Working with a marketing agency can help your startup build a marketing strategy grounded in your market, audience, and competition to develop custom strategies for tackling your business goals.

But, how do you know when it’s time to use a marketing agency, and how do you go about picking one? We’ve pulled together our top three tips when deciding if it’s time to work with a marketing agency, and how to choose one that’s right for you.

# 1: Explore what marketing agencies can do for your startup.

Psyche Digital isn’t the only digital marketing company out there, and understanding what different agencies do, and how we do it, can help you make a decision you can be confident in.

A marketing agency is an external organization built to support businesses to thrive in the modern marketing landscape.

If you are feeling like your company has a mismatched mission, value, or offering, and you need help fine tuning these to match your goals, a marketing agency may be just the ticket. They can work with you and take a broad, objective view of your business and help make the necessary tweaks to these critical aspects of your business.

Marketing agencies can help you apply proven strategies to your branding, website, social media, and more, so that you are sharing a cohesive access point for potential clients and customers.

Marketing agencies are experts at knowing what current trends in marketing are dominating, and understand how to design the customer-facing materials of your business to be more catchy, exciting, and welcoming to clients. Marketing agencies want to help make sure you are attracting clients to your business with tactics like lead magnets, SEO-optimized content, email marketing, social media strategy, and beyond to keep your ideal potential client coming back for more.

Some potential services that marketing agencies like Psyche Digital can offer are:

• Comprehensive, scalable website builds or redesigns
• Strategic branding & messaging
• Cutting edge marketing tactics and management

# 2: Know when it’s time to work with a marketing agency.

As a business owner, you know that timing is key. Understanding the many signs to look out for when it’s time to work with a marketing agency will help you thread the needle on making sure you are making the most of social and business trends!

However, the overall indication that your business needs to work with a marketing agency is: Time.

As a startup founder or business owner, you understand the time demands of your growing operations. Initially, all marketing is handled in-house, as you post on your social media or share about your exciting new product or service. You probably spent a great deal of time and effort honing your brand voice and messaging, and perfecting your pitch. However, as your business expands, you may start seeing these regular marketing tasks fall to the backburner –– Your marketing channels and website could use attention, your messaging and branding could need a refresh to meet the realities of your scaling business. Collaborating with a marketing agency addresses these challenges, and puts your valuable time back in your pocket.

Not having the time to consistently maintain your marketing is the number one sign that your business has grown to the point that you need to work with a marketing agency.

While you are focusing on what you’re an expert at, your business, marketing agencies can take time-consuming tasks off your hands

A marketing agency can take the lead on projects that may have hit the backburner for you and your core team. For example:

• Designing marketing campaigns relevant to modern trends.
• Implementing and examining website analytics to see who is coming to and engaging with your digital platforms, and design tactics to convert that traffic into leads or customers.
• Expanding your digital presence with new website pages and specialty content.
• Maintaining a consistent social media presence.
• Access to additional tools and software for investment in your marketing.
• Measuring your success through advanced metrics and analytics.

This is where working with a marketing agency can help. They are here to team-lift these critical marketing exercises that keep your business at the top of people’s minds and searches, and give you as the business owner peace of mind that it is getting done to a high quality.

# 3: Pick the right marketing agency for your business needs.

So you’ve decided you want to work with a marketing agency to support your startup’s growth with their expertise. How do you decide on which to hire?

There are lots of green and red flags to look out for when working with a marketing agency, but the process begins with a meeting (we at Psyche Digital call this a “Vision Call“).

You want to vet a marketing agency just like you would a potential new hire!

In your initial meeting, ask the right questions to your potential marketing agencies to make sure they are a good fit for your business, and you are a good fit for theirs. Some people work great together, and others don’t, so asking the right questions will be critical for learning what a marketing agency’s priorities are, and if they align with yours.

This includes asking any marketing agency you’re considering working with about relevant past experience, how they deal with tight deadlines, and what you can expect from their contributions.

Questions like:

• Does this marketing agency have experience in your industry?
• How will the agency go about understanding your business?
• How do they measure success for a program?
• What is their experience with supporting businesses scale up with more leads?
• What kind of reporting can you expect, and how often can you expect it?
• How long does each deliverable take, and how do they communicate these timelines?

Just like in the hiring process, the potential new hire should ask you questions back. A great marketing agency won’t take just any client, they will vet and explore if the business relationship will be a successful one.

They may ask questions like:

• What are some of your current goals for your business?
• How large is your current team, and what are their roles?
• Where do you see your business in five years, and what are some hurdles between you and that vision?
• Have you worked with a marketing agency in the past? If so, what was your experience like?
• What are you looking for in a marketing agency?

Working with a marketing agency that aligns with your goals, and whose skills align with what you need, is the best way to stay dominant with your marketing strategies.

Psyche Digital’s Three Takeaways for Working with a Marketing Agency:

• Knowing how a marketing agency can support your startup is the first step to knowing if it’s time to bring one in. Marketing agencies are expert teams dedicated to help you elevate your business by getting customers in the door and keeping them coming back.
• If you don’t have the time to do it in house, it’s probably a good time to look at hiring a marketing agency!
• Picking the right marketing agency is like hiring someone new into your business, and meeting with them to make sure your visions align is a necessary step.

Working with a marketing agency might seem daunting at first. However, if your business isn’t meeting your needs in the marketing world, and you don’t have the time to micromanage it, investing in a marketing agency that is a good fit for your business can help.

Psyche Digital specializes in startups and investor-facing organizations. We are looking for clients who need marketing, branding, and website solutions. Schedule a free vision call with us today to discuss your business goals, and how we can help you get there!