Online with Dock Line: How a Marketing Agency Can Take Your Business to the Next Level
What if we told you your small business isn’t meant to be small forever? As we move into a new year, it’s important to think about the future, and what scaling your business could look like. Marketing agencies provide a way to delegate the advertising, building online presence, social media and just getting your name out there. We’ve created a list of benefits for hiring a marketing agency, what kinds of agencies there are, and how to find the right agency for you.
The Benefits of Hiring a Marketing Agency
1. A wider range of skills at your disposal
Marketing agencies come with SEO specialists, data analysts, web designers, content writers, pay per click specialists, and more. If you work with a marketing firm, you get access to a broad range of skills, but only for the amount of time you need or per project. Not only that, rather than having 1 or 2 experts, you’ll have access to a large team of several marketing minds and skill sets to reach your goals.
2.Save on hiring costs
A full-time employee comes with extra expenses such as benefits, purchasing laptops, retirement plans, office furniture, and more. Sometimes the person isn’t always a good fit, and time and money can get wasted in the process of finding someone who fits into the company culture.
While the services of a marketing agency aren’t free, there are options of a retainer with an hourly rate, or project-based payments. These employees don’t need benefits, a retirement plan, and use their own equipment—working in separate offices. They don’t need to be managed, either.
3. Access to the industry’s best tools and technology
As trends change, and technology advances, it can be expensive to keep up with the latest industry software. A good marketing agency already has these tools on their belts, and they’ve tested them to see which deliver the best ROI. You, as their client, now have access to the best marketing technology and experts who know how to use it. A marketing agency usually invests in software and equipment that allows for data analysis, SEO research, web and graphic design, photo or video capturing and editing, and more.
4. Fresh vision
Most digital marketing agencies have experience working with multiple businesses to market their products and services, and are known to bring a level of business coaching to the table. With success stories from other brands and companies they’ve worked with, they can share best practices and provide a different perspective you may not have thought about.
Types of marketing agencies
Advertising Agency
A traditional marketing agency style, which was the only type of advertising available until the creation of the internet. These agencies specialize in TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising, but many of them have now expanded to branding and digital services as well.
Digital Agency
Digital marketing agencies are erupting everywhere as technology and online communities evolve. These agencies focus on internet marketing, e-commerce, content marketing, and social media. Their services include website design, blog management, social media management, Search Engine Optimization, Pay Per Click, and application development (Apps).
Promotional Agency
A promotional agency specializes in retail and packaging services for promotional campaigns, encompassing elements such as advertising, content creation, merchandising, promotional displays, and promotional products.
Social Media Agency
This type of agency helps to create and develop your social media presence with the goal of driving traffic to your website and increasing sales. They will optimize your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube to product engaging and interactive content to capture the attention of your target audience. This kind of agency will also create blogs, graphics and develop content for your platforms.
Account-Based Marketing Agency (ABM)
This type of agency will link your marketing strategy with your sales department. The strategy uses a current customer base, or potential customer base in a specific market. The marketing will be targeted to a specific type of customer, business, or an existing account.
This type of marketing is most useful for business to business (B2B) companies who want to sell their product or service to particular organizations. Businesses hire these agencies to boost your conversion rate.
Public Relations (PR) Agency
PR agencies assist in presenting a favorable public image. Their services typically involve making news announcements, organizing press conferences, creating content, managing events, and securing product placements. Additionally, they can support website launches and the introduction of new products. Larger marketing agencies may even house a dedicated PR department.
Freelancers
Compared to agencies, freelancers are individuals who are skilled in a certain aspect of marketing. While freelancers won’t be able to run your whole marketing campaign, they can help with temporary projects that are suited to their skillset, such as social media management, content creation, copywriting, video production, email marketing, and more.
How to find the right agency for your business
There are many different types of agencies, some are niched to a specific industry, and some offer very specific services to a variety of clients. In order to decide which kind of agency is right for you, gather with your team to assess your company goals and identify any missing pieces in your business. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What are you current needs? Once you’ve identified these goals and understand what your biggest needs and challenges are, you can find a marketing agency that specializes in those needs.
Make sure to set some measurable goals with your marketing agency, and a plan for how you will track this progress over time. For example, you could set some goals like this:
- Grow organic traffic to website and social media by X% Capture X number of leads by Y
- Use the SMART goals example to bring definition to your expectations and how you will measure success.
The Dock Line Marketing Agency
The Dock Line is a very unique marketing agency, because we specialize both in print and digital advertising—combining the traditional form of advertisement with the latest online trends. We understand that many businesses struggle with the same problem: keeping your day to day operations afloat while developing a brand image that attracts new customers. Are you spending money on marketing, but not getting results? Do you have an online presence that you’re proud of?
Don’t worry, these are common issues among many businesses no matter the size or growth. At the end of the day, most people don’t have the time to work on their brand image or think about marketing—so it gets pushed to the back burner. If you’re looking for help growing your online presence and audience, we offer a variety of marketing and SEO services to boost your brand awareness.
