- Miscellaneous
Marketing can be overwhelming. Yep, I said it. Even for professionals, the sheer number of channels and tactics, the quantity of data, the new tech, and the copious amount of opinions (often opposing) can cause anxiety.
Almost anyone with a bit of time and access to the internet can put some sort of marketing strategy in place. But going beyond simple strategies and working toward higher ROI is daunting, time-consuming, and requires a certain level of expertise.
If you’re experiencing the following symptoms of marketing overload, it might be time to get help.
SYMPTOM #1: YOU CAN’T GET EVERYTHING DONE
Managing a marketing strategy of any level is time-consuming. Most of our clients—who run the gamut from small business owners to experienced marketing professionals at major organizations—work with us because they found it impossible to get everything done (or done well) by themselves.
Do you simply not have time for everything you’d like to do for your organization? Or do you work an unhealthy amount of overtime to make it all happen? It’s time to get some help.
Look, we know that advice may sound a little disingenuous coming from a marketing agency. But we’re not pushing our services here. It’s just logical: Working with a marketing contractor or agency is easier than adding hours to the day.
SYMPTOM #2: YOU HATE MARKETING
Sometimes we see marketing overload manifest as dread of marketing.
Do you despise some or all of the marketing tasks you have to perform? It could be that you never had interest in marketing in the first place, and having to manage it is agonizing. Or maybe you did find marketing interesting at one point, but all or part of your work has become a loathsome chore. Again, it’s time to get help.
Someone who genuinely loves marketing or a specific channel, like social media, will do a better job—and you won’t have to deal with it.
SYMPTOM #3: YOU FEEL LIKE YOU’RE FALLING BEHIND
If you don’t have enough time to devote to implementing marketing tactics, you certainly don’t have time to keep up on the latest marketing best practices or trends.
A contractor who lives and breathes marketing, or, better yet, a well-rounded marketing team, will bring fresh ideas and new perspectives to your marketing.
SYMPTOM #4: YOU’RE WORRIED YOU’RE BEING OUTMARKETED
Maybe you’ve been able to do some little marketing tasks—posting on social media, updating your Google My Business, putting an ad in the paper—or you’ve been able to really round out your presence on one channel, but your competitors are doing more.
There’s been a weight on your shoulders, a persistent feeling or thought that you’re not doing enough. You want to look into SEM, whatever that is, and marketing automation. You want to get started with content marketing and social ads. But the overload is stopping you.
If that’s the case, then it’s time to get a team behind you. When you hire an agency, you’re getting a team of experts who are constantly thinking about, strategizing, implementing, and, more often than not, losing sleep over your marketing strategy for you.
SYMPTOM #5: YOU DON’T SEE RESULTS
Maybe you’ve been doing some marketing for a while, but you have no idea if it has impacted your bottom line. You want to tie marketing time and dollars to sales, but you don’t have the capacity or expertise to make it happen. You’re not sure where to get started with tracking and reporting, so you just keep up with the same old.
As the saying goes, you can’t manage what you can’t measure. Work with a reputable person or agency who will measure ROI and help you create a plan with specific objectives and tactics for reaching them.
THE CURE
If you’ve gotten this far, you know that our advice for curing marketing overload is getting marketing support. If you’ve got the budget to contract out all marketing, great! But we know that’s not always the case.
Here’s what we often advise: Do what you or team can realistically do yourselves, then turn to experts to cover the things you don’t have the time or know-how for. We empower our clients to take over what they can and want to do so we can focus our efforts on filling the gaps or jumping in where more strategy is needed.
The tipping point is when there’s more value for you in paying for a contractor or agency’s time than doing something yourself. Maybe this is based on the actual monetary value of your time, or maybe it’s based on agony avoided or recovered peace of mind.
We want to note that you could, of course, add a team member instead of contracting a freelancer or hiring an agency. This is an excellent option if another salary is in the budget. But it’s often more cost-effective to work with a contractor or agency than it is to hire on, depending on the scale of your marketing. You may also be thinking about adding an intern to the team, which is a great idea. But, plan for them to handle more entry-level tasks and to hire pros for professional-level work.
We do have a disclaimer: Even if you hire out every aspect of your marketing, don’t check out. You’ll still have to make decisions, guide conversations, and stay involved in strategy.
SIDE EFFECTS
Be warned: Side effects of getting marketing help can include:
- More time for other tasks.
- Less stress.
- Better quality of life.
- More effective marketing.
- Better sense of ROI.
- Overall business success.
Related Reading: Here’s our guide to choosing the right marketing agency!
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