Skill Set

There are so many areas of expertise under the “Marketing” umbrella. Think about search engine optimization (SEO), content creation (strategy, copywriting, video production, photography, etc.), website design and development, online and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media marketing, lead nurturing… the list goes on and on.

How can you expect one person to not only fulfill those duties, but perform them at high levels to help drive more sales? Because, yes, that’s what marketing is all about: driving sales. It’s a common misconception that marketing and sales are completely different. Everything the marketing department does should have an impact – whether direct or indirect – on sales.

Think about people you’ve interviewed to work in your marketing department.

• Are they great writers?
• Do they possess advanced expertise in the online advertising world?
• Can they build a new website from scratch?
• Do they have experience with marketing automation and lead nurturing?
• Are they certified social media experts?
• Can they edit hours of video footage into a two-minute clip?

Chances are if they answer every question with yes, they’re either not being completely truthful or should be working at Google. Because a candidate is typically a) a jack of all trades, having a little knowledge in a lot of different areas (which is okay), or b) has specialized expertise in limited areas (and that’s even better). General practice doctors are important. But without specialists, we wouldn’t have anyone to perform successful surgeries.

A full-service digital marketing agency should be able to truthfully answer all of those questions above with a resounding “YES!” Agencies handpick specialists to fulfill certain roles to help provide a comprehensive service to their clients (that’s why I’m writing this article and not building a website).

Professional Development

Marketing agencies are comprised of professionals who specialize in one or two areas of concentration in the marketing world. They have full-time developers, video production coordinators, SEO geniuses, social media gurus and more. Each one of these employees are put in a situation where they can thrive by focusing on what they excel at.

This gives agency employees the opportunity to constantly refine their craft. “Practice makes perfect” may sound corny, but it makes sense. The only way to become a lead nurturing specialist is to do it. The only way to become an SEO expert is to keep practicing. Internal hires who work across various concentrations cannot grow as much as an agency employee.

Many marketing agencies invest in their employees’ growth by sending them to conferences, trade shows, and other industry events. They pay for employees to take classes and get certifications.

Marketing agency employees return from these trainings and share tips and feedback with their team. Conversations are engaging and helpful for everyone involved. Not to mention articles that are shared almost on a daily basis regarding a new Google algorithm update, Facebook’s updated policies, a new feature in Hubspot and so much more.

As a result, agency employees are much more likely to stay up to date with current trends. This knowledge can help shape business decisions that will give your company a competitive advantage.

Tools & Other Resources

Marketing agencies not only invest in their employees – they invest in themselves, as well. They purchase numerous tools like software, website subscriptions, paid apps and more to ensure their employees stay on top of their games. These tools and resources can range anywhere from website tracking to SEO trends, competitive research to user experience testing.

Here’s just a short list of some tools we utilize on an everyday basis:

Remember, agency employees are experienced using these tools and learning curves are shorter for new technology due to shared resources and software partnerships. Speaking of partnerships, that’s another advantage of working with an agency. Just like your business, agencies are part of associations, partnerships, and more across the marketing industry. We receive weekly emails, attend training sessions and webinars, and scour over case studies from these partnerships – all aimed to help us provide a better service to our clients.

In fact, Site-Seeker was just named in the top 4 percent of all marketing agencies who work with Google…

Outside Opinion

Okay, but if you’re looking for marketing help, it shouldn’t stay that way. Change is necessary for every business. A marketing agency provides a fresh look at what’s going on with your business. Outside opinions are unbiased and can lead to solutions that an internal team never would have thought of. Sometimes a new perspective is all your business needs to breakthrough.

Agencies also bring experience that can’t be matched by an internal hire. Even if that employee has 20 years of experience, they have not seen close to what 20 agency employees have experienced combined.

An agency won’t set limitations on your business, either. Their entire goal is to make you as successful as possible. Marketing agencies drive for scalability. It’s like a never-ending circle; the better an agency does for your business, the more likely you are to renew their contract. As agencies produce better projects and results, they now can create case studies, testimonials, and other content to promote themselves to more businesses.

So, are you going to select a jack of all trades and master of none? Or are you going to select a team of professionals who can provide top-notch performance across the board?

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series where we will break down the cost advantages of working with an agency.

“Working With A Marketing Agency Is More Affordable Than You Think.”