Marketing firms can help businesses of every size develop and improve their marketing strategy. Whether a business is looking to implement digital marketing to enhance its customer base or seeking to gather information about a product through market research, marketing companies can help enterprises meet their specific goals.
Learn why and when to hire a marketing team and what to look for when deciding on a specific firm.
How a Marketing Firm Helps
Hiring a marketing firm can ultimately save a business time and money. While the specific role a marketing firm plays depends on the company’s needs, a marketing firm can help businesses experiencing:
● Growth. If a business is growing and sales are rising, the company may no longer be able to handle marketing internally. Outsourcing marketing is a cost-efficient way for businesses to implement optimum marketing strategies without recruiting and overseeing new employees.
● Stagnation. When a business stagnates in growth or sales, a marketing team can offer strategies to boost brand awareness and conduct market research to determine potential growth areas.
● Lack of branding. Brand recognition can unify a business and improve sales performance. Outsourcing helps you achieve this goal while putting your energy into running your business.
Know Your Goals
Marketing firms have different strengths, so before choosing a marketing firm, it’s essential for a business to identify its specific marketing goals. These may include:
● Branding: A business may hire a marketing firm to implement or improve upon a branding strategy that enhances brand awareness. Brand awareness is vital to a company’s success, as customers tend to select products they have heard of before.
● Increase sales: A business should try to make this goal as specific and actionable as possible. For example, “I want to reduce online shopping cart abandonment rates” will help a marketing team target their research and strategy more effectively than “I want to increase sales.”
● Marketing campaign: You can contract with a marketing firm to run a single campaign or keep it on retainer to oversee longer-term campaigns. If a company wants to conduct a campaign over a new medium like social media or email, a marketing firm can help the business smoothly transition its efforts.
● Web design: Some marketing firms can help design or improve your company’s website. Outsourcing website design to a professional is often cheaper and more time-efficient than creating a website in-house.
Research Their Scope of Work
After determining your specific goals, you’ll want to do some research. Start by looking at each marketing firm’s industry experience; what type of businesses do they generally work with, and how successful have they been? Look at samples of their work, such as websites, email campaigns, and branding strategies, to get a feel for their style and offerings.
Keep your specific business in mind when doing research. Many marketing firms specialize in a particular area, like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which can improve your company’s Google search rankings, branding and design, web development, or content marketing. B2B businesses that resell products may have different marketing needs than B2C businesses which sell directly to the customer.
Additionally, review each potential marketing firm’s marketing strategy. How the company markets itself to its clients will tell you a lot about its approach and style.
Consider Compatibility
Clear and accurate communication is crucial to the success of any business. If you get mixed or confusing messages from your marketing team, it may negatively impact your future business decisions.
Additionally, consider workplace compatibility. If you will be working with your marketing team daily, choosing a firm you enjoy collaborating with is essential. If you plan to hire a marketing team to handle everything remotely, prioritize firms that excel in virtual communication.
It can take months before your business sees improvements after implementing a new marketing strategy, so consider turnaround times and rush fees when selecting a marketing firm. Some marketing companies hit businesses with excessive fees for high-priority jobs that require a faster than usual turnaround.
Agree to Contract Terms
Ensure you understand and agree to all the contract terms before signing on with a marketing company.
A business must decide whether to employ a marketing firm on a contractual basis or keep the firm on retainer. Having a marketing firm on retainer is helpful when a marketing project has an element of continuity. Contracting a firm may suit companies with smaller budgets and a one-off marketing need.
Before signing, do a complete breakdown of services and line-item costs to determine if a marketing firm is a financial option and where the company is using your money.
You will also want to discuss ownership of assets and intellectual property. Marketing strategies can lead to new ideas and creations, so it is critical to determine how they allocate intellectual property before signing a contract.
If you are still unsure about a firm, sign a short-term contract and reassess later. Doing this allows a business to sample a marketing firm without committing to retaining the firm long-term.
Choose Marketing LOGIX for Your Marketing Needs
Marketing LOGIX, a full-service marketing and sales firm with over 60 years of combined experience, offers comprehensive marketing strategies that integrate with your company’s current sales strategy, so your business meets its important financial goals.
Our experienced marketing team offers various services, including marketing strategy, integrated marketing, social media management, and website development and management.
Let’s talk about growing your business. Contact us today and work with the experts.