Why Hire A Digital Marketing Agency For Your Fire & Security Business?

Why would I hire a digital marketing agency?

That sounds expensive! Those guys ALL drive expensive sports cars!

Unfortunately, owners and managing directors of Fire & Security companies with this blinkered attitude can end up with some serious business growth issues.

Here are the plain facts! You should use an agency if:

1.  you are struggling with time and marketing technology skills; or
2. your  in house marketing team is missing some of the skills required to cope with the demands of promoting your business;  or
3. you’re fed up with trying to project manage freelancers

It is the best answer because an  established agency will be staffed by experienced professionals who actually know what they are doing and have the data driven results to prove it. 

Sure, it might seem more expensive than what you have currently been paying… but is what you are currently doing actually bringing in sufficient revenue to pay for itself?

Why hire a digital marketing agency

Digital marketing isn’t just for businesses that sell software products with a global audience. Local fire & security installers and professional services companies and manufacturers who sell nationwide can all benefit from turning their website into a 24/7 sales person. But someone has to put the strategies and content in place to make that happen!

Superior skills

An established agency will have the expertise and experience with all the digital marketing specialisms you need for your industry. While all businesses are different, they will understand what works and what doesn’t in particular industries and have the stats to prove it!

Many will bring with them access to premium technology and the skills to use it effectively. There will be no skills gap and no learning curve to struggle with.

Improve your marketing inefficiencies 

Hiring an agency means that you don’t have to keep checking that your own employees:

• have the skills required 
• are getting the training that they need
• are promoting your business in the way you desire.

Instead of being distracted by your never-ending marketing ‘to do’ list, you can concentrate on the £1000/hour jobs that only you can do.

However, while all the skills you need will be in place, the agency requires time to learn about your company and develop your marketing message, if you have not already developed one. This groundwork is critical. Similar to building a house, get the foundations wrong and you can repent at your leisure!

Once in place, this groundwork enables marketing plans to be created and implemented immediately for short term or urgent projects. Even if your company is distracted by other matters, the marketing agency’s priority will always be the effective promotion of your business.

Agencies Have More Time Than You Do AND better tools to automate some of the manual work which means they are able to deliver:

1. better results than if you were to do it on your own.
2. accurate results faster than if you do it on your own.

Which leads us on to…

Measurable results not haphazard snake oil

No business would knowingly invest in something that doesn’t work. But so many will agree to pay a monthly retainer for their marketing without establishing what the outcomes of that payment will be. 

Working with a company that will quote you to achieve your SMART goals means that they have some skin in the game too!

Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic/Relevant and Timely

And you have some metrics to hold them to account. No agreed outcomes means someone can just keep charging you for as long as it takes to you to realise that you don’t see any ROI (return on investment) for your current marketing strategy.

A digital marketing agency that wants you to win will be keen to have weekly, monthly and quarterly meetings to show progress or address any potential issues.

How much will it cost?

One thing that digital marketing agencies will be quick to tell you is that not using an agency can be a false economy because this outsourcing investment could actually save you money!

How so? Well think about it, keeping it in-house means that the bulk of your marketing budget just got spent on salaries and pensions and you’re still not sure you’ve covered all the crucial skills gaps!

For less than the cost of hiring an experienced Marketing Manager, you can get an entire team of marketing professionals to design and execute a personalised strategy.

However, you must remember, some agencies require minimum retainers or project fees up front. Others will offer dip your toe projects or campaigns to allow a new client to get a feel for what it’s like to work with an agency before committing fully to a 12 month contract.

What you pay should be based on the value that you expect to receive. Not all digital marketing is equal. If your aim is to double your turnover in five years, that will cost you X amount. But if you want to achieve the same result in just two years, you will need to invest considerably more.

Before you use a digital marketing agency

Please, please don’t just rush in and hire the first smooth talking, shark-tooth-necklace-wearing consultant who promises you quick results in return for a monthly fee.

Take a deep breath and consider.

What exactly have they promised to do for you? Some vague ‘digital marketing-y stuff’? Or have they discussed real tangible financial goals that align with your own business plans and a clear strategy to achieve those in a realistic time frame?

An agency may talk a good talk. They may  appear to tick all the skills boxes. But, if they are unable to pull these together into a coherent strategy or they have weaknesses – like a high turnover of staff – you won’t get the results that you expect. It is critical you consider the following three potential issues at the very least:

1. Walking the walk – Are they successfully doing for themselves the skillset that they say they will do for your company?  Do they ask you upfront what YOU want to achieve with this engagement?

2. Communication and reporting – Can they show you data and reports to prove that what they do is effective for your bottom line? Will they be reporting regularly to you so you can see it working for your business? We have met many business owners who have complained about receiving “charts with squiggly lines that make no sense” or which reference high level numbers that have no bearing on actual traffic, leads and customers. 

3. Proof of the pudding – Do they have recommendations confirming that what they will be doing for you actually works? Not just a testimonial that says “They were great!” You need to know what they were great at and whether it resulted in a positive return on investment for that business. You also need to know when that testimonial was left – do they still feel the same way a year into the engagement?

Ready to hire a digital marketing agency?

Click here to have a chat about what you want to achieve and your required time frame.

Still considering your options? Click the image below to download our ebook on the pros and cons of the different digital marketing options.