Some SMEs can be hesitant to hire a retained content marketing agency. They might imagine that such marketing services are the preserve of giant corporations whose internal marketing has reached critical mass.
They might also have spent most of the company’s existence coordinating the marketing in-house, where the thoughts and plans of the management are comfortable and predictable for advertising and PR.
But, if you want to take your business to the next level, you ought to consider whether a retained agency can give you the boost you need.
After all, we delegate many functions already in business without a second thought. Many organisations outsource their accounting, call service, and facilities management services to experts in those fields.
Marketing – however – can seem more cerebrally linked to the minds of those who run the company. When you’re putting yourself out there, surely it’s best to do that yourself?
Well, you can, and the right marketing agency can help. Any marketing agency worth its salt understands that its role isn’t to become the business or make decisions on the client’s outreach policy.
The function of an agency is to channel the ethos and talent in the company in an informed way that gets you where you want to be.
There are many excellent freelance marketing executives out there. However, at Morton Waters, we believe the fact we’re retained allows us the time to build a vital relationship. We invest a lot in meeting with our clients: speaking to them and listening to their company’s challenges and its future goals as well as researching opportunities on their behalf.
Our team can create a bespoke plan that spans months or years, so your organisation has a dedicated, consistent outreach that’s true to you.
Many businesses turn to retained agencies like ours for specialised knowledge. A great agency’s executives bring expertise that most businesses can’t afford to hire as employees. With a team of specialists in their individual fields, you get a ‘unicorn’ – affordable expertise.
Your company will suddenly have access to many talented people and services who do everything from copywriting to video editing. You could hire these people freelance, and that’s not a bad idea for a one-off video editing job, for instance.
However, finding the right freelancers is time-consuming, and whomever you hire isn’t sitting at the same table as the other freelancers you’ve found. They could even be working in competition to support their own business objectives rather than prioritising yours.
Your interests are in your core business. Many smaller companies neglect their marketing responsibilities because their employees are too busy doing what the business does. The result? A well-run company with a few loyal clients and a blog that hasn’t been updated since 2014.
Hiring a retained agency lets you concentrate on getting on with what you do best, with the peace of mind that there’s constant marketing output via social media, PR, the web and events.
When you choose the right agency, you’ll know because you’ll sense that its people genuinely care about you and your business. Freelance marketing is an option for off-diary tasks now and again, but only with a retained agency can you form that special relationship with experts who can help.
Could your content and social media be better? Is your marketing direction well-defined?
Contact Morton Waters for the expertise you need to get your business where you want it to be. We’ll get to know you, produce a bespoke plan, and guide you to the success you deserve.