Many business owners and executives are hesitant to hire a marketing agency, primarily because of budgetary concerns and/or contentment with the status quo. Some keep a circle of freelancers for different needs, while others establish relationships with vendors offering different services. Both models are effective in their own right up to a certain point, but neither is conducive to the type of business growth that most leaders envision and strive for.
We’re not here to bash freelancers or uproot your workflow. We will just say that we have seen—time and time again—phenomenal results with businesses that take the leap and hire us as their full-service marketing and advertising partner. Every successful business outgrows ad-hoc marketing at some point or another. If you are the type of person who values your time (both personal and on the clock), you will likely find yourself extremely happy working with a full-service agency. Why?
Time and Quality
When you’re working with multiple freelancers and vendors, communication is an invisible time vacuum. Before you know it, you’re spending more time on the phone with creatives than you are with potential customers. A 5-hour design project can easily take 10 hours of your time to coordinate and review. The best way to tell whether it’s time to hire an agency is to ask yourself which is more valuable: your time growing the business or the money you pay someone to complete marketing projects for you?
It’s not just a matter of time—quality is a big factor, too. A brand is the single most powerful marketing tool for any business in any industry. In order to establish a consistent and impactful brand, your design, messaging, and strategy need to be consolidated with one team so that each element is fluid at all times. If you have people in every direction creating marketing materials without any sense of continuity, chances are your brand is being substantially fragmented and diluted with every project you complete.
Design may be driven by aesthetics, but a great design that doesn’t fit your brand is money down the drain. Always remember that you can’t just make pretty things; you have to make pretty things that sell.
Availability
Anyone who has ever worked with a freelancer or one-man shop knows that availability is never guaranteed. You might have an amazing business opportunity on the table, only to find out that your go-to designer is on vacation for two weeks, or the video agency you worked with last year is booked 6 weeks out.
Business is often like a relay race. When you’re running, you need someone to not only run with you, but run ahead of you. A full-service agency is not an independent contractor or a twice-a-year vendor. They are a part of your team, dedicated to taking the marketing baton and carrying your project to the finish line.
An agency owner’s job is to ensure they are fully staffed to handle an influx of work on a tight deadline at any given time. Our agency has several strings of designers, copywriters, developers, brand managers, and supporting staff. It’s safe to say that we will never all be on vacation or booked solid at the same time.
Scalability
Most small business owners don’t understand how easy it is to outgrow a single person. Now, outgrowing doesn’t mean firing—you can certainly work with the same people for years or even decades. But, in the big picture, you want your marketing efforts to grow alongside your business. You want to be in a position where your creatives can work to their strengths rather than “wearing many hats.”
The most sustainable (and believe it or not, most affordable) way to scale up your marketing is with a full-service agency. A social media person, content writer, or marketing consultant alone can sell you a package that costs thousands of dollars per month. Meanwhile, a full-service agency can provide all of the above and more for the same ballpark cost.
Let’s Grow Your Business Together
Think full-service might be for you? Raindrop Marketing has helped countless clients envision and achieve amazing growth with long-term marketing support encompassing strategy, messaging, and creative services. Contact us for an introductory dive into the marketing opportunities you might not be taking advantage of.
Raindrop Experience – Mission Healthcare from Raindrop Marketing on Vimeo.