According to online recruitment magazine Onrec, nearly half of all businesses are now outsourcing some aspect of their marketing strategy, with digital marketing the least likely area to be managed by in-house teams. But why are these companies choosing to partner with leading digital marketing agencies? What do they know that you don’t?
The Growing Complexities of Digital Marketing
Insights firm McKinsey believes that many organisations are failing to understand the complexities of modern digital marketing. The company states that a high percentage of marketers are looking at digital marketing from a simple two-point perspective; they place their efforts in wooing customers upfront, and in end-stage promotions, without considering how marketing efforts can help guide customers between the two stages.
If this sounds like you, then you’ll definitely want to read on…
McKinsey estimates that businesses could increase their online revenue by as much as 10-20% by ‘tightening the coordination of the end-to-end experience’; by not only rolling out marketing techniques at the top and bottom of the sales funnel, but across the entire customer journey. The good news is that there is now an almost never ending list of ways to do this, from search ads, optimised content, and social to PPC, video, CTV, and even OTT advertising. The bad news, however, is that for businesses that haven’t risen from a marketing background, the growing number of digital marketing techniques can make it all the more challenging to implement a successful strategy.
Budget Woes
The growing complexities of digital marketing alone wouldn’t be too big of an issue. After all, it’s possible to bring in new skills, or upskill the existing workforce so they’re up-to-date with all the latest techniques. However, at the same time that marketing is becoming more complicated, it appears that advertising budgets are declining.
Research firm Gartner reports that marketing budgets accounted for 11.2% of total company revenue in 2018, dropping to 10.5% in 2019; a drop which marked the first time marketing budgets had dipped below 11% for 5 years. The situation that we have right now is that marketers need to do more with less. That’s where agencies come in.
Interestingly, while Gartner shows that marketing technology spends are down by 3% year-on-year, spending on marketing agencies is remaining stable, suggesting that businesses are beginning to understand the benefits of working with a professional partner. “While in-housing may be à la mode, agencies still offer an unparalleled breadth of scope, economies of scale, and an ability to offer much-needed, external strategic input” says Gartner’s Vice President of Marketing Practice, Ewan McIntyre.
Exploring the Benefits of a Marketing Partner
We know that marketing is becoming increasingly complex. We also know that marketing spends are dropping (and have dropped further as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak), and we know that there has never been a more important time for businesses to ensure they’re able to create a bigger impact while utilising fewer financial resources. Digital marketing agencies can help businesses to optimise their campaigns and derive greater value from their advertising investments… but how?
- Improved Efficiency: Delegating digital marketing tasks to experienced experts in the field frees up valuable internal resources to focus more on the core business. This could facilitate new innovation within the business and ensure that teams have the time they need to enhance production and drive new business growth.
- Big Data Capabilities: Big data is becoming a strategic necessity. In fact, McKinsey reports that businesses employing big data customer analytics techniques are 3 times more likely to demonstrate an above average turnover. Digital marketing agencies make it easier to collect and analyse big data.
- Knowledge Sharing: By working closely with a digital marketing agency, in-house teams can gain a better understanding of what particular strategies will drive growth for the business. This level of knowledge sharing can enable associated functions, such as sales, to optimise and align their approach for consistency.
- Capacity Gap Bridging: For small businesses and startups especially, it’s natural that the organisation may not have the manpower needed to fully explore all potential marketing opportunities. By working with a digital marketing agency, it’s easy to bridge the capacity gap and access the right skills, at the right time.
- Access to Niche Skills: And speaking of skills, with the digital marketing landscape evolving rapidly, it can be difficult to ensure that a business always has the right talent onboard. By partnering with a digital marketing agency, organisations can ensure that they have access to even the most niche of skills.
- Marketing Innovation: Unless you’re in marketing yourself, it’s natural you’ll want to focus efforts on your core business, rather than spending your time researching the latest advertising trends. Digital marketing agencies, however, live for this. An agency partner can ensure you’re always staying on top of the latest trends.
Time to Invest?
When considering whether it’s time to invest in a digital marketing agency, it’s important not to focus simply on the investment itself but to also consider the return on investment that you could see by partnering with industry experts. At e-innovate, we believe that there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to marketing. Instead, we take a tailored approach to web design, SEO, social marketing, and digital marketing to ensure that our partners are always getting the very best return on investment.
