As your company grows, you’ll start thinking about whether to keep your marketing in-house or whether to appoint an agency. Do you keep the work internal and hire new employees to fill specialised positions? Or do you outsource?<\/p>\n
\u201cA specialised agency can add massive value to your business. The trick is determining when a creative marketing firm makes sense for your business and understanding how an agency can help you,\u201d says Sylvia Schutte, Managing Director of the award-winning full service agency, Stratitude.<\/p>\n
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Here are some top signs that it is time to get an agency.<\/strong><\/p>\n 1. You lack direction or strategy.<\/strong><\/p>\n Are you unsure of how to position yourself in the market or how to align your marketing strategy with your company goal? Do you know know where to spend your time and resources or are you randomly running ads in publications and calling that marketing?<\/p>\n Marketing is not so much a box that needs to be checked as it is a strategic effort to grow your business.<\/p>\n An agency will help you rediscover your vision, hone in your business strategies and help to focus your marketing efforts.<\/p>\n 2. Your revenue isn\u2019t growing fast enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n If you find your revenue growing slower than you\u2019d like, it is time to get an agency. Marketing agencies measure their success in terms of ROI. You will be able to measure the impact your marketing campaign is having on sales.<\/p>\n 3. Your marketing staff is overworked<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This is very common, particularly for small firms. If you have more than 150 hours of marketing work that needs to be done every week and only three people to handle it all, an agency can help to reduce the workload. Overworked employees just don\u2019t deliver the same quality of work, or are as keen to think creatively and innovatively as you would like them to. If you\u2019re falling behind on your deadlines, you don\u2019t have the time to stay ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n 4. Your marketing is stuck or stale.<\/strong><\/p>\n When you\u2019re focused on day-to-day business and tasks, coming up with new ideas is not really a priority. Also, because you\u2019re so close, it is hard to recognise problem areas or see growth opportunities. An agency looks at your business from a different perspective. They also have a team of creative minds and problem solvers to get you out of your rut.<\/p>\n 5. Your marketing team lacks skills and expertise<\/strong><\/p>\n Digital marketing is always changing, and the most successful marketing campaigns are the ones ahead of the curve. If you aren\u2019t up to speed with the latest strategies, you could be losing out on some major opportunities. What in-house marketer has time to read up on all the latest social media, SEO, technology, content marketing, and branding news?<\/p>\n If you hire an agency, you’ll have access to a team of versatile professionals with expertise in content marketing, business strategy, communications, graphic design, web design, digital marketing, and SEO.<\/p>\n 6. You\u2019re limited to a handful of channels.<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you find yourself using the same marketing channels over and over again? Creative agencies can direct you to the latest and best channels and devise innovative solutions, so that you can be sure that you are getting the most out of your budget.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Stratitude, you get integrated solutions across all communication platforms and channels. We ensure communication drives the desired results and reaches audiences with the right message, channel, frequency and depth,\u201d Schutte says.<\/p>\n