Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started with a Marketing Agency

You’re crushing it at business! New clients, awesome products and services, and the positive reviews are starting to roll in too. Up next on your list of business To Do’s may be hiring a marketing agency. Before succumbing to another cold pitch to improve your website, let’s take a moment to gut-check and figure out your next steps.

Hiring a marketing agency is a big decision. So when’s the right time?

How do you hire a marketing agency? What does a marketing agency even do? Let’s break it all down.

What do marketing agencies do?

Basics first! If you’re hiring someone to help, you want to know what you’re paying for. Because marketing is such a big task, there are so many different deliverables that agencies offer. The best agencies provide you with holistic services - meaning that they can handle a wide-variety of your marketing needs. Piecemealing together services yourself from freelancers or several agencies won’t give you that cohesive look you need to be successful.

So let’s learn about some things you might get when you hire a marketing agency:

• Consulting- Time to talk with you and develop your vision and strategy

• Brand development- A clear and intentional “look” for all your business needs, sometimes includes a color palette or visuals

• Brand messaging- A strategic way to communicate to your consumers

• Logos- A quick visual that showcases your business

• Social media management- Visuals and captions for the social media platforms relevant to your brand

• Graphic design- Professional visuals from brochures to business cards that help communicate your branding

• Website design- A landing page for your business that’s both visually aligned to your brand and functional for your consumers

• Public Relations- Press releases and other ways to communicate your business needs to the media

When do I hire a marketing agency?

Okay, so some of those things sound helpful, but can you do them yourself? And should you?

Here are three signs that it’s time for you to seek assistance and hire a marketing agency:

1) You don’t have ANY marketing yet.

First step, don’t feel bad, this is the case for a lot of folks. Running a business is work. Whether it’s coaching clients, revamping your software, or making more products- your business baby deserves your full attention. But if running your business is a full time job, your marketing may just not be existent just yet. If this is you, now is a great time to hire a marketing agency to boost your visibility and grow your brand.

2) Sales are slowing down.

Another reason it may be time to hire a marketing agency? Sales are slowing down. Whether it be from the community or friends and family, it is common for businesses to see some early wins. But when the confetti falls from the grand opening, you’re still left with needing a sustainable success.

Odds are the key to making your business a continued hit in these situations isn’t improving your product or services. Your customer base has spoken and they said, “Yes, please!”, we just need to remind them to keep doing that. In fact, it’s been shown that a five percent increase in customer retention can increase a company’s profitability by 75 percent.

When you hire a marketing agency they’ll provide that constant reminder to your existing customer base to continue working with you.

3) The thought of doing your marketing and social media makes you want to break out in hives.

Finally, it may be time to hire a marketing agency if you just don’t like doing it. Do you wake up at night with dreams of color palettes and content pillars? Turns out some of us do. Everyone has their unique skills and offerings for this world.

At Smart Girl Marketing, we believe in this “zone of genius” for all. If writing Instagram captions or reformatting your website doesn’t light you up inside, it’s time to pivot that to being someone else’s responsibility.

When you outsource your marketing work, you’re getting the best out of your marketing team AND the best out of your own business skills. You’re not just paying for the completed work, you’re also paying for the skills, knowledge, and experience that comes from working with professionals in the field.

How do I hire a marketing agency?

Ok so you’re ready to hire. Now what?

At the end of the day, choosing who you work with in business is a personal choice. But there are some key things worth looking for when you’re getting ready to move forward with an agency:

1) Do they get you?

You’re going to be working with these folks a lot. It’s important that you feel heard and understood. If you feel like they’re not understanding your business vision, then they aren’t for you. No amount of great marketing can compensate for miscommunication.

2) Do you like their work?

Take a look at their portfolio. While marketers shift styles to meet client’s specifications, it’s nice to take a look at their work to see if you like what they’ve done before. It may be a great place to start the conversation with them too.

3) Do they offer what you need?

Marketing is a big world. Sometimes agencies say they offer it all, but they really only specialize in one type of marketing. If you’re looking for social media services, but the agency you’re working with only specializes in website redesign, you might not be getting the inclusive services you need.

All set with all the basics you need to know about hiring a marketing agency? If you’re ready to get started, Smart Girl Marketing would love to help you. We offer all of the services seen above, and then some.

We’ll work with you to get you just what you need and make sure you feel secure moving forward. Click here to schedule a free consult call with our founder.