Should I Work With an Agency? - Credo

Should I Work With an Agency?
Last updated on September 2, 2022 by Emily Faxon
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Hiring an agency? Once you’re done reading this post and are ready to find the right agency for your needs, schedule a call with our team to learn about working with Credo.
Hey there! If you’ve booked a call with Credo in the past two years, we’ve likely spoken. 
If not, let me introduce myself. I’m Emily Faxon, head of Client Success at Credo. I am in charge of listening to your marketing needs and then introducing you to the Pros (agencies or consultants) who can help you accomplish your goals. I weave my knowledge of the Credo network and my background in recruiting and listening to make the right introductions. And let me tell you: I love when I get it right. Connecting people to solve problems is my favorite part of my job.
Over the past two years, I’ve spoken with thousands of business owners, marketing directors, and project managers who are all looking for help with different marketing channels. While every business is different, the end goal is often the same: how do we increase awareness, generate the right leads, and grow our business?
The answers vary depending on your industry, specific goals and timelines, and (of course) budget. 
In this series: ‘ Just the Fax: Things I’ve Been Asked During Marketing Evaluation Calls ’ I lay out and answer the most common questions I hear from people just like you. I do this using data from Credo as well as my own experience.
This blog post will cover some of the questions I hear when people are deciding if bringing on a digital marketing agency is the best choice for their business. 
Table of Contents
Collaboration Is Power
Why Hire An Agency?
There are various reasons why our clients want to hire an agency. Most of them sound like, “we have this really big project and we want to get it right.” Sometimes, I hear “we’ve always had great word-of-mouth referrals, but we need to get a leg up on the competition.” Or, “we have been working with an agency but we need a different approach.” 
In all three of the examples above, the client knows that they have a need that their current team can’t handle. The first one is a big project that would take people away from their normal responsibilities. The second is learning a new form of lead generation after years/decades of traditional or in-person marketing efforts. The third encompasses knowing that the company’s needs have surpassed their current team or agency’s level of expertise, and so they need a new approach. 
There are of course alternatives to hiring an agency. 
You can always hire a new employee or a freelancer to do the work for you. However, hiring an employee and getting them up to speed is a time-intensive process and can also be a much more expensive undertaking than working directly with a marketing agency after accounting for recruiting fees, benefits, training, and more. You’re also going all-in on one hire, which can be a risky proposition.
When hiring an agency, you get an entire team of experts and someone to lead projects (usually an account manager) so that you don’t have to do this work. The team can create a strategy for your growth or provide the manpower to run campaigns and create content. In some cases, you might find it easier to have an agency partner do both. 
Hiring an agency to take over your marketing allows you to focus on running your business, not the minutiae of marketing. 
Hiring a team that lives and breathes industry changes, algorithm updates, and social media trends gives you a leg up on the competition. It allows you to focus on being the expert on your product and growth. 
Agencies have a better grasp on what is and is not working across a broad range of client types and verticals. 
They know 
what tweaks to make to optimize conversion rates, and 
the latest rule changes coming from Google or Meta/Facebook.
An external team can get into the weeds and pivot faster than it would take for you to hire and onboard a single employee. 
As far as the actual process of hiring an agency, it can be anything from a DIY experience , a guided experience, or in some cases, include coaching and review from experts like Credo before a contract is signed. 
How Credo Solves This Problem
When working with an agency from Credo’s network of Pros, you can be sure that each Pro is vetted, case studies are verified, calls are made, and we understand not only how they work but what their ideal client looks like. Understanding our Pros allows us to make informed introductions based on your project requirements. 
Additionally, when you hire an agency, you get access to a whole team dedicated to supporting your needs, not just one person. 
In short, when thinking about why you want to hire an agency, consider whether the spend is best used on an individual or a team. 
It Takes a Team: Goals
Your company should have several goals and metrics around growth, customer acquisition, sales, and brand awareness that you or members of your team are working towards daily. Depending on the size of your organization, you may have entire departments dedicated to a specific goal, or your company might be in start-up mode where everyone wears multiple hats.
Even with a rockstar team, there will likely come a time when you need outside expertise to hit your numbers. 
It could be in preparation for launching a new product. It could be branching into the Canadian market but not knowing data around the ad trends there, or maybe your goals have a timeline that is impossible for your current team to meet without extra support. 
In all three examples, bringing on additional help is a no-brainer because it 
takes stress off of your team, 
allows your team to continue their daily responsibilities, and 
provides you with more resources and people for growth. 
Just think: if you could turn over Facebook Ad management and email marketing to a dedicated team, what would you be able to accomplish? Are there partnerships you could pursue or conferences your business could attend if you were not in the weeds of marketing? 
If you’re a business owner and you could free up 2-3 hours in your day to build the business or develop new products, how could that impact your bottom line? 
There’s a reason the biggest businesses in the world employ a lot of people. It’s because they understand that having more hands to accomplish more things brings exponential growth if hiring is done well.
Hiring an agency is a shortcut to having more skilled hands who can help bring that exponential growth.
Collaboration Is Power
So, in answer to the question, “am I ready to work with an agency?” ask yourself the following:
Do I have the budget?
Does my team have the bandwidth to accomplish my goals on my timeline alone?
Would a team of subject matter experts help me to scale and see more results for my marketing efforts?
If you answered yes to the questions above, then it might be time to hire an agency . 
Credo can help with that. Working with us is faster than doing it alone. Credo’s process cuts hiring a digital agency from the industry standard of 8-12 weeks down to 3-5 weeks. 
We have a network of pre-vetted marketing agencies – design, development, and digital – that we work with regularly. Once you schedule a call with our concierge matching team, we will connect you with agencies that fit your needs and deliver results. It’s that simple. 
Get started today.
What is Credo?
Rand Fishkin, cofounder and former CEO of Moz, said "GetCredo.com is one of the few trustworthy places to find a good SEO."
Credo works with businesses to help them hire the right SEO, PPC, or digital marketing agency for their unique needs. We implement our high-touch process to make sure you get the right matches and see the results you're looking for.
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Hire the right agency faster.
The average company saves 16.5 hours (that's a trip to London. And back.) by using Credo. Schedule a call with our team to find the right marketing partner quicker and with more confidence than doing it yourself.
Credo helps great growing companies find the right pre-vetted marketing provider to work with. We get to know you and your business, then connect you with the right providers based on your needs.
We then walk with you through the whole process of choosing the right provider.
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