01/20/2018

Pros and Cons of Hiring a Marketing Agency

By James Kwon

Having a whole team of people taking care of your brand may seem appealing, especially as it gives you the opportunity to focus your attention elsewhere. However, this luxury comes at a price – most marketing agencies charge a hefty fee for their services. This could end up costing you more than handling your marketing on your own or hiring a freelancer to do it for you.

So, what are the pros and cons of hiring a marketing agency? In this article, we will be going over the biggest benefits and the possible disadvantages of having an agency handle your company’s marketing.

The Pros

Advertising agency revenue has been growing steadily for most of the last decade. This attests to the fact that more and more executives are looking for marketing agencies to help them promote their business.

They must be onto something, right? Let’s start with the pros of hiring a marketing agency.

#1: Creative Minds

Creativity is at the top of any discussion on the pros and cons of hiring a marketing agency. Most marketing agencies have creative directors with a lot of experience when it comes to creating marketing campaigns. Under those creative directors, there are whole teams of talented copywriters, designers, and animators waiting to showcase their creativity. These people can take a simple business concept, such as selling products and turn it into an advertising masterpiece, a website, or billboard that provokes thought and admiration.

Even if you think of yourself as a creative person, your advertising talents can hardly be compared to those of experts with multiple years of experience in the industry. Chances are you won’t be able to create a memorable campaign on your own. And just one of those campaigns is enough to put your business on the industry map for years to come. You can always check the Cannes Festival of Creativity to see what creative minds are capable of.

#2: Areas of Expertise

A full-service marketing agency has whole departments dedicated to different aspects of marketing. At the head of these departments, you will find senior managers with years of experience. Whether you need a new website, a TV commercial, or social media management, your agency can provide you with all these services.

This is very important, as omnichannel marketing allows you to cast a wider net and reach a broader audience. Managing all aspects of your brand helps you create a stable and distinct brand image.

Agencies also have quite a few different experts on staff outside of marketing. Need a pro designer to spruce up that old sales presentation? There’s a designer for that. What about that tired website? Work with the agency’s development team to bring it up to modern standards. This is one of the magical parts about agencies. The cost of hiring one or two people can net you so much more skills at your disposal.

#3: New, Different Ideas

Being in your business for a long period, you can start revolving around the same ideas all the time. Your campaigns start to look alike, and you keep using the same words to describe things. You keep trying to come up with new creative ideas but it starts getting more and more difficult. This is completely expected. After all, we all have our own writing styles and ways of thinking, and there is a limit to how long you can produce quality content when trying to promote the same thing all the time.

However, a marketing agency can bring fresh ideas to the table and rejuvenate your marketing campaigns. New people will be able to look at your company from different perspectives and give your business a new life.

Additionally, more people always think better than one person. Agencies often hold brainstorming sessions, where multiple people exchange opinions to try and come up with the best solution. These sessions often produce some amazing campaigns that wouldn’t be possible with a single person sitting in front of a laptop, trying to think of a perfect idea.

#4: More Time for You

Hiring a marketing agency allows you to focus your attention on other things. Rather than monitoring Google analytics every day and hunting for freelancers to design your social media posts, you can concentrate on macromanagement. This is vital to your business growth. You need to let go of the idea that you have to be involved in all aspects of your company.

Instead, let your agency take care of your marketing activities, and focus on the big picture – perfecting and growing your business.

The Cons

Hiring a marketing agency may not be so beneficial for all businesses. We’ve covered the pros, but there are pros and cons of hiring a marketing agency. Let’s take a look at some of the disadvantages of hiring a marketing agency. If you decide to interview agencies, make sure to ask these 51 questions.

#1: The Expenses

A marketing agency is also a business. This means it has its own salaries, taxes, and other expenses that need covering. To do this, it has to set a price for its services. However, most agencies are transparent about their prices, and their invoices are very clear and honest. They may also be willing to make compromises regarding their fee structure, so you may end up paying less than you expected.

That being said, an agency will almost never provide a service for free. Even after a year of cooperation, if you need them to produce an extra Facebook post, they will likely charge you for it. Out of all the pros and cons of hiring a marketing agency, the cost is the most likely deal-breaker if you can’t justify or afford it.

#2: Lack of Industry Experience

Some agencies have only worked in a small number of industries. If you come from a niche industry, there is a chance some marketing firms know nothing about your field. Have this in mind when looking for an agency. Look at their previous work and make sure that they have worked with clients from your field before.

In the beginning of your professional relationship with a marketing agency, they will need more guidance and monitoring. However, as time goes by, they will learn more about your business and industry. Eventually, you will be able to lean on them for all of your marketing activities.

#3: Different Clients, Different Priorities

While you are focused solely on your business, your marketing agency has a lot of different clients. Recent studies show that SEO specialists in large agencies personally handle as many as 17 accounts. Some of them may pay for more services than you, which means they get more attention and enjoy a higher priority status. This can sometimes lead to project deadlines being pushed.

However, a good agency will always set realistic deadlines and manage their priorities. No client should feel less important than another. If you’re thinking about hiring a marketing agency, ask their account managers how many clients they handle. This should give you a good idea about their workload.

The Bottom Line

Consider these pros and cons of hiring a marketing agency before making the final decision. If you feel like your business can benefit from new ideas and dedicated experts, start your search and find the perfect agency for you. If you are still unsure about the expenses, have in mind that most agencies can offer you short-term trial contracts. This way, you can see if you like their work and whether it brings you any measurable results.

Try our our marketing calculator, which will take what you’re doing and where you’d like to go and give a plan on where to go!