Marketing is the life blood of any business. Marketing enables businesses to showcase their products and services to the right target audience at any particular time. Without an appropriate marketing strategy, businesses will flounder and their revenue growth may be strained as well.
A carefully formulated and properly executed marketing strategy helps businesses meet their desired goals. While marketing can be a multifaceted approach, in today’s day and age, digital marketing holds a very important role in the marketing strategy of any company.
Also known as online marketing, digital marketing refers to the use of multiple digital channels to connect with prospective customers, advertise their products, and retain loyal customers. These digital channels may include but are not limited to social media, blogs, SMS messages, content marketing, search engine marketing, paid advertising, email marketing, and websites. Essentially, digital marketing is the process of using the internet for your marketing efforts. Businesses target users on various devices such as laptops, mobile phones, and television to execute their digital marketing strategy.
The world is undergoing digital transformation at an unprecedented rate. Hence, the importance of digital marketing cannot be overstated. Digital marketing is essential for all businesses, big or small, new or seasoned. According to surveys, compared to 2016, businesses have increased their marketing budget by more than 50% in 2021.
Digital marketing offers a quick and efficient way to connect with clients, market your products, increase sales and generate leads. However, the cut-throat competition in almost every business niche doesn’t make digital marketing a piece of cake. Businesses may find it challenging to stay on top of the search engines because of the ever-changing nature of the search engine algorithms and constantly increasing competitive landscape.
This is where the need of hiring a specialized digital marketing agency arises. Some businesses prefer in-house digital marketing teams, but many businesses prefer to outsource digital marketing efforts and opt for the services of digital marketing experts.
Hiring a digital marketing agency comes with its own set of pros and cons. If you are conflicted about whether to opt for the services of digital marketing experts or not, we recommend you go through our extensive list of the benefits and disadvantages of hiring digital market experts to make an informed business decision. So read on!
Advantages of Hiring A Digital Marketing Agency
- Digital marketing is an ever-expanding sector of the economy. According to Statista, a renowned Database company, there has been a remarkable increase in the revenues of digital marketing agencies in the USA. In 2016, the collective revenue of digital marketing agencies was estimated at 11.5 billion U.S. dollars, whereas, in 2021, it stood at 20 billion U.S. dollars. Many young and brilliant minds are choosing digital marketing as their career path because they see the potential growth and fact that digital marketing is not going anywhere in the years ahead.
These statistics indicate that there is an ever-growing demand for digital marketing experts. Let us take a look at the multiple advantages of hiring a digital marketing agency and how it can contribute positively to meeting your business goals.
Your Business Will Benefit From The Services Of Pros
- Anyone who owns a digital device is a part of the digital marketing realm. As consumers, we are all familiar with the more common components of digital marketing, such as social media sites, blogs, online ads, SMS messages, etc. However, most of us remain unaware of the complexities of digital marketing, how it works, and how to outpace our competition.
This is where digital agencies come in handy - they understand the inner workings, strategies, and complexities that go into not only properly coming up with a well thought out digital marketing strategy, but successfully executing on it to reach your goals.
These subject specialists have in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience. They understand the best practices and dos and don'ts of digital marketing. These experts also understand how to properly target your audience across the various channels, which includes TV commercials, websites, search engines, social media sites, blogs, etc. They tailor the content in such a way that it resonates with the audience of a particular channel. By hiring these experts as an extension of your team, you can rest assured that the digital marketing component of your marketing strategy is in good hands.
Outsourcing the digital marketing component of your business to a bunch of experts will take a considerable load off your shoulders.
An Influx of New Ideas and a Fresh and Objective Perspective
- Managing your business’ operations is an everyday job, which at times may consume you and your team completely. You may become accustomed to viewing different aspects of your business from a single perspective. By hiring a digital marketing agency, there will be an influx of new ideas, and you will receive a more objective perspective on different components of your business. The digital marketing experts will be in a better position to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your business and how it ties into your digital marketing campaigns.
- While you may have run successful digital marketing campaigns for your business in the past, over time, you may experience a creative slowdown and run out of fresh ideas pretty soon. It will be difficult for you to come up with new, fresh and exciting ideas for your digital marketing campaigns. If your previous campaigns have produced good results in the past, you may find yourself sticking with the same patterns and become hesitant to try out new things. However, we all know that monotony is the antithesis of successful marketing efforts.
A digital marketing agency will bring relevant and exciting ideas to your marketing campaigns. They understand different business scenarios and what are the requirements of a particular situation. Their tried and tested methods are backed by data, analysis, and statistics so you can be assured that your marketing campaign will not be subjected to unnecessary testing and trial efforts.
Digital Agencies Have Specialized Sets of Tools
- The creation of digital products and campaigns requires a set of specialized tools, which can comprise both hardware and software. These tools help businesses optimize their processes and save time and costs. Digital technology is not stagnant; rather, it is constantly evolving. To be on top of your digital marketing game, it is essential to be equipped with all relevant tools and the manpower who knows how to use them.
- Now, anybody can purchase these tools, but let us not forget that these marketing tools can be quite costly. Since digital marketing agencies utilize these tools on a daily basis, they allocate a considerable amount of money to purchase the best and most up-to-date tools to service their clients. Hence, by taking a digital marketing agency on board, you can be assured that your digital marketing campaign will be designed using the best and most appropriate tools.
Even if your business purchases the latest marketing software, they will have to train your staff on how to use it to get the desired result. In most cases, the expensive digital tools will remain underutilized because your staff might not be equipped to analyze and interpret the valuable data provided by the tools and how to use them to make changes and formulate your future marketing strategy.
On the other hand, agencies not only have the most advanced tools but also have the essential training on how to utilize them. Hence, by hiring a digital marketing agency, you will neither have to purchase expensive tools nor train your staff on how to use them. At the same time, your campaign will not suffer because it will be managed using the best available tools, software, and techniques.
Reduces Workload and Saves a Considerable Amount of Time
- If you are a DIY enthusiast, you may be more inclined to manage your digital marketing campaigns yourself. While it may be fun at first, digital marketing is an all-consuming job if done right. You have to regularly update your social media pages, interact with customers, be on top of search engine algorithmic changes, A/B test various ad sets, provide CRO, and the list goes on. This can take up a considerable number of working hours and leave you and your team with little time and energy to manage other important aspects of your business.
By hiring a digital marketing agency, you will outsource a considerable portion of your tasks to the agency’s team. This will free up much of you and your internal team’s time and help your company focus on routine tasks. Your to-do list will shrink considerably, and you will be able to dedicate your precious time to other productive activities.
Potential Disadvantages of Hiring A Digital Marketing Agency
- While there are many advantages to hiring a digital marketing agency, there are some downsides to it as well. Before making the important decision of whether to take an agency on board, it is essential to look at both sides of the coin to ensure you’re making an informed decision.
Let us take a look at the possible issues you may encounter while dealing with a digital marketing agency.
Inadequacy of Industry-Specific Knowledge
- Digital Marketing Agencies work with multiple clients belonging to different niches. This broadens their portfolio and gives them a wider pool of clients to choose from. There are very few agencies that focus solely on a specific industry, such as automobiles or healthcare. Hence, there is a possibility that the agency may not have an in-depth understanding of your industry, the products, and the services. You may be the first client they take up, belonging to a specific niche.
This lack of industry-specific knowledge and an insufficient understanding of your customers’ needs can translate into poorly-designed digital marketing campaigns that will not deliver. Hence, it can result in the wastage of money and may even drive away from some potential customers.
The Transition of Knowledge May Take Time
- After hiring a digital marketing agency, they may take some time to become familiar with your business and clients to develop an in-depth understanding of your processes, brand image and voice. In most cases, the transition of knowledge takes time and effort. Even after hiring the agency, you will not be able to offload your responsibilities immediately.
For the complete transition of knowledge, extensive back and forth communication will have to take place. You will also have to thoroughly review the assignments and projects submitted by the agency, at least in the beginning. After the first project or campaign is completed, you may feel the need to give thorough and extensive feedback and highlight areas where there’s room for improvement.
This can take considerable time and effort on your end, and you may still feel burdened by the tasks despite hiring the agency.
You May Not Be Their Top Priority
- Let us not forget that digital marketing agencies are also business organizations that operate with the goal to maximize their profits. Digital marketing agencies offer different levels of service. The higher you pay, the better package you will receive. Most agencies have many other clients, and their resources are divided among them. You will not be their only focus, and it is possible that they may prioritize other higher-paying clients over you.
- A professional agency worth its weight will not shy away from appropriating its time and resources for your business, even if you do not opt for their most high-end services. However, it is possible that you may not receive the best services because you are simply not their highest-paying client.
If you feel neglected, then it is time to switch agencies immediately, because this can be a very common complaint.
Now that you understand the potential pros and cons of hiring a digital marketing agency, you can decide which path to choose. If you decide to hire a digital marketing agency, do a thorough background check, read online reviews, and speak to a few of their clients to get a better understanding of their credibility and work ethic. Also, look for an agency that is well-versed in your industry and understands the dynamics of your business.