Author: Annie Bradford, Associate Account Executive

In today’s quickly evolving marketing landscape, managing a campaign  – or multiple campaigns – on top of all of the other communication duties can become time-consuming, labor-intensive and challenging for an in-house team to keep up with. 

Fortunately, changes in marketing opportunities has positioned businesses to target new audiences through innovative marketing tactics. Staying up-to-date with trends can be rewarding to early adopters, but can be damaging to brands who don’t evolve with competitors. 

Without an outside perspective, how do you know if you’re staying current with marketing trends? Or using a marketing budget effectively? Hiring a marketing agency ensures that your company stays relevant with the target market, keeps up with marketing best practices and uses  a marketing budget effectively. 

Why should a company hire an agency to accomplish their marketing goals? 

1. Time and budget: One of the first things a marketing agency will ask you regarding a marketing campaign should be your timeline and budget specifics. Projects should never take too long or cost too much. Staying on time and on budget is important for any successful marketing project. However, you should have an idea of what that time and budget looks like before starting to plan.

2. Modernize: The explosion of social media and time spent on mobile devices has made it easier to reach and communicate with a business’s target audience through modern marketing strategies. Website development, targeted email, e-newsletters, sponsorships, public relations, search engine optimization/keyword search, addressable geofencing and over-the-top media are a few examples of modern marketing tactics. An agency will have the experience, knowledge, and expertise within these tactics to create a strategy that creates the best value and opportunity for a client. 

3. Specialized knowledge: An agency is made up of people who are experts in their respective departments. Hiring an agency means you’re hiring a team of professionals in various areas of marketing, such as media planning/buying, marketing strategy, copywriting, design, video/photography, website development, social media and more. Collective knowledge will make marketing campaigns more effective by combining the expertise of 10+ marketing professionals to accomplish a client’s goal. This can be far more cost effective than augmenting your own team with all of these disciplines. 

4. Consulting: A huge asset that an agency can bring to a business is auditing marketing plans and past marketing campaigns. Analyzing previous marketing plans, creative and media placement can reveal new opportunities and guide a strategy to set up future marketing plans to accomplish a company’s marketing goals, budget and timeline. 

5. Unbiased Perspective: An agency brings fresh ideas, questions and perspectives, which leads to creative problem solving. An outside point of view can be critical to the success of a business. In the wise words of Albert Einstein, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” It’s natural for a company to develop tunnel vision and it’s hard to see things from a different angle, which is why an agency – which has seen many different challenges and even more solutions – can become a trusted partner to solve problems and build solutions. 

At Smith Kroeger, we understand that marketing is a process. That marketing process should always be examined and challenged, tested, optimized and improved – but never stopped. If you want to learn more how to advance your business through marketing, read our team’s insights on our blog and reach out at SmithKroeger.com.

At Smith Kroeger, we strive to accelerate our clients by accomplishing their marketing goals, but as a company we don’t stop there. Smith Kroeger has been building successful brands locally, regionally and nationally since 1962 in Omaha, Nebraska, and we know the importance of a strong and involved community. 

If you’re a small-business owner looking for ways to make authentic connections in the community while simultaneously improving your brand reputation and public awareness, consider some different ways you and your employees can get involved. 

5 ways a business can get involved in its community:

1. Shop and Partner Local

Shopping locally makes an investment back into your community. For every $100 spent in your area, around $68 returns back into your local community, while only around $43 stays when you shop at a chain store. 

Area businesses can support each other by partnering to cater lunches from local restaurants, printing branded merchandise at an in-town shop, ordering office supplies in-store rather than online, featuring neighborhood businesses on your social media and so much more. Being mindful is the key to shopping local. 

2. Promote Volunteering

In every community there are many opportunities for people to get involved with nonprofits, but a big reason people don’t volunteer is they don’t have the time. Encouraging employees to take PTO to volunteer or scheduling opportunities during office hours not only gives them a chance to make time for giving back, it helps employees feel more connected to the company and the leadership teams they’re working for.  

3. Donate to a Local Cause

Same as donating your valuable time volunteering, donating financially to an area cause or nonprofit organization is invaluable as well, and can open the doors for additional volunteering opportunities in the future. Can’t swing a financial contribution this year? Consider donating your business’s services at a discounted rate. Donating your time, money or event space makes a big impact within a local organization. 

4. Become a Mentor 

A mentorship can be between colleagues, a professional and a student, or business owner to business owner. Learn and grow from each other. A mentorship program within a business’s organization builds employee engagement, increases employee retention and improves productivity. Also, getting involved in mentorship helps fuel success within a community’s youth. How can you share what you know to grow people around you?

5. Start an Internship Program

An internship program increases the local workforce in a community by retaining young workers. Interns can bring energy and a positive work ethic, which can improve a business’s work culture. Interns are generally eager to learn more and easily accept any undertakings.

There are many ways to get involved in the neighborhood and it’s important to make your presence known. Getting involved shows the community that you care, but it also builds relationships and generates trust with your customers that can lead to even more business down the road.

A community is only as strong as the people who decide to get involved. Reveal the human side of your business and get out there!