While many of us might find it puzzling when successful business owners admit that they don’t know much (or anything) about marketing, it’s realistic.
Think about artists, for example. How many “Jack of all trades, master of none” do we know? Van Gogh might’ve been a great interior designer, but we all know him for painting; Gustave Eiffel might’ve been an amazing chef, but we all know him for his engineering skills.
The point we’re making is that sometimes you don’t have the skills, and you shouldn’t expect yourself to know everything about running a business. But a good marketing agency will learn about you and your business then apply their skills accordingly.
6. Your Marketing Results Are Hit Or Miss
This goes hand-in-hand with the second point. If your marketing results are questionable, you may have come to the conclusion that inbound marketing doesn’t work for your business. Could the blame instead lie with your shot-in-the-dark approach?
A marketing agency will look closely at your challenges and goals and put together a strategy to overcome those challenges and meet those goals. And what’s great is that the strategy will be refined over time (don’t we love change?).
7. You Wonder What Is Working
If you suddenly experience an increase in website traffic, phone calls, or new leads, but you don’t know where they’re coming from, you’re likely wasting your time on ineffective marketing strategies and squandering potential opportunities for even greater success.
This is why being able to track results is so important. How are your marketing efforts contributing to website traffic, leads, and customers? If you can’t answer that question, let a marketing agency answer it for you. Tracking results removes the guessing game and pinpoints what is and isn’t working.
Related article(s): Hubspot – 8 Telltale Signs It’s Time to Hire a Marketing Agency