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Mistake #20

Hiring An Agency

I owe you full disclosure on this one. I’ve owned several marketing agencies in my career, so many reading this book will call me a turn-coat. For most small business owners, I don’t think hiring an agency is the right choice. Let me explain.

You have two choices: you can do the marketing yourself (the DIY method), or you can hire an agency. There are issues with both. Regardless of your choice, the importance of marketing is absolute. It’s the one function in your company that can 10X your revenue. You should spend more time on marketing rather than less, even if you’re hiring an agency. Where else can you get a better return on your time?

The Problems With Agencies

Here is the reality—most marketing agencies that target small businesses aren’t worth hiring. I know all these factors to be true; I’ve experienced them with my agency.

If you’re considering hiring an agency, here are some red flags:

 They’re expensive. Let me give you a quick primer on how agencies make money. If an agency targets small businesses, they don’t make much money on any given client. A good marketing consultant should make $150/hour. So, if you’re paying $300/month to the agency, you should expect to get two hours of their time. Right? Wrong. Most agencies will give you the two hours but from lesser skilled employees, some right out of school, and they’ll pocket the difference. You’ll be paying for experts but getting novices.

 They don’t know your business. Most agencies market themselves to small or mid-sized companies in any industry. It’s been my contention that an agency should know as much or more than you do about your business. That’s hard to do unless they specialize. And, if you happen to find one that specializes, they probably won’t be in the same locale.

 They’re not good at everything. Marketing is changing very quickly, and so are the channels, tools, and techniques. As a result, most agencies are learning on the fly (and at your expense). Many agencies struggle to overcome these challenges. Most are good at only a few things and subcontract the rest. Why pay more when you can do the subcontracting yourself?

 Analytics is a universal weakness. Many marketers got into the field so they wouldn’t have to learn the numbers. Now, to derive the best ROI from your marketing, analytic skills are a must. Testing, measuring, and refining your marketing are critical components of my Lean Marketing approach. And they require analytics.

 Targeting and direct response skills are lacking. Most small business marketing is focused on getting a response, and not in developing your brand. Finding the right segments to target can be challenging even for sophisticated agencies. The idea of small and iterative tests is foreign to most agencies; They’re stuck in the campaign mentality.

So, what should you choose: DIY or hiring an agency? Most marketing skills you can learn on your own and you can sub-contract the ones where you don’t have the time or skills. My recommendation is that you do it yourself.