Dale is a business owner. He is energized by and enthralled with his work. Dale knows his strengths. To keep things going and ultimately growing, Dale has somehow managed to not only oversee his sales team and strategic plan for growing his business, but also trying to come up with marketing tactics to support his vision … and he’s quickly learning what he’s NOT good at. He finds himself wishing he had marketing minds on his team… who love what they do as much as he does.

Alex is the lone wolf running his company’s marketing “department” – if you could actually call it that. And if by “running” you mean being asked to do absolutely everything, including some accounting and HR duties on occasion… then yes, he’s running it. Each day he has to decide which looming deadline gets his attention first, with 10 others close behind. Alex is too busy to be strategic, much less stress brand consistency throughout the company. He needs support… and he knows it.

Alicia has an internal marketing team at her disposal… and she’s grateful for the support they provide. She’s become a pretty good delegator, once a team member is properly trained and proven his/her ability to deliver what she expects. Nevertheless, it seems each of her team members is maxed out or doesn’t have the exact skill set needed. Plus, her ongoing problem has been measuring their efforts. She knows deep down that she’s not able to deliver the exposure the company needs on her own. She could use some fresh eyes in her camp.

Perhaps you can identify with one or more of the folks/people/marketers above… or perhaps you think you have it all under control. In either case, marketing is increasingly responsible for more and more… more productivity, more effectiveness, more leads, more sales. Marketing teams feel strapped with limited resources, smaller budgets and a lack of available training.

So here’s a few reasons why you should look beyond your desktop and four walls and land on the doorstep of an ad agency or marketing communications firm:

1. Fresh Eyes and a Fresh Perspective: No matter how deep you find yourself in a company or a specific project, you just simply can’t see everything all the time. It’s just not realistic. And, often times, a person inside can be guilty of being “too close” to the situation or find themselves losing sight of the big picture. Working with a team on the “outside” helps to alter your perspective in healthy ways and bring new ideas, vision and impressions…ultimately elevating your performance.
2. Measurable Results:Agencies have active and ongoing methods for measuring return on investment in all different media. Identifying goals and objectives at the beginning of a given project provides for the most comprehensive and effective measurement of results. The outcomes discovered provide insight into understanding the audience and the tactics most effective for reaching the desired outcomes.
3. A TEAM of Professionals Who Love What They Do: You might not understand the necessity and strategy behind social media marketing – don’t worry – Kristy manages a multitude of channels every hour. You may not know the first thing about backlit graphics or international trade show freight – not a problem – Lindsay coordinates international exhibits across the globe. Don’t know the rules for writing how the media wants to see it, breathe easy because Anna pores over it. The agency is full of professionals both trained and effective in their areas of expertise… using their passion for the success of clients. Using an agency gives you access to a TEAM of experts … all working for you!
4. Cost Advantages: An agency doesn’t have to be on-boarded, trained or managed. The hiring and training process for bringing in a new employee is both time consuming and costly … not to mention payroll and benefit costs. With an agency coming on, there is no management, no training and even no office space to deal with. Eliminating this on-boarding process and with limited learning curve, you are free to tackle other duties. The single hire of an agency equates to adding decades of knowledge and expertise to your team in one fell swoop.
5. Industry Insiders: The agency has an advantage with a network of industry contacts — local, national, international and industry-specific relationships cultivated through years of networking and mutual respect. An agency can often accomplish in one phone call what an individual would take days to get done. With an agency partnership, you put these powerful relationships in your company’s arsenal.

To sum it up, a good working relationship with an agency not only yields outstanding creative results; it adds an entirely new dimension to your marketing game. The agency becomes an extension of your team – albeit with a fresh perspective – bringing years of specialized experience and industry knowledge and relationships.

Let Foster Marketing be part of your team. Contact us today. Call us at 281-448-3435.