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You can’t do it all. There aren’t enough hours in the day, you’re short of staff members or you didn’t major in marketing or go to business school. Those are just a few excuses you might use to push your marketing efforts aside. But here’s the deal, you can’t neglect marketing your business. If you can’t handle it all in-house, it’s time to outsource your marketing and invest in a strong marketing team.

There are many parts that make up the marketing machine. You’ve got written content like blog posts, email newsletters and downloads, but then you have the graphic design portion that involves logos, graphics and print materials. You can’t forget about your website either. Whether you are creating a site from scratch, or updating your current site, someone needs to be actively maintaining and updating your site to meet certain requirements. If your current team can’t handle all of these moving parts, you need to bring in the professionals. Why? I like to think of it along the same lines as investing in a car, a home or even a nice handbag. You want to get longevity out of this investment. And while you might have to spend more money on the front-end, you will end up saving money in the long run.

Content

Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but content marketing isn’t going anywhere any time soon. So you can quit trying to convince yourself you don’t need a company blog, because you do. It will fuel a lot of your other marketing efforts. It will give you content for your email newsletter, white papers and social media updates. If you and your team don’t have time to create new content, hire a marketing firm to do it for you. They can also help guide you in the right direction when it comes to social media platforms you should be playing on and email marketing tools to take advantage of. All you have to do is provide some industry insight to make sure the posts are technically accurate and the content is relevant. When put into the hands of a marketing firm you trust, blogging doesn’t sound so difficult anymore, does it?

Web Design

A strong marketing team will have your back when it comes to your website and SEO. Web design can be confusing for anyone who isn’t immersed in it on a daily basis. And it is constantly changing. What was popular two years ago could be hurting the functionality of your site and your SEO now. I don’t expect business owners to be on the lookout for the latest change in Google’s algorithm, but a marketing firm should. Your web designer should be actively informing you about available upgrades for your site. They should also advise you on what’s important to include in your site, and what isn’t. You know the type of user experience your customers want, but your web designer knows how to translate it into your website. Your marketing team/web designer should also offer you a few hours of training, so if you feel like taking things into your own hands you understand the basics of how your website works from the back-end. You won’t be left feeling completely powerless.

Graphic Design

Another piece to your marketing puzzle is graphic design. Finding a graphic designer who understands your brand, but also knows how to translate it into modern marketing materials is difficult, but not impossible. Too many people think because they played in Adobe Photoshop once or twice means they can design logos and create branding materials. If you want to truly invest in your marketing, you need to invest in a professional graphic designer. If you think I’m being overly dramatic, read this post about common graphic design myths and be prepared to learn a thing or two. Because your logo, business card and other branding materials help visually define your business, you don’t want to leave this in the hands of someone who doesn’t know the difference between a VECTOR image and a JPEG.

Strategy

Need to hash out your ideas for marketing your business, but no one in the office cares or is qualified to give any sort of advice/feedback? If you answered yes, a marketing firm can provide you with some expert guidance. Working with a team of marketing professionals is beneficial because they can decipher the goals you’re trying to achieve and decide what makes sense for your business. They can provide you with information and the proper resources to make your marketing efforts worth your while. Everything we do at Roundpeg starts with creating a strategy for your business. And because no two businesses are identical, your plan will be custom-fit to your business, not everyone else’s.

Taking the time to invest in a strong marketing team will help take the pressure off of you so you can focus on your customers. Don’t sell yourself short and choose the cheapest option. Remember what I said about investments? Do your research and look for the marketing firm that will meet your needs and pay off in the long run.


 

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