You know you need to grow.
You know sales and marketing are the key..... But...
You are busy - I mean seriously busy 'in the weeds" of your business. For any of my former or current restaurant peeps you know this saying. "In the weeds" refers to when you are so busy making the food, filling the drinks, cleaning the tables, putting out the fires... That you can't see your way out of it.
In your business, you are probably very busy making the magic happen - customer service, ordering supplies, accounting/payroll, HR, logistics, etc. Most owners have the areas they are really good at and they tend to "camp out" in customer service and number crunching, or selecting new products and planning the next HR event. Very few of us are good at juggling all the balls,
This is when the veterans say "outsource or delegate".
For myself, I have an accounting expert that helps with those numbers because it's so NOT my passion... but I could be allergic.
If you are too busy or allergic to marketing you have a few choices:
1. Hire an in-house marketing team.
The advantage is that they are team players and understand the daily mission and vision of your company. Usually marketing teams consist of 2-3 salaried employees and this can be expensive. Does your marketing staff have the specialized skills you need to succeed? Are you bogging them down with non marketing jobs? If your team is hitting your business goals on a consistent basis and you can afford the salaries, this may be the strategy for you.
2. Hire a Marketing Agency
With a marketing agency, you have access to a new point of view with their team doing market research and bringing fresh ideas to the table. It can take time for agencies to truly understand your message and what makes your company unique, and it will require you to invest time in educating them and bringing them up to speed on your company. For these relationships to be the most effective, it is important to have realistic timelines and clear expectations of what each is bringing to the table. Traditional full service agencies are creative and trend powerhouses but this comes at high-end price or monthly retainer. They bring a wealth of value but also are expensive and need to be managed closely to get best results at the most efficient price.
3. Outsourcing aspects of your marketing.
This is more of a hybrid scenario. It involves identifying certain areas to outsource and bring in a single person or small boutique firm to handle. If you have identified that social media or email marketing are missing aspects of your sales and marketing plan but you aren't prepared to hire staff or commit to an agency - outsourcing single projects may work best for you.
Please don't make the mistake of hiring interns or letting the assistant handle the branding and external communications for your company simply because they are fluent in Snapchat. This happens more often then it should. Branding requires business experience, aesthetic/graphic design abilities, and platform knowledge. While there are some exceptions, most people are not born with this skill set.
If outsourcing certain aspects of your marketing sounds like the best fit, we would love to chat.
Having both the in-house corporate marketing team and full service ad agency experience, Studio 110 is uniquely positioned and can handle most marketing projects - from strategy to analytics, social media management to email marketing.
Studio 110 Works plays well with others and wants to be on your team - so you have more time to do what you are good at - which is your business!
Call us today 910.770.3151 or email leigh@studio110works.com