In a previous blog post we discussed the ins and outs (pun intended) of inbound vs outbound marketing and emphasized just how important the former is becoming.
As with any major marketing trend, companies are emerging to address and specialize in this new and exponentially-growing niche.
The entrance of inbound marketing agencies is shaking up the conventional agency world and we are going to discuss why your company should consider working with an inbound marketing agency.
The 5 Benefits
No Jack of All Trades Mentality
Sure, many traditional marketing agencies will claim to be competent in just about every area of need that you have, but the truth is a majority of them just simply aren't.
Keeping the pipeline healthy is usually priority #1 for agencies, and some are willing to sacrifice quality in an area they may not be experts in in order to increase revenue. Many will turn to outside vendors themselves to compensate for lack of expertise and will bake these inflated costs into your fee.
The jack-of-all-trades mentality can be a very tempting and dangerous approach for conventional agencies and for the companies they serve. For agencies it can cause resources to be stretched too thin and output to fall short of quality standards.
For companies using the agency's services the lack in quality may not be readily apparent if it is a new frontier or tactic that they aren't familiar with, but they will also be falling short because of it in the end. If you want to utilize inbound marketing, the safe and best bet is to turn to an inbound marketing agency.
Eliminate the Learning Curve
Some companies have the resources and desire to build an in-house team dedicated to inbound marketing but are simply new to the concept and its inherent intricacies. A lot of education is needed to master inbound and the different software programs that are tied to it.
If that is the case for you, perhaps utilizing an agency specializing in inbound marketing may not make sense for a long-term partnership, but could be beneficial from an initial coaching/strategic standpoint. Think of an inbound marketing agency as a nitro boost for your inbound plan.
The Inbound Philosophy is Tied to Sales Goals
Over the recent years you have probably been inundated with the idea of uniting sales and marketing (for good reason). Thousands of blog posts have been written about it and it seems to be a constant struggle.
One benefit of inbound marketing is that at its core it is linked with sales goals and lead nurturing. Tying content to the sales funnel/stages and employing constant measurement along the way is critical for inbound marketing and therefore naturally brings the sales and marketing teams together.
If your company could use improvement in this area, working with an inbound marketing agency can be the catalyst that you need.
Inbound Tends to Be Cheaper
According to HubSpot, inbound leads cost 61% less than outbound leads. This is in part because inbound content is simply smarter in the way it seeks out the proper audience and a wider (more expensive) net is not necessary.
Additionally, inbound marketing creates an online library of content that is more evergreen than traditional marketing tactics and therefore can act as a sales agent for much longer.
So while it isn't guaranteed, in many cases you can get a greater bang for your buck by working with an inbound marketing agency.
Keep Your Other Agencies Honest
Like any shrewd company should, you likely put great consideration into what services to outsource and how. Many companies will treat each project as an unofficial RFP for their existing agency partners to see what solution and price point options are available.
This benefit revisits our first point about the jack of all trades mentality. Conventional agencies that don't specialize in inbound may scramble to provide you a less-than-ideal solution that may not even be priced correctly.
Shop around and include a few inbound marketing agencies in the mix for better and potentially cheaper results.
How to Choose an Inbound Marketing Agency?
Now that we have covered some of the major reasons why it would benefit your company to work with an inbound marketing agency, the natural follow-up question is how to select one.
We have put together this inbound marketing agency checklist which will give you some helpful tips and things to look for when entering that process.
Do you have experience working with traditional and inbound marketing agencies? How did they differ? What did you learn? Let us know in the comments below!
