Why You Need a Marketing Manager Before Hiring an Agency

John, the owner of EasyClean, Inc., was frustrated. He had followed the outsourcing trend. A marketing agency, after all, was much cheaper than hiring his own team. He’d done it by the book, through a thorough vetting process that netted a reliable partner with many positive recommendations in his industry.

And yet, the results weren’t coming in. He was spending countless hours in meetings with his agency partners and still wasn’t convinced he knew what they were actually doing. John was doing all the work, without any of the payoff.

His agency contact was Sarah, who was not much happier. Complex digital marketing strategies couldn’t get off the ground because of what she thought to be indecisiveness and lack of expertise on the client side. She was just preparing for a meeting in which she once again had to describe digital KPIs, and couldn’t help but wonder: was EasyClean, Inc really getting positive value out of the partnership?

This scenario might be a hypothetical, but it’s not far-fetched. Across the country, countless growing business are throwing resources at marketing agencies, hoping to have found a solve-all for their promotional efforts. When they fail, both sides of the relationship get frustrated, and no one benefits. A 2016 study showed that just 8% of brands are satisfied with their marketing partners.

With that type of rift, no simple solution can solve the problem. Both sides might be at fault in a number of cases. At the same time, many of them originate from a single source: lack of marketing expertise and prioritization. That’s why I recommend all businesses having a marketing manager in place before hiring a marketing agency.

The Basics of the Marketing Agency/Client Relationship

The nature of most relationships between businesses and their marketing agencies is purely transactional: one pays money while the other runs some marketing campaign. It doesn’t take a genius to realize the problem with that equation. The goal should not be spending money on marketing, but developing mutually-beneficial goals that help the business grow, extend its contract, and earn both sides more revenue.

That sounds great in theory, but can be difficult to achieve. While a number of marketing professionals will work on the business campaigns, in most cases only one (the account executive) actually touches base with the client. This removal from impetus to execution can be dangerous if the client doesn’t know as much about marketing as the professionals working for him do.

Consider these tactics to improve agency-client relationships, as outlined by Forbes. Read through them, and you’ll notice one thing: most require marketing expertise. You cannot, for instance, be transparent about your marketing goals or stay within scope if you don’t know where to draw the lines. A marketing manager on the client side can solve that problem, starting before you even work with an agency.

How a Marketing Manager Improves the Selection Process

Business owners should ask themselves two simple questions: what do you look for in a marketing partner? And, just as importantly, how does that differ from what a marketing expert might look for?

The answers may range from general (such as ‘growing my business’) to specific (such as ‘reaching more members of my audience on Facebook’). You can probably guess which of them might be asked by whom. Choosing the right marketing agency is a complex process and one that has to keep all variables in mind.

Input from a marketing manager on your side significantly increases the odds of success. You get a credible voice on actual advertising expertise, from judging past campaigns to asking questions related to targeting and tracking success.

That’s not to say your voice will no longer matter. Instead, a solid balance between larger business priorities and marketing minutiae is vital to making sure that the partner you choose will actually have a chance to help your business succeed.

The Value of an Internal Marketing Manager

If you select the right marketing agency, their expertise in a variety of marketing channels will be significant. Still, that expertise matters little if you cannot actually leverage it to the fullest degree. That’s where having an internal marketing manager on your side becomes invaluable.

Consider the complexity of the modern digital environment of marketing agencies, as outlined by McKinsey. At the very least, you have to understand each channel and how it interplays with your various other marketing channels. Ideally, a strategic understanding of connecting target audiences to growth-driving marketing efforts maximizes the potential for success.

This type of expertise helps in the planning process of any marketing initiatives. It allows the client to get on the same level as the agency, building a strategy as equals rather than simply taking and approving advice.

And that’s not all. The right professional quickly becomes an outlet and resource for marketing in the organization as a whole. They’re able to understand and integrate internal processes, such as point-of-sales customer interactions, with the digital efforts that get customers into the door to begin with. And, perhaps most importantly, it communicates the fact that your business places significant value on the concept of marketing as a whole, a vital message to any stakeholders with an interest to see the organization grow.

Minimizing Marketing Agency Inefficiencies

The goal of every marketing agency is efficiency. Having to build and implement strategies for a variety of clients, they have to delegate and charge for their limited resources accordingly. If they cannot do that on your account, they will begin to charge significant hourly rates that put deep dents into your budgets.

That’s because of the various activities the external partner has to undertake both for strategic decisions and day-to-day determinations. They might include a wide range of topics, such as:

• Building a case for one marketing tactic over the other
• Justifying strategic marketing decisions based on business priorities
• Communicating the value of marketing to the organization as a whole
• Becoming a liaison between various levels of company leadership and the agency
• Explain the core concepts of marketing and modern trends to C-level leadership

Make no mistake: all agencies will be happy to take on these activities, but for a hefty fee. And yet, none of them lies within their core competency. Their hourly rates are much better spent developing the strategy, targeting, and creative you need to grow your business. An internal marketing manager is much better suited for each of them, saving you significant money in the process.

Striving For Transparency and Accountability

Don’t underestimate the importance of accountability and, in close relationship to it, transparency. As with any major outsourced contract, you have to make sure that you’re actually getting your budget’s worth of services. Unfortunately, that’s difficult to do if you don’t have the time for regular meetings or don’t know the nuances of marketing metrics.

Almost every modern marketing agency is metric-driven. But do you actually know what they mean? Can you distinguish between vanity metrics and those that delineate actual growth? If you can’t, hiring an internal expert can help you set and measure the parameters that show exactly how your marketing efforts are actually performing.

And even then, you need more than theoretical guideposts. Regular meetings, ideally in person or via video conference, should be a standard part of the agency relationship. For a C-level executive, though, especially as the business grows, that can be difficult to accommodate. Rather than losing the vital day-to-day contact with your partner, hire someone who can accomplish that goal on an ongoing basis.

What if the Problem Lies With the Marketing Agency?

Having read this far, you might be tempted to think that it’s all your fault. Without an internal marketing manager on your side, any marketing failing must be due to client missteps. But of course, that’s far from the case. Too often, agency/client relationships fail because agencies go off the rails.

A 2015 study by the Association of National Advertisers showed that only 64% of agencies believe they have the right personnel to serve their clients’ needs. If your partner is that hesitant about proclaiming their own expertise, what does the reality look like?

It might be lack of expertise, accountability, or simple lack of caring. But here’s the fun part: even in situations in which the agency is at fault, a marketing manager can help.

In that case, they become the problem solvers, identifying areas of concern and working actively to fix them. They’re better able to hold external partners accountable according to specific KPIs and growth metrics. And, perhaps most importantly, they recognize when to cut the cord and move on from a failing relationship before the sunk cost gets unbearable.

Building a Marketing Strategy Designed for Growth

Think back to the EasyClean example at the beginning of this article. John means well, but let’s be honest — he doesn’t seem like he has any idea where to begin when it comes to marketing. His agency contact is in desperate need of a horizontal connection to the client who can strategize with her and communicate that marketing strategy internally.

That’s what a marketing manager can do for you. Find the right professional, and they serve as the strategic lead for your agency as well as the biggest marketing advocate internally. That dynamic, in turn, allows your business to turn toward a marketing focus that is truly optimized for growth.

Hiring a marketing manager saves time. By making the client/agency relationship more efficient, it saves money. And, perhaps most importantly, it drives towards marketing strategies that are both consistent with your internal goals and comprehensive enough to drive tangible business growth.

Almost every growing business hires a marketing agency. So why do so few organizations take the next logical step? Sure, it’s not a solve-all. But in competitive industries where every edge counts, it sure helps to have an internal expert on hand to drive externally-built strategies. So do yourself a favor: if you decide to outsource your promotional efforts, hire a marketing manager before you select a marketing agency.

This article first appeared on JeffLizik.com

Jeff Lizik is a serial entrepreneur and digital marketer. Jeff is the owner of RedShift, a stellar team of creatives and marketers in Pittsburgh, PA. He works every day to help businesses grow through digital marketing strategies and tactics.

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