Should I engage an agency for my marketing or do it myself?
You may have some issues on your mind you right now, such as:
1) Your marketing team does not produce the results you expect
2) Your marketing personnel keep leaving the company due to `better offers’
3) Your marketing cost is too high, resulting in lower profit margins
4) You are frustrated working with too many different freelancers and people in the marketing medium
5) You have a well-strategized marketing plan that is unfortunately, poorly executed due to `interference’ from day-to-day business activities
More often than not, your marketing people are too close to the company, the products, the brand, distribution and competitor.
The only people you should be focusing on should be your prospective customers, when you are trying to market your products/services.
Most of these things don’t really matter because the essence of marketing is getting inside the mind of consumers. Good agency people look at the brand the way the consumer looks at the brand; not the way the company looks at the brand.
The pros & cons of hiring an agency
Think in these contexts before deciding whether working with an agency or do-it-yourself.
Strategic Planning
Professionally trained people will be required for strategic and comprehensive marketing plan to be done. Planning your campaign and identifying the framework for implementing the most powerful promotional campaign for your company is crucial in accelerating your progress and achieving the results that you are aiming for. This requires a professional marketing team that has intensive knowledge of the integrated marketing process that can facilitate the entire campaign…. and this won’t be easy to find. Of course, you do not need to engage an agency if you do found the team!
Expertise / Skills
Most award winning professional designers and creative directors prefer to work in agencies where they can cultivate the culture and be inspired by each other in the same industry.
Technology is changing very fast and your website developer has to stay in-touch with the latest inventions and software.
Training and development to all staffs related to marketing and sales function has to be done concurrently with the actions of planning and devising a marketing plan.
Do you have a proper marketing automation system that helps you fully bring in leads and nurture them?
Do you have a customer retention program in place to keep and retain customers?
An agency will be able to tell you what works, and what doesn’t work. Justified with reasoning behind each action they perform. No more guess works and trying blindly.
Is your marketing manager a multi-tasker?
She might be designing your website landing pages, creating call-to-action graphics, writing your company blogs, posting news and updates on social media, collaborating with newspapers, magazines and other media owners on day-to-day basis. Not to mention web developers working on codings and e-commerce websites.
Congratulations if you have found such manager and beware that this person might be head-hunted by your competitors in the future. Relying on one person as such puts your company at risk.
It’s actually more cost – effective to partner with an agency and let a team of experienced professionals build and maintain your brand with you. Their experience and expertise coupled with your knowledge of the industry is a recipe for both a quicker and more sizeable return on investment.
Allocation of Time and Resources
Lets count the…
- Number of marketing executives you have
- Number of in-house content creators, designers and copywriters you have
- Number of social media specialist you have
- Number of Website Developer you have
Lets check how much growth are you expecting the company to generate in the next 12 months down the road:
Moderate
I want my company revenue growth to be 10 – 12% in the next 12 months
I wish to grow my market share by 2-3% in the next 12 months
I have limited budget for marketing, advertising and branding, yet I know the importance of these activities for my long term goals and wish to start now
High
I want my company revenue growth to be 15 – 25% in the next 12 months
I wish to grow my market share by 5-6% in the next 12 months
I have allocated some resources and systems in place that facilitate the process
Full
I expect my company to grow exponentially (over 25%) in the next 12 months
I wish to grow my market share by 8 – 9% in the next 12 months
I have been in the market for quite some time and I am aiming bigger I have enough resources, people and systems in place to achieve my goals
By identifying which type of business goals you are setting, you get to know how much resources are you required to achieve your business goals.
You will need an expert to be able to convert your business goals into marketing goals. Daily tasks such as content creation, designing, blogging, social media marketing, answering and responding to feedbacks from prospects will need to be assigned and done by your marketing and sales team.
If you are a lone-ranger, you will definitely need to find great partners that can help you work on the full integrated marketing efforts. If you have an aggressive business goals, yet don’t currently having the time or resources to perform a daily task list like those mentioned above, you’re a prime candidate to consider partnering with marketing / branding / advertising agencies.
We see ourselves as your strategic branding partner, providing you with the essential marketing tools and insights that ensure your brand’s longevity, no matter the economic conditions that may come.
So contact us today for an obligation-free consultation at 03-9221 3388 (ask for Mickie, Shirly or Bernard), or drop us an email at linsweb@linsad.com.my or visit www.linsad.com.my / www.facebook.com/linsadv.
Award Winning 4As Agency (Association Of Accredited Advertising Agents of Malaysia) 
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