What are the downsides of hiring a marketing agency?
Should you hire one anyway?
Hiring a marketing agency isn’t for everyone. (Gasp!)
Don’t get us wrong—we absolutely believe in the services we offer and stand proudly behind the work we do. But that doesn’t mean we (or any agency) are right for you.
Here are the top problems we run into, and reasons why you maybe shouldn’t hire a marketing agency.
1. Even the Best Agency Will Require Some of Your Time
This seems counterintuitive: You have no time to spend on marketing, so you want to pay someone to take care of it. Right?
Unfortunately, it isn’t quite that simple.
Yes, a good marketing agency will do everything they can to transform marketing into the easiest part of your day, but even the best marketing agencies can’t create in a vacuum. In order to do their job well, any communications firm will require at least a little collaboration from you or a trusted member of your team.
Whether you hire help to hone your strategy, clarify your message, write content for your website, or refresh your look, you (or someone who can speak for you) must participate in at least some of the conversation. You’ll likely need to approve articles, implement strategy, and agree to have your brain picked—if no one in your organization has time to work with a marketing agency, everyone will end up frustrated.
Pro tip: Either make time (it’s worth the investment), or assign a communications/marketing director to run point with your new agency friends.
2. Any Outsourced Team Might Not Understand What You Do
There’s nothing as exasperating as when your marketing agency just doesn’t get it—except for when they think they understand, which is definitely worse.
It’s truly so important to match with a creative company that takes the time to comprehend everything that makes your brand tick. Yes, any marketing person needs to be able to clearly communicate what you do, but they also need to be able to grasp and express your personality, company culture, and voice enough to represent you.
A great agency knows what questions to ask, and digs until they really do understand your organization.
3. Agency Pros Are Not Boots-on-the-Ground in Your Organization
Dazzling content and comprehensive strategy can be done from afar, but they can’t replace the live-streaming or action shots of an in-person feed—and that’s okay!
Marketing can be a mix of big-picture planning and day-to-day social media updates, and nobody will do the day-to-day posts better than somebody who is in your space every day. So if up-to-the-minute content is crucial for the success of your organization, it’s often best to identify someone in-house who would be excited to own that project and collaborate with your marketing agency to make it happen.
4. Projects Might Take Longer Than You Want
Agencies tend to have both internal and external standards and approval processes. That’s a good thing because it keeps the quality of your stuff top-notch. It also means you’ll want to build in a little lead time before you see a final product.
If you want to snap your fingers in the morning and have an article/email funnel/ad campaign published by the afternoon, a marketing agency is probably not the right fit for you—you’ll likely be more satisfied with an in-house team that can pivot on a dime, or possibly working with a freelancer.
5. You’re Trusting Your Agency Partner with Your Reputation
Trust is always risky, especially when it comes to your business.
It’s vital to take the time to find an agency that makes you feel heard and respected, yet will not hold back from offering frank professional opinions. (You don’t need another yes-person—you need an expert to protect your investment and guide your marketing in the best direction.)
If you’re simply not ready to trust anyone else with your business, it is not time to bring in outside help.
6. You Will Likely Not Be Their Only Client
Most agencies want you to feel like the only customer in the world, but they will have other clients (unless you have the budget of say, Pepsi). You’ll likely have an account manager who will do their best to answer your questions, assuage your worries, and deliver exceptional results for you—as well as several others.
Time and scope of work will create natural boundaries that they will protect to keep everything within your budget, so it’s often best to get a production calendar to help with your planning.
If, on the other hand, you hire a single freelancer, you might be their only client. That can be a good thing, but it’s also limiting–one person simply can’t have the same writing, design, strategy, and digital expertise of an agency.
The great news is, if you’re done wearing a marketing hat and ready to put the time into building trust and a healthy relationship with a crew of experts, and if you’re willing to believe they have your best interest in mind and will do everything they can to make your business grow and thrive, you might be ready to take the leap!
