{"id":1437,"date":"2018-04-09T14:34:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-09T13:34:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/why-hire-a-digital-marketing-agency"},"modified":"2020-02-15T21:21:39","modified_gmt":"2020-02-15T21:21:39","slug":"why-hire-a-digital-marketing-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/why-hire-a-digital-marketing-agency","title":{"rendered":"Why Hire A Digital Marketing Agency For Your Fire &#038; Security Business?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><em>Why would I hire a digital marketing agency? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong><em>That sounds expensive! Those guys ALL drive expensive sports cars! <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, owners and managing directors of Fire &#038; Security companies with this blinkered attitude can end up with some serious business growth issues.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are the plain facts! You should use an agency if:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0you are\u00a0<a href=\"\/inbound-blog\/diy-digital-marketing\">struggling with time and marketing technology skills<\/a>;\u00a0or <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">your\u00a0 <a href=\"\/inbound-blog\/promoting-trusted-staff-member-digital-marketing-manager\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">in house marketing team<\/a>\u00a0is missing some of the skills required to cope with the demands of promoting your business;\u00a0<span>\u00a0or<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span>you&#8217;re fed up with trying to <span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\"><a href=\"\/inbound-blog\/freelance-digital-marketing-vs-employee-vs-agency\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\">project manage freelancers<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span>It is the best answer because an\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">\u00a0established agency will be staffed by experienced professionals who actually know what they are doing and have the <a href=\"\/inbound-blog\/local-fire-security-200k-sales-pipeline-with-digital-marketing\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">data driven results to prove it.<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">Sure, it might seem more expensive than what you have currently been paying&#8230; but is what you are currently doing actually bringing in sufficient revenue to pay for itself?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Why-Hire-A-Digital-Marketing-Agency.png\" alt=\"Why Hire A Digital Marketing Agency.png\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" style=\"width: 1024px;\" srcset=\"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Why-Hire-A-Digital-Marketing-Agency-1.png 512w, https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Why-Hire-A-Digital-Marketing-Agency.png 1024w, https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Why-Hire-A-Digital-Marketing-Agency-2.png 1536w, https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Why-Hire-A-Digital-Marketing-Agency-3.png 2048w, https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Why-Hire-A-Digital-Marketing-Agency-4.png 2560w, https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Why-Hire-A-Digital-Marketing-Agency-5.png 3072w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/h2>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span>Why hire a digital marketing agency<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span>Digital marketing isn&#8217;t just for businesses that sell software products with a global audience<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/digital-marketing-the-inbound-way\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">.<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-marketing-for-fire-security-system-installers\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Local fire &#038; security installers<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-marketing-for-b2b-and-b2c-businesses\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">professional services companies<\/a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-marketing-for-manufacturers\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">manufacturers who sell nationwide<\/a> 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!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Superior skills<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An established agency will have the expertise and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/digital-marketing-the-inbound-way\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">experience with all the digital marketing specialisms<\/a> you need for your industry. While all businesses are different, they will understand what works and what doesn\u2019t in particular industries and have the stats to prove it!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Improve your marketing inefficiencies\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hiring an agency means that you don&#8217;t have to keep checking that your own employees:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">have the skills required\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are getting the training that they need<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">are promoting your business in the way you desire. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of being distracted by your never-ending marketing &#8216;to do&#8217; list, you can<a href=\"\/inbound-blog\/are-you-a-small-business-because-you-dont-know-how-to-be-big\"> concentrate on the \u00a31000\/hour jobs that only you can do.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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\u2019s priority will always be the effective promotion of your business. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Agencies Have More Time Than You Do AND<\/strong>\u00a0better tools to automate some of the manual work<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>which means\u00a0<span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">they are able to deliver:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">better results than if you were to\u00a0do it on your own.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"background-color: transparent;\">accurate results faster than if you do it on your own.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Which leads us on to&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Measurable results not haphazard snake oil<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No business would knowingly invest in something that doesn&#8217;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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Working with a company that will quote you to achieve your SMART goals means that they have some skin in the game too!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic\/Relevant and Timely<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;t see any ROI (return on investment) for your current marketing strategy.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<h3>How much will it cost?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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&#8217;re still not sure you&#8217;ve covered all the crucial skills gaps!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, you must remember, some agencies require minimum retainers or project fees up front. Others will offer<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dip your toe<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span>\u00a0<\/span>projects or campaigns to allow a new client to get a feel for what it\u2019s like to work with an agency before committing fully to a 12 month contract.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">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<span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">X<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span>\u00a0<\/span>amount. But if you want to achieve the same result in just two years, you will need to invest considerably more.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\">Before you use a digit<\/span>al marketing agency<\/h3>\n<p>Please, please don&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>Take a deep breath and consider.<\/p>\n<p>What exactly have they promised to do for you? Some vague &#8216;digital marketing-y stuff&#8217;? 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?<\/p>\n<p><span>An agency may talk a good talk. They may\u00a0 appear to tick all the\u00a0<\/span><i><span>skills<\/span><\/i><span>\u00a0boxes. But, if they are unable to pull these together into a coherent strategy or they have weaknesses &#8211;<strong> like a high turnover of staff<\/strong> &#8211; you won\u2019t get the results that you expect. It is critical you consider the following three potential issues at the very least:<\/span><\/p>\n<p>1.<strong><span>\u00a0<\/span>Walking the walk<\/strong><span>\u00a0<\/span>&#8211; Are they successfully doing for themselves the skillset that they say they will do for your company?\u00a0\u00a0<span>Do they ask you upfront what YOU want to achieve with this engagement?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>2.<span>\u00a0<\/span><strong>Communication and reporting<\/strong><span>\u00a0<\/span>&#8211; 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\u00a0<em><strong>&#8220;charts with squiggly lines that make no sense&#8221; <\/strong><\/em>or\u00a0which reference high level numbers that have no bearing on actual traffic, leads and customers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><span>3.<span>\u00a0<\/span><strong>Proof of the pudding<\/strong><span>\u00a0<\/span>&#8211; Do they have recommendations confirming that what they will be doing for you actually works? Not just a testimonial that says <em>&#8220;They were great!&#8221;<\/em> 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 &#8211; do they still feel the same way a year into the engagement?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ready to hire a digital marketing agency?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/app.hubspot.com\/meetings\/jo3\/30-min-intro-call\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Click here<\/a> to have a chat about what you want to achieve and your required time frame.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Still considering your options? Click the image below to\u00a0<a href=\"\/successful-digital-marketing-for-fire-and-security-companies-lp\" rel=\" noopener\">download our ebook on the pros and cons of the different digital marketing options<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/tlc-checklist-how-to-get-more-fire-security-customers-lp\"><img alt='How To Get More Fire And Security Clients' src='https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/ca009161-dc1d-4106-ad8e-a78d26272320.png'><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 &#038; 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:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1438,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digital-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inbound.lollipoplocal.co.uk\/inbound-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}