You hired your Marketing Manager with high hopes. You knew this was the person to get the job done. Hands down, best candidate for the position and you’ve seen glimmers of hope and optimism. Look how many “likes” we have on Facebook! But, overall, you’re not seeing the return you had hoped for. It seems like they have the talent and the skill to take your marketing to the next level, but they simply aren’t getting it done. What’s the problem?
Here’s the problem…
They don’t actually have all of the skills required to get the job done. There is no marketer on the planet that has the full array of all digital marketing skills required in today’s ever-changing digital world. Maybe your marketer is great at Facebook, but what about the other social channels? And do they fully understand how to build a social strategy or are they just posting stuff and hoping people see it?
And what about email marketing? Do they know how to fully leverage email for the greatest return? And don’t forget SEO. Search Engine Optimization changes almost daily. Do they know how to keep up with the changes and keep all of your digital platforms fully optimized? How’s your website functioning these days? Are your visitors engaged with your website? Are you generating leads online? Does your Marketing Manager have an automated lead-nurturing system in place that is pulling your website visitors along a pre-determined sales funnel path?
What to do...
The problem is there are too many different elements in the marketing world these days. No one person can keep up with the changes and the strategy required to make all of these seemingly disparate elements work together.
Now, this isn’t to say that your Marketing Manager isn’t valuable. You picked him/her for a reason and that reason is still valid. But, if you really want to move the needle, then you need to provide the support your Marketing Manager needs. That support typically looks like an agency partner relationship.
What’s an Agency Partner Relationship?
An agency partner can bring all of the digital elements together in a thoughtful, strategic plan that will bring the ROI you’re looking for in your marketing.
An agency partner can help you align your marketing and sales teams (without the internal politics that might come from trying to achieve this in-house). Aligning marketing and sales is one of the things that can really grow your ROI.
An agency partner relationship focuses on your primary business goals and translates those into SMART Marketing Goals with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) so you can continually monitor progress and see growth.
“Any process or service that doesn't directly improve customer service or generate new customers should be outsourced.” – Sajeel Qureshi on the Huffington Post
To stay ahead of the competition, you know you need more skills than what you have in-house. It’s time to consider partnering with an agency who can work with your current marketing to bring the return you need. BUT, before you choose that agency, there are questions you must consider.
