If you’re reading this, congratulations. That means you are probably a business owner, and one that can no longer manage the many facets of your business yourself. That means you’re growing! After you take the time to pat yourself on the back, let’s talk about how outsourcing your digital marketing can free up your time to focus on the aspects of your business you shine in.
Passing the marketing baton over to a professional marketing agency can be nerve-wracking. You want to be sure your brand and voice are captured accurately and, initially, it may feel like more oversight is needed than if you kept marketing in-house. However, working with a trusted and vetted marketing agency will not only cost less than paying an annual salary, you will gain access to an entire suite of skills that will help with the growth of your business. In time, you can sit back and relax, with the peace of mind that your brand is in great hands and reaching new clients and customers.
While outsourcing can be a great move to make, a successful relationship with an agency relies on several factors.
Get clear on what your brand is all about: If your team isn’t clear on your brand’s values, mission and visual elements, it’s going to be pretty tricky for someone else to convey these things, no matter how experienced they are. If it’s been a while since you’ve reviewed your brand guidelines, or they don’t exist at all, now is a great time to go through a brand discovery or rediscovery process to articulate the many elements that make your brand uniquely wonderful.
Get things organized: Something that often falls to the wayside among the many other important business tasks is keeping content like photos, videos and logo files organized. Getting your digital ducks in a row will help things run smoothly, cutting back on the time it takes to hunt things down and will help the agency get to know your brand creatively.
Put review protocols in place: While most marketing agencies will have a recommended workflow for content review, a lot of it depends on your own protocols. Decide among your team who needs to review things, how often and who will communicate feedback to keep things running efficiently in the fast-paced world of marketing campaigns.
Be ready to provide clear feedback: There is always going to be a learning curve when working with someone who is getting to know your business and brand. In addition to trusting the process, think of your clear and detailed feedback as an investment in it. Communicating what you love and don’t, and why, benefits everyone in a collaborative relationship.
Trust the experts: A successful partnership between a business and a marketing agency relies on trusting that you’re in good hands so that you’re freeing up your time and not creating more work for your team. Once you establish a solid workflow and review process, hand over the reins and let the magic happen. Good things are coming.
If you’re ready to see what outsourcing your digital marketing can do for your business this upcoming year, let’s talk. Get a free marketing consultation.