I love the phrase that appearances are not always what they appear to be. That is so true in the marketing world. In this world, it’s our job to sell and promote – and some use smoke and mirrors to make it work.
There’s an emerging trend in the marketing world – specialists over the traditional agency. Agencies – marketing and advertising – are seeing a nationwide decline in favor of marketing being moved in-house or outsourced to specialists who work with strategic partners. We, of course, fall in the latter of that.
I’m going to take a bold stand and make a statement that needs to be said – when you work with a marketing specialist who works with strategic partners who are experts in their fields, you and your business will be better off than with a one-stop-shop marketing agency who does it all for you.
Why? Read on.
I know you’re saying, but wait, isn’t ME Marketing an agency? Well, no, not in the true definition of an agency. We are marketing specialists – yes, we can do all facets of marketing, but we specialize in the field of digital marketing, and going even further, social media. Social Media Marketing is our area of expertise. We are not a one-stop-do-it-all-for-you agency. We do not have a videographer, or photographer, or multiple account managers, or graphic designers on staff. We know what we are good at and stick with that. We are a speciality marketing company – specializing in the field of marketing on social media.
But what if I need more than that?
That’s fine – we have strategic partners we work with that are experts in their own fields. We are partners with an SEO expert. A branding and identity expert. A videographer. A graphic designer. A promotional products company. The ones we partner with do their own lanes 100% and when they have clients who need social media, they call us. A wise mentor once told me, “know what you are good at and outsource the rest.” So I started working with strategic partners (my theme for 2019 – strategic partnerships).
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So why not just use that one-stop agency?
The problem with the one-stop marketing agency in this day and age is that rarely are any of the staff there experts in any one marketing field. They have some experience, yes, but they don’t specialize. So you get an overall half-way done job because you have a bunch of pseudo-experienced people handling your marketing. And marketing is expensive. The only exception to this would be if you were located in a major city like Atlanta, Chicago, or New York.
When you work with a specialist, you are not going to be upsold on other things your business may not need. For example, if you hired us to help with your social media marketing, we are not going to sell you on having new photographs done for your business. Or make you buy ads on TV. Or update your logo. Specialists do what they are hired to do and if another marketing need came up, that specialist would help to make sure that need was taken care of by someone who knows what they are doing.
Another reason to use a specialist is that you know who you are working with. Typically you work directly with that specialist – you aren’t signed then passed off to an account manager, who may or may not have any experience in marketing strategy or know your business.
I’m not going to lie, working with a specialist who pulls in other experts to fill the needs you have may cost a little more, but isn’t it worth spending a little more to have true experts who know their field handling your marketing and knowing it’s being done by experts?
I would pay. Gladly.
But it may just not be in your budget. And us specialists get that. We work to network with people so we have a broad network of professionals who can fit your budget.
What will you opt for this year for your business? The choice is yours.
