Digital marketing is a dynamic landscape of tools and activities that has quickly become one of the key drivers for success in any industry. As it continues to rise in importance, some companies struggle to maintain the necessary commitment to these efforts. As more and more companies are realizing, this is where a professional agency can help. Here we examine when it’s time to talk with a digital marketing agency.
1. You Lack Digital Marketing Knowledge or Personnel
Companies often assign one person or a small team to manage all marketing activities. While this may seem cost-effective, it doesn’t address the reality that digital marketing is a unique discipline that requires a more complex skill set. It requires things like in-depth knowledge of search engine optimization (SEO), content creation, social media management, and web development. Further, these demands are constantly expanding and evolving.
Managing all of this with internal staff alone can be incredibly daunting for any company, and their marketing efforts tend to fall short as a result. If your digital marketing team is falling short, lacking in knowledge, or simply doesn’t have enough manpower, it’s probably time to consult an outside agency. A digital marketing agency not only has expertise in these complex matters but is committed to staying up to date on current best practices.
2. You’re Too Busy
This is a very common dilemma for companies today. They understand the need to invest more time and resources in digital marketing but are simply too busy to do so. This is understandable and can be viewed as a byproduct of successful growth. However, maintaining sustainable growth requires a long-term commitment to the efforts that generated success, which means you’ll need qualified professionals to manage your digital marketing strategy.
As you may have already seen, managing this strategy is often a full-time job on its own. If you don’t have the time to do this, you’ll need outside help to ensure you continue to grow your market share and generate sales leads. Using an agency is a great choice to direct these efforts and allow you to focus on running the day-to-day operations of your business.
3. You Need To Update Your Online Presence
Your company’s website and social media pages are often the most critical points of contact with today’s customers. If these are out of date or underperforming in any way, it can have a detrimental effect on your business. An agency will ensure you stay in step with important factors like search algorithms and how your website performs on new mobile platforms.
4. You Have a Limited Digital Marketing Budget
Regardless of how large or profitable it may be, every company wants to maximize the return on its digital marketing investment. If your company has a limited budget to spend on these activities, it’s critical that you extract the most value possible. Digital marketing professionals are highly adept at determining which techniques to use in order to deliver maximum results for any budget level.
An agency will often start by helping you define obtainable goals for your digital marketing efforts. Considering your budget limitations, they will outline the types of activities or campaigns that are possible. Using measurable indicators, an agency will be able to generate regular reports so you can track how well these activities are performing. This gives you the best bang for your digital marketing buck and makes it easy to evaluate and manage your budget.
5. You Sense That Your Competitors Are Winning
Every company leader is faced with this feeling of dread at some point. You seem to be doing everything right, but your competitors are still winning and you’re not exactly sure why. The answer often lies in marketing efforts, and specifically how well you and your competitors are connecting with customers. An experienced agency has the tools to dig deep into both your customer’s true needs and how competitors are meeting them.
This evaluation process will not only help explain how and why your competitors are winning but form the basis for a new strategy that will help turn things around. Agency experts can provide a thorough analysis of your customer base as well as what makes your company uniquely suited to serve them. They will then work with you to develop digital marketing products that will highlight what differentiates your company from competitors.
6. Your Content Isn’t Performing Well
Digital marketing content can take many different forms, from articles and newsletters to social media posts and entertaining videos. Content is typically designed to meet a number of goals, including increased brand awareness, lead generation, and customer engagement. If your content is not meeting these goals, it may be time to consult a digital marketing agency to find out why.
Experienced agency professionals have the tools and methodology to conduct a qualitative analysis of your content. Once you have a better understanding of why it isn’t performing the way you hoped, you can make informed strategic decisions moving forward. You can then work with the agency to develop new content that addresses the areas where you were falling short.
7. You Aren’t Sure How To Measure Content Performance
When your digital marketing content isn’t performing well, it’s time to change what you’re doing. That sounds simple enough, but what if you’re not even sure how to measure content performance? While it may sound like a straightforward exercise, evaluating content performance typically includes robust data-driven insight and analysis. If you aren’t sure which tools to use in collecting this data, or how to go about analyzing it, it’s best to consult an agency.
If you’ve invested money and resources into generating the content, it’s not a good idea to take a vague guess at your return on investment. An agency can actually quantify your efforts and provide you with regular reports that detail how well your content is performing. This removes any guesswork and helps you plan your marketing budget as your company evolves.
8. Your Company Is at a Critical Turning Point
For every company, there are critical moments that feel like important milestones in shaping future direction. This may be launching a new product or service, entering into a new market, or even a full company rebranding. If your company is either going through or planning for one of these critical moments, it’s a good time to consult an experienced agency to help design and manage associated digital marketing efforts.
These efforts can help get the word out about a new product or service, or simply keep people engaged with your brand. Whether it’s communicating with existing customers or reaching out to new ones, it’s important to control the message about what your company is doing and why they’re doing it. This is also true for vendors and strategic partners you work with, as clear messaging will ensure their continued confidence in working with you.
Managing your digital marketing efforts can be difficult if you try to do it on your own, and these are some of the signs that suggest a professional agency can help. Whether you lack the time, resources, or expertise, it’s good to know that qualified help is available. Contact Local Business Marketing Solutions to learn more about what an agency can do for your business.
