Small business owners are magicians, master multi-taskers, jack of all trades. The reality is, though, there is a limit to what a small organization can manage on their own before it starts to cannibalize their core business. Even with enough bandwidth to tackle the many facets of small business ownership, you have to ask yourself, “Am I the best person for this particular task?” Admitting you need help is the first step towards recovery.
Here at Spot Your Light, we are small business owners, too. We understand the challenges of running a business and know when to ask for professional assistance (shout out to the accountant in our life, without whom we would be crying in a corner looking through a shoebox full of receipts).
If you’re like many business owners, you’ve likely considered getting help with some type of marketing project. Depending on your experience in marketing, you may be wondering what exactly can a marketing agency do for my business? While not every benefit may apply to your business, you could easily see 80% of these advantages.
10 Ways a Small Business Marketing Agency Can Grow Your Company
Free up time so you can focus on running your business
Chances are, you entered small business ownership because you do something exceptionally well and saw an unmet need for it in the market. Nice work! That entrepreneurial spirit is going to serve you well. The day to day operations of your business need attention, too, creating a huge distraction from what you do best. Getting marketing help will free up time so you can do what you do best.
Marketing agencies are cheaper than hiring full-time staff
The cost of a marketing agency can vary depending on the services you need, but it’s likely significantly more affordable than hiring even a part-time marketing associate. The option gives you scalability to ramp up your marketing efforts in times of need and to reduce when appropriate without having to make team changes. Agencies, if they’re good at what they do, come up to speed quickly and need less on-the-job training than an employee. Marketing agencies are experts at quickly onboarding and getting to work.
Marketing experts know the latest trends and best practices
Before you dig out your dusty Marketing 101 textbook from your days in college, consider that the discipline of marketing is unrecognizable compared to 20 years ago. A lot has changed and it is still a quickly changing area of expertise. Small business marketing agencies specialize in niche techniques, making them experts at the latest and greatest in the business. Professionals have the pulse of the digital marketing world and can create content that really gets eyes on your business.
Stand out from the crowd and grow brand awareness
Even without the pressures of competition, establishing a brand and growing awareness is a big task that takes time, expertise, consistency and perseverance. The prize is worth the effort! Educating key purchasing influencers about your company, its products and services and your commitment to satisfaction is something to be nurtured, developed and continually reinforced. It’s a big job but that’s how buyers become aware of your brand and ultimately decide to purchase. Getting noticed is an essential step.
Sharpen your image and tell your story
Every brand has an essence, a story and flavor unique to only that company. Marketing professionals excel at telling a story and doing so consistently. If you don’t have an essence, hire a professional to create a solid one and execute a strategy to communicate that story to your audience. Marketing agencies can help repair unfavorable customer reviews and create consistent themes and language across all materials. This professional touch cannot be undervalued as it is a major influencer in purchasing decisions.
Grow business revenue
Followers, engagement, impressions and clicks are all important metrics when we look at the success of a certain campaign but really what we want to do is hear the phone ring more, see more customers enter the door, grow revenue! Small business marketing professionals can do just that. They use a wide variety of tools to get the word out and create compelling content to bring in new customers, more orders and more money.
Get the customers you want
Whether you are looking to expand your business to a new geographic location or are looking to pick up a different demographic, marketing can help you reach new customers. There are so many tools that small business marketing agencies use to expand and diversify audiences from paid search campaigns on Google and advertising on Facebook and other social media channels to email marketing and relationship marketing. Agencies can help build customer personas and create customized strategies for reaching them.
Get new ideas and a fresh perspective
Sometimes, we get too close to our own brand and lose perspective. Agencies have just enough distance to have some objectivity, bringing new ideas, a fresh perspective and occasionally constructive criticism, all in the name of trying something new and different to bring value to your small business. If what you are doing was working all that well, you wouldn’t be asking for help. Be open to new ideas and methods.
Promote new products and services
You only get one chance to make a first impression so make it count. Marketing companies love product/service debuts. When a company has news, it creates buzz. Professionals can make the most of a product launch by pulling together a go-to-market strategy that has pop and sizzle.
Attract talent
If attracting top talent is a pain point for your business, consider your image on social media channels, websites and other public resources related to your small business. Touting your company’s excellence in integrity, employee appreciation and commitment to service and satisfaction are not only great for customers to understand, but prospective employees will appreciate this transparency into your business.
The Bottom Line
Pun intended. Hiring a small business marketing agency will improve your bottom line. Set your small business up for success by minimizing expenses and maximizing your brand’s visibility. Here at Spot Your Light, we help small businesses burn bright with copywriting and content marketing services, digital marketing and website development. Visit www.spotyourlight.com for more information.
