As a busy business owner, you might not be in a position to manage and oversee your marketing anymore. And, it’s at this point that you might be considering outsourcing. Maybe you’re still in the ‘umming’ and ‘ahhing’ phase, weighing up the options or maybe you’re ready to proceed, but unsure of where to begin.
When it comes to outsourcing your marketing, to an agency, yes – there’s an investment and yes – there’s a commitment, which can be a scary thought. But, did you know the average starting salary for a junior digital marketer is $80k plus their super per year? Hiring an external agency is up to 50 per cent cheaper than hiring an in-house staff member on a full-time basis. You’re also benefiting from a team of experienced senior staff who work across a range of industries. Agency teams are also using the latest tools, algorithms, trends and other data day that marketers in internal companies may not have access to.
But if you have decided you’re ready to invest time, money and resources into a digital marketing agency, you should feel relieved to know you’ve entered an exciting phase and evolution of your business. If you haven’t worked with a digital marketing agency before, you might feel there are some unknowns and it’s worth knowing what you need to prepare and expect to get the most out of your new-found relationship.
Be prepared
During the initial courtship and through various meetings and research, the digital marketing agency will take a holistic look at your business, listen to your goals and objectives and work out exactly what kind of marketing assistance you need.
After you’ve committed to the relationship and signed the dotted line, it’s important you provide access to all of your marketing assets and collateral. Depending on what the strategy looks like, you might need to provide your agency with:
- website details and administrator logins
- social platform details and logins
- access to platforms like Google Analytics, Google my Business and/or Google Ads
- high res imagery – or be prepared to invest in a photoshoot
- high res logos and style guides.
There’s nothing worse than a delay in the initial account setup and a lack of resources to work with. For example, if you’re planning on handing over the responsibility of your organic social media to an agency, you’ll need a bank of content including imagery and video (and if you don’t, be prepared to invest in some) for them to be able to do the best possible job.
Know what you want, and why
It’s important to get to the crux of what you want for your business, and more importantly – why. There’s no use wanting to increase your social media posting, if you’re not sure why it matters or if it’s going to add value to your business. Are you looking for quality content to improve brand perception? To increase search visibility to drive more website traffic? Or a strong social media presence to drive community engagement and increase market share? It’s also worth noting that not every marketing tactic works for every business or industry. For example, if you’re in corporate finance, a LinkedIn strategy might be more beneficial than an Instagram campaign in driving leads. Ultimately, it comes down to your industry, your market and how your target audience behaves online.
Depending on your industry, your marketing goals and objectives might include:
- establishing brand awareness
- increasing traffic to your website and social channels
- launching a product or service to market
- converting prospects and leads to sales.
Remember, we think strategically so you don’t have to. We understand what tactics can work and will guide accordingly. However, it helps to have some clarity around what you’re hoping to achieve. This also extends to measurable goals as well. It helps us as an agency manage all expectations upfront.
Be realistic
As we just mentioned, it’s very helpful when clients come to us with realistic expectations. If money is minimal, but you’re asking the world results-wise, then you’ve set yourself up for disappointment. As an agency, we’ll never be able to exceed those expectations. Often this comes down to the b-word – yep, budgets. It’s not worth engaging a digital marketing agency if you’re not prepared to set aside a reasonable budget. We just won’t be able to do our job properly.
One of the biggest questions we get asked, is ‘how much should I be spending on my marketing?’. If you’re currently putting together your marketing budget, it might be worth reading our previous article, outlining exactly how to calculate what that magic number should be.
Be willing to try new things
Not getting any traction on that Facebook ad? Like you, we can’t bear it when we’re not getting the right results. Our job as marketers is not just to put up a Facebook ad on your behalf, we have to see if it’s working too. We dive deep into the data and examine the analytics to ensure that we’re meeting those initial marketing goals and objectives.
The beauty of digital marketing? If it’s not working, you can change it. And, as a digital marketing agency, we have a responsibility to keep you informed and offer suggestions based on our experience. Sometimes you might need to switch things up, so keep an open mind. An idea outside the box might be the difference between terrible traction and a steady stream of sales.
Prepare to be collaborative
Your relationship with your digital marketing agency isn’t set and forget. Better collaboration leads to better results. There’s nothing worse when there is radio silence and a drop off in communication or engagement (from either party). We may be the experts in digital marketing but, remember, you’re the industry expert in your field.
From time to time, we may need to tap into information about current industry trends, hear more about a new product range or spend some time getting to know your business, your team, and your competition. We encourage regular meetings with clients to do just this. For us, it’s an opportunity to check-in, discuss results and revisit your strategy, goals and objectives. Plus, it’s always nice to have a coffee, right?
Commit to the process and be patient
When you engage with a digital marketing agency, be prepared to go all in. We’re sure you’ve heard the old saying, ‘good things take time’. This applies to your digital marketing strategy – it’s very unlikely that your results are going to skyrocket overnight, so we do ask that our clients be patient. During the learning and testing phase, we will become aware of which tactics are working better than others and how your customers are responding. Data tells us that customers are on different stages of the buyer’s journey, and most will not be ready to act straight away. They will need to see your messaging several times before they interact with your company. That’s why consistency over a long period matters.
Trust the experts
A great digital marketing agency should act as an extension of your business. They should be continually reviewing your strategy and considering business objectives and goals. And, the best part? It’s peace of mind – you know your marketing is being taken care of as you have a team of creative and talented professionals completely dedicated to the cause. When you outsource your marketing, not only will you see better results but you’ll free up the time to focus on other important aspects of your business.
Let us guide you through the depths of the digital marketing realm. Contact the team at LEP Digital for a digital kick-start in 2021.
