Tight budgets, timescales and proving ROI are just a handful of the many obstacles a marketing manager constantly has to contend with. While you're trying to hit the goals your boss has set, you're already thinking about the next big idea to move your business forward in the back of your mind.

All while being ahead of the curve with your marketing knowledge. 

It's a minefield, which is why many marketing managers opt to work with a marketing agency to create and execute their campaigns instead of hiring an in-house team. 

The idea of hiring an outside party to help with your marketing efforts can be a bit daunting. But if you follow our tips below, we'll show you why it’s worth it.

Set your expectations early 

Before you even consider speaking to an agency, have a good think about what you want to achieve. 

What do you define as success? What sort of relationship do you want with the agency? This provides a perfect opportunity to clear up any differences from the get-go and set both sides up for success. 

Doing this can lay the foundations to allow a beautiful relationship to blossom. 

Top talent 

It might sound like a cliche that agencies are full of the best in the industry, but it's the truth. Agencies are good at what they do for a reason as they constantly have to freshen their skill set to compete with some pretty stiff competition.

Agencies professionals are seasoned pros at delivering quality work for multiple organisations at any given time. This means you get access to a diverse talent pool that can draw on their experience working with a wide range of clients in multiple industries. 

Breadth of expertise

Not only is the competition tough, but agencies also constantly have to keep on top of their game to remain experts in their field.

In-house teams and full-time employees specialise in a few select areas, or they're generalists without deep knowledge in a specific area. With the ever-changing marketing world, finding a single employee who can do it all is nearly impossible. 

Whereas with an agency, you have access to experts covering a wide range of fields. Working with an agency also relieves your in-house teams of the burden of juggling many tasks at once, allowing them to focus on other urgent work that needs their attention.

Agencies can offer world-class expertise, strategies and results without you recruiting and paying a full salaried team. On the other hand, hiring in-house can show dedicated expertise for consistent, repeatable work. If you want to delve a bit deeper into the in-house vs agency argument, we recommend you read this blog.

Transparency 

Before you sign on the dotted line, make sure you meet the team before working with the agency. Starting the relationship correctly and meeting the team before you do anything allows you to judge whether you can work well together. 

Culture fit is a widely overlooked part of a client/agency relationship, so you need to establish this from the beginning.

Not all agencies will suit your way of working. For example, suppose you wanted immediate results right now. In that case, you might want to opt for more outbound and traditional marketing methods. 

Whereas if you're here for the long game and want to nurture your customers, an inbound marketing agency might be a better fit for you. 

If you need some pointers on outbound vs inbound, make sure you read this.

Fresh perspective  

A fresh perspective from a whole team of experts goes a long way when it comes to refining your campaign ideas. Ever had an idea that you think has potential but needs a bit of impartial input? Talking to your agency is a great way to conjure up some extra inspiration. 

External input is a crucially undervalued benefit of working with a marketing agency. This stems from a misconception that an agency works for you when in reality, an agency should work with you. 

A good agency will collaborate with you on your ideas and feedback if they think that idea will help you achieve your goals. You’re both working to achieve the same goal; to generate ROI. 

ROI 

That's a nice segway into our next point: ROI. 90% of the time cost vs results is the biggest concern of whether you can justify working with a marketing agency. It's a very reasonable consideration as you'll want reassurance that you're getting value for your hard-earned money. 

After all, ROI is arguably the most important KPI of working with an agency.  

Here's how to work out the ROI of your campaign efforts. 

Working with the right HubSpot agency — How do you choose? 

Inbound marketing is one of the best ways to achieve ROI. That being said, you might want to partner with a HubSpot agency to do the heavy lifting to help achieve your goals. But with so much choice, how do you choose an agency that is right for you? Don’t worry; we’ve put a free guide together to help you choose the right agency for you.

Download your copy today using the button below.