I think the word “agency” scares a lot of people.

I know it scared me when I was on the corporate side.

The word can conjure up thoughts of overelaborate marketing campaigns, expensive creative directors, big media buys, and a quick way to blow through your annual marketing budget.

I’d be lying if I said those things no longer exist, but not with your typical digital agency anymore.

In fact, I’d argue agencies have become more flexible, affordable, and able to accommodate your marketing needs.

Here’s five good reasons to hire an digital agency:

They Can Complement Your Existing Marketing Team & Resources

A lot of people think marketing agencies are where you go to when you need to launch a big fancy marketing campaign or initiative.

You can, but digital agencies are as agile as ever.

Whether you need strategy for your small marketing team, or just help with deliverables with your big marketing team, digital agencies can fit your needs.

In fact, for some of our clients, we’ve become an extension of their marketing team and attend regular marketing meetings and even events.  For other clients with no in-house marketing, we are their marketing department.

They Can Help Ensure Business Continuity Through Employee Attrition

One big benefit of working with a digital agency is that they get to know your business.

The advantage of that is that if anyone from the marketing department leaves your company, the agency can be there to help fill the void.

Depending on the capabilities of the agency, they could help ensure everything from strategy to SEO, web design to Social Media, and PPC to Email Marketing is covered.

They Can Help With Your Marketing Team’s “Overage” Work

Again, agencies aren’t always who you need to turn to for big ideas and elaborate campaigns.

Sometimes your company just may need some extra hands to deliver upon existing goals and timelines.

Whether it’s the holiday season rush, finishing up projects for year-end, or planning for 2016, don’t forget that agencies can help you reach your short and long-term goals.

They’ve Worked With Tons of Tools, Technologies & Clients…and Know What Works

One of the big advantages of working at an agency is that you get a lot of exposure.

Exposure to different tools, technologies, and best practices, but also to a lot of different types of businesses, business models, and industries.

In other words, agencies often know what works, and what can work with your business.

Maybe they know the best way to prospect with social media for your B2B biz, the best way to design your homepage to maximize free-trials for your software, or the best way to get more referrals from your existing ecommerce customers.

Agencies can offer a lot of insight into the marketing of your business.

They’re More Affordable than You Might Think

How much do agencies cost?

To put things into perspective first, let’s talk about how much a marketing employee costs.

As I’ve outlined in a previous blog about actual costs of hiring a Marketing Director vs. An Agency, when you hire someone you’re not only paying for their salary, but also things like:

• RECRUITMENT
• HIRING
• INTEGRATION AND TRAINING
• BENEFITS
• EQUIPMENT
• RENT
• HR/IT SUPPORT
• CPP
• TAXES
• BUSINESS EXPENSES
• VACATION/SICK DAYS

The actual costs of hiring someone is closer to 2-3 times their salary after you factor in all of the above.

That means a $50K a year marketing employee actually costs your company $100K-$150K in real costs.

And not that I’m advocating replacing employees with agencies, but there’s a lot you can do with $100K, as outlined in “What I’d Do With a $100K Digital Marketing Budget“.

And the best part, agencies are business expenses and thus tax deductible.

So next time you’re looking for marketing help, don’t overlook your friendly neighbourhood digital agency 🙂