For other companies, the choice is easy. The marketing department is used to traditional marketing tactics, but they know how important digital marketing (including inbound and social) has become. Rather than trying to learn a whole new field or hire new employees to tackle the task, some marketing managers feel more comfortable hiring a firm. They know that a professional and experienced firm should be able to easily resolve their concerns and demonstrate why it is advantageous to think digital.
While the end game of both marketing and sales might be to grow the company, they are actually two very distinct roles within the business. On the one hand, sales concerns itself with one to one relationships, with encouraging a specific individual to make a purchase so that quotas can be met and profits generated. Salespeople think primarily about the customer because they completely depend on each individual for their own success.
Marketing concerns itself more with positioning. These professionals want to control the business reputation so that the organization can take its place as an industry leader and create a good impression on potential customers. They work to develop content that reaches and speaks to existing customers and potential customers while also managing public relations. Perpetually, marketers concern themselves with the company brand.
Marketing and sales must work together, however, to experience genuine success. It is the marketer’s job to position the company to find new customers and generate leads, while sales must follow through and turn those leads into profits.
There are some amazing digital marketing professionals in the industry, and many of them are hired to handle entire marketing campaigns nearly single-handedly. Occasionally, marketing departments hope that hiring one or two well qualified people will result in a flawless digital campaign. While it certainly might sound appealing, logically, it rarely works that well.
No matter how skilled a digital marketing professional is, they cannot manage to be a specialist in every area of digital marketing. A fantastic web designer and programmer might struggle with graphic design, or a content developer will struggle with building mobile-adapted web pages. A digital marketing agency has all these specialists under one roof, so every company gets the advantage of all these fields without having to hire everyone individually.
For most companies, the bottom line is one of the most important factors in making a final decision. Adding new hires to the payroll is going to increase expenses. Not only will their own salary, benefits, and onboarding drive up costs, but they will require a budget for developing ads, experimenting with different tactics, and strategizing. In the long run, working with digital marketing firms can be the cheaper option — or the option that leads to the highest quality for the money. These firms have the experience necessary to develop the successful campaigns on a predetermined budget. Their proven success will also help the company to develop more leads and find new customers, which will make the agency an even wiser investment for the long run.
Marketing firms have a critical and continual job of managing the company brand and positioning the organization within the industry. When a business works to think digital, they will realize the importance of online marketing, and they will also likely realize the value of working with an experienced marketing firm. From the benefits to working with a team of specialists to the potential cost savings, it is time to consider if working with a professional firm is the right choice.