Most marketing leaders and brand strategists who have led a successful marketing campaign can attest, it takes a village. Many key players can take an idea from conception to completion, from copywriters to social media managers to the stakeholders whose sign-off is imperative to getting any project properly financed and launched.
While most companies and teams will keep their upcoming campaigns under wraps and in-house, particular circumstances and ambitious goals call for outside help. This can look like hiring a specialized consultant tasked with a focused plan to drive results and guide leaders toward scalable success. Alternatively, businesses can hire an agency or team of marketing professionals to tackle a larger project in multifaceted ways.
If you’re wrestling with the topic of contracting out help, this post can help you think through the advantages of hiring outside experts, researching the best team for you, and fostering the relationship once you trust them with your next project.
Why Should Someone Hire an Outside Agency
You may be surprised to learn how common it is for teams, even the most seasoned, enthusiastic teams, to hire an outside agency or expert consultant. In my experience, clients have sought my expertise or an agency’s insight when building or chipping away at:
- Brand refresh
- Brand identity
- Marketing strategy
- Market research
- Storytelling
- BIPOC marketing
From having a second set of eyes during a brand refresh to trusting an expert with something you’re not as well-versed in like SEO or social media, it’s wise to invest in an agency or consultant. Ultimately, it will save you and the company time, money, and headache down the road after a failed launch or venture.
I’ve also seen businesses reach out to outside experts too late in the process. That’s not to say things haven’t been saveable, but rather, business leaders can be ignorant of the limitations put on marketers and brand strategists. Most commonly, I will have a client want an updated logo or someone to help with posting on social media more consistently. Yet when we sit down to talk about branding and storytelling, what their ideal consumer looks like, or identifying their focused niche, Who are their brand aficionados or ambassadors? I’m met with wide eyes and fumbling words. People forget how critical marketing is to a business’ operation. It’s not a fun add-on or something to pass onto an intern. Marketing is a vital organ that can’t afford to be shortchanged.
If you’ve been anxious about an upcoming campaign, are at odds with figuring out the priorities you feel held back by, or feel your brand lacks cohesion in messaging, it’s likely time to connect with an outside agency.
What Are the Advantages of Hiring an Outside Agency?
To fully reap the reward of investing in an agency, it’s best to understand the benefits of hiring one. It comes down to 4 e’s: efficiency, expertise, emotional distance, and economics.
Agencies can help with your team’s productivity because they take on a workload that is presenting itself as a bottleneck. For example, I have business leaders come to me because marketing, while important, is something they can’t invest time into mastering in a timely fashion. Candidly, it would take them longer to learn and launch a campaign with half the results. By offloading your workload to a consultant or agency, you’re freeing up precious bandwidth that can go toward something you’re more equipped to tackle and take on.
Next, trusting an agency with your pain points is to rely upon an expert to give you top-notch quality assurance, guidance, and results. When a company hires me on, they’re not only paying for a service or end deliverable; they are investing in someone whose expertise exceeds 20 years. They understand that I can not only elevate a brand, but I can anticipate and address blindspots they aren’t privy to due to a lack of subject-matter expertise.
Additionally, hiring outside of the company means there is more emotional distance, leading to more critical thinking, sound logic, and objective insights. While passion and an emotional attachment are an ingredient to successful entrepreneurialism, they can be the crux of critical thinking and making a decision based on facts, not feelings.
Finally, we can’t avoid the economic value of hiring an agency. As Business House explains, you have a clear budget, contract, and signed bottom line with a marketing agency. It could be a substantial investment, but it won’t compare to the investment that comes with hiring a new marketing director. An additional internal employee addition means paying the cost of a salary, benefits, and training them up to speed. Similarly, you save money with an agency because rather than be stretched across multiple projects, they’re laser-focused in one specific area or a project. Also, it’s important to note that an investment in an outside agency can lead to long-term benefits that will yield residual returns in terms of asset creation, message consistency, and client growth.
How Do You Find and Hire the Best Agency For You?
Once you’ve determined that proceeding with a contracted expert is what’s best for your business, your search for the best marketing agency or consultant to fit your needs begins. While the process can feel overwhelming, especially at first, there are avenues to help alleviate confusion and analysis paralysis.
It’s wise to understand your options. A route many will take is putting out a request for a proposal, most commonly referred to as an RFP. Essentially an RFP is an open call to local or regional agencies to make a bid for your business. As Investopedia explains, “A request for proposal (RFP) is a business document that announces and provides details about a project, as well as solicits bids from contractors who will help complete the project.” Putting out a call for bids is also a great way to connect with small, local businesses and BIPOC establishments. This process is valuable in providing clarity up front.
If you have a meatier campaign to take on, you may have the resources to elect a more “a la carte” method and hire multiple agencies and/or consultants. Perhaps one agency focuses on social media community management, another dives deep into market research, and you partner with an expert consultant on strategy. Though this can leave the space for multiple “cooks in the kitchen,” you will likely be working with the best of the best that you can afford. Further, this keeps the process highly collaborative and integrated, while also giving control in ensuring diverse voices and perspectives are contributing to the work. It’s something I recommend time and time again when an industry peer wants advice on their next steps. This is also an efficient way to scale in how you increase the scope of your marketing program.
How to Foster Your Relationship with an Outside Agency
Once you’re in a partnership with an agency or outside party, it’s important to foster the relationship. Having been on both sides, I’ve learned mutual respect and open collaboration can go a long way and positively impact the work that is produced.
First, remember that you’re investing in an agency or consultant because you recognize that they are the expert. The three e’s: efficiency, expertise, and emotional distance. Trusting the professional you’ve hired to do the work you’ve contracted out is a pinnacle stepping stone to a thriving and lucrative working relationship. Listen to the team when they push back on an idea, or a proposed strategy, and reciprocally reciprocally communicate why you can’t commit to an idea or strategy.
Next, establish a healthy cadence with the team. I would recommend either biweekly or monthly status updates to review stats, upcoming events and solve pesky bottlenecks. Don’t shy away from the needed 2-hour monthly or quarterly meetings where all ideas and thoughts are welcomed and shared for both performance recaps and collaborative brainstorming
Finally, fostering a collaborative culture or partnership is vital! Ask yourself how your values align with the agency’s mission. After all, you’ll be trusting your brand and all that you’ve built with said, experts. It’s never a bad idea to walk away or rethink a partnership should you realize that they don’t share the same message or values as you do.
