11 Signs You Need A Digital Marketing Agency

​You can only get so far by doing it all yourself.

Whether you’re remodeling your home or repairing your car, DIY’ing isn’t always the best approach. Digital marketing is no exception: You can run an in-house operation for a while but not forever.

Your business’s future and success are dependent on your ability to reach out to potential clients, attract and engage them, and convert them into paying customers. Without digital marketing, this is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

So, what are some signs it’s time to chat with a digital agency?

If your digital marketing efforts aren’t delivering the results you’d hoped for, it may be time to hire an agency. Other signs that you should hire a digital marketing agency include:

1. It’s Broken

When you first started your business, you had to do everything yourself or with a small team. It worked for a while: you came up with great ideas, generated leads, and increased your sales. Then something strange happened: website traffic slowed, leads dried up… Whatever got you this far has broken down.

At this point, you need new ideas and new people to help you come up with and carry out a plan that will get you the results you want. This is another sign to consider hiring a digital marketing agency to help you take your business to the next level.

2. You’re Overcommitted

With everything on your plate, you probably don’t have enough time to create a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.

Let’s be honest.  Digital marketing is a time-consuming endeavor that includes SEO, content marketing, website updates, social media management, email marketing, and analytics. Unless you have the extra time and resources to learn how to become a bonified marketing expert, then hiring an agency while you focus on your core business is probably a more productive use of your time.

3. You’re Out Of Your League

You know your business and industry inside and out, better than anyone right?  But you’re no digital marketing guru. You are not equipped with the skills or experience necessary to develop and roll out a digital marketing strategy that is likely to succeed. And that’s okay.  You’re better off allocating your time and resources to the business you’ve created.   Website development, graphic design, content creation, SEO, analytics, social media, technology, and a variety of other tools all play a role in digital marketing and all tied together.

4. You Could Not Care Less

You recognize the value of digital marketing for your company, but you don’t understand how it works or how it’s done, or you simply don’t care.  You’re no dummy; you know it works and you want results.  But you can’t or don’t want to be involved in the process of getting them.  So if digital marketing isn’t your jam and you’d rather spend your time on other parts of your business, then it may be time to delegate it to an agency with a passion for digital marketing.

5. Return On Investment Is Underwhelming

Digital marketing can be a rollercoaster, especially nowadays.  Your marketing needs to evolve as the web evolves.  Setting up multiple traffic streams to keep a steady flow of eager buyers incoming to your business is the way to go. But unfortunately, the rock-solid strategies you’ve used just a couple years—or even months—ago aren’t driving customers to your business like they used to.  And now your bag of tricks isn’t generating the ROI it once did, and you’re out of ideas.

This is yet another sign it’s time consult with an agency.  A good digital marketing agency will track your ROI so you can cut wasteful spending and optimize your campaigns while suggesting fresh new ideas that are working for local businesses right now.

6. You’re On A Tight Budget

You can’t grow your business without marketing.  Let’s just make that clear. 

This normally means one of two things.  A small budget could mean that the business doesn’t understand how important digital marketing is or that it doesn’t make enough money to spend on digital marketing.

Working with a marketing agency does not have to be expensive. In fact, it can be much more expensive building and maintaining an in-house marketing department. A dedicated space, skilled staff, ongoing training, salaries and benefits, specialized technology, and other costly components are all required for an in-house operation.

This is where a reputable digital marketing agency shines because they’ll already have the team in place, tools, and expertise ready to go from day one, and you don’t have to worry about training, paying salaries, or providing benefits. 

7. You Need More Targeted Traffic

A slow flow of new leads and customers indicates a less than optimal digital marketing strategy. Maybe you’re using the incorrect channel or channel combination. Perhaps your website is out of date, your content isn’t engaging visitors, or your social media activity is insufficient. You might be targeting the wrong people.

These are just some of the many challenges that a digital marketing agency takes on in order to help you reach your target demographic and bring in more business.

8. The Competition Is Winning

When your competitors’ websites and blog posts rank higher than yours in Google search results and you can’t avoid their social media activity, you know they’re beating you. Clearly, they’re spending a lot of money on digital marketing to expand their business and capture customers and sales that could be yours.

Consider it a wake-up call. You can do it if they can. But chances are you won’t be able to do it alone. To get there, you’ll need the right combination of content creation, citation, and link building as well as social media, and analytics support. This is where an agency comes in handy.

9. Your Website Requires An Overhaul

Your website is the public face of your company. Customers visit it to learn more about your products and services and to make purchasing decisions. A well-designed, user-friendly website improves their interaction with your brand and speeds up the conversion process. An out-of-date, broken, or confusing website turns them off and undermines your brand’s credibility.

An outdated appearance, low Google rankings, dwindling traffic, incorrect information, infrequent content publication, and technical difficulties are all serious issues that should be addressed right away.

10. You Can’t Create Enough Content

Do I really need to say it?  Okay, fine…  Content IS King.  Now more than ever. Content and engagement is how Google measures success. If you go two to three weeks without creating and publishing new content, you need additional help. A lack of fresh content harms your website’s Google ranking and significantly reduces user engagement. When there’s nothing interesting to follow, followers leave and don’t come back.

You should be adding new content to your website on a weekly and daily basis for social media. This content should be interesting, relevant, and useful to your intended audience. If you find yourself falling behind, it’s time to hire a digital marketing agency.

11. You Aren’t Measuring Results

One of the major advantages of digital marketing over traditional marketing is analytics. You can track, measure, and analyze the performance of your marketing campaigns using digital marketing to determine what works and what doesn’t. This knowledge enables you to tailor your efforts in order to maximize your results and budget.

Is your digital marketing strategy producing results? Are your efforts bearing fruit? You’re wasting time and money if you don’t know, and you need an agency.

Wrapping Up

In today’s online world, establishing a solid digital marketing strategy and understanding how to apply it is pretty much essential for your success of your campaign. You may be a determined do-it-yourselfer, but unless you are well versed in all forms of digital marketing, you will require the expertise of an agency sooner or later. In the long run, acting sooner will save you more time and money.

Want to learn how to create local content? Read our blogpost on Cracking the Code to Creating Great Local Content and get started.