For many growing businesses, there comes a point when marketing starts to become a full-time job.
The website needs updating. Social media needs content. Google Ads need managing. Someone needs to design the new brochure. There’s an event coming up. The sales team needs new materials. SEO needs attention. And somebody has just suggested you should be making more video content…
The problem is, very few small and medium-sized businesses have the budget – or the need – to employ a specialist for every area of marketing.
But that doesn’t mean you have to settle for doing less.
Sometimes, you don’t need a marketing department. You simply need access to the right marketing team.
One Person Can’t Do Everything
The role of marketing has changed enormously.
A good marketing strategy today can encompass branding, graphic design, website development, SEO, PPC, social media, content creation, email marketing, photography, video, PR, print and advertising – and that’s before you start thinking about emerging platforms and technology.
Finding one person who is genuinely an expert in all of those areas is virtually impossible – a unicorn.
Building an internal team of specialists, meanwhile, can represent a significant investment for a growing business.
Working with an agency gives you access to those different skills when you need them, without having to build an entire department yourself.
More Than a Collection of Suppliers
Of course, businesses have always been able to outsource.
You could have one company looking after your website, another managing Google Ads, a freelance designer producing your brochures and someone else handling social media.
The difficulty comes when nobody is looking at the bigger picture.
Your website might say one thing while your advertising says another. Campaign creative can become inconsistent. Opportunities are missed and, before long, you’re spending a considerable amount of time simply coordinating your different suppliers.
Good marketing works best when everything connects.
Your brand, website, digital advertising, social media, printed materials and wider campaigns should all be working towards the same objectives.
An Extension of Your Business
At William Lawrence Agency, we don’t believe an agency should simply sit and wait for the next brief to arrive.
The best agency relationships are collaborative.
It’s about understanding the client’s business, knowing what they’re trying to achieve and becoming an extension of their existing team.
Sometimes that means delivering a specific campaign. At other times, it means identifying an opportunity the client hasn’t considered, suggesting a different approach or bringing together several marketing channels to achieve a better result.
For businesses without a dedicated marketing department, that external perspective can be particularly valuable.
The Specialists You Need, When You Need Them
One of the biggest advantages of working with a full-service agency is flexibility.
You might need a new website today, a sales brochure next month and a digital advertising campaign later in the year.
Rather than finding a new supplier every time, you have access to a team with expertise across:
- Branding and graphic design
- Website design and development
- SEO and Google Ads
- Paid and organic social media
- Photography and video
- Content and PR
- Print and direct marketing
- Outdoor advertising
- Radio, cinema and targeted TV advertising
- Marketing strategy and planning
Crucially, those specialists are working together.
The designer understands where the campaign will appear. The digital team understands the wider strategy. The website supports the advertising. And everything remains recognisably part of the same brand.
Local Knowledge Matters Too
For SMEs across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, marketing isn’t always about reaching millions of people.
Often, it’s about reaching the right people in the right places.
Knowing the local area can make a significant difference – from choosing appropriate publications and outdoor locations to understanding local audiences, communities and opportunities.
WLA has been working with businesses in the region for almost 50 years, while also delivering campaigns that reach audiences nationally.
That combination gives our clients access to a broad range of marketing expertise without losing the personal relationship you’d expect from a local agency.
Fresh Thinking Without Adding to Your Headcount
There’s another advantage to bringing an external team into your business: perspective.
When you’re immersed in your company every day, it’s understandably difficult to view your brand in the same way a potential customer does.
An agency can ask questions, challenge assumptions and bring ideas from different industries and campaigns.
And because an agency works across different disciplines, it can often spot opportunities that wouldn’t necessarily sit within one person’s remit.
Perhaps the answer isn’t another social media campaign. Maybe your website needs attention first.
Perhaps you don’t need to spend more on advertising. Maybe your existing creative isn’t communicating the right message.
Good marketing isn’t about doing everything. It’s about knowing what to do, when to do it and why.
Do You Need a Bigger Marketing Department?
Maybe not.
If your business is growing and your marketing requirements are becoming more complex, the answer doesn’t necessarily have to be another full-time employee – or several of them.
The right agency can give you access to creative, digital and strategic expertise as and when you need it, while becoming a trusted extension of your existing team.
At William Lawrence Agency, that’s exactly how we like to work.
You may not need a bigger marketing department. You might just need a bigger marketing team.