As Imarc’s Chief Revenue Office, I empathize with fellow marketers and business development teams. A possible recession is looming and you still have to hit your KPIs. So, how do you ride out the storm as you look to tighten your budgets?
Utilize your agency’s expertise
Do not fire your agency! I’m sure no one is surprised I’m taking this stance, but it’s true. One of the first things many businesses do in a recession is reduce outside costs. But without your agency, are you going to be able to hit your goals?
Whether you are focused on generating sales-qualified leads (SQLs), raising your brand awareness, or increasing conversions, your agency partner can successfully execute your top goals.
Here are the top three benefits of working with an agency:
- You have access to experts across multiple disciplines.
- You have the flexibility of variable costs versus fixed salaries and benefits.
- They can provide guidance as to which projects will deliver the best results based on experience.
A good rule of thumb is to focus on the need-to-have versus the nice-to-have.
Leverage your agency’s resources
Conducting market research can be time-consuming and costly, but the benefits can help set you apart. Lucky for you, your agency has access to extensive market research – saving you time and money. These insights can be used to better understand your industry and competitors and create a strategy to differentiate your company in the marketplace.
Embrace your agency as an active partner
Let the experts do the heavy lifting! Your team is focused on enough as it is – use your agency to tackle the time-consuming work that your team doesn’t have the capacity for.
Here are some recommendations for what to ask your agency to do:
- Conduct a content audit: Your team may be so caught up in producing content that you haven’t had a moment to stop and think about what you already have out there. Have your agency conduct a content audit to ensure all your public-facing content – from blogs to page copy – aligns with your brand and company goals.
- Create a content strategy: Ask your agency to develop an outline of your business needs and a plan for how you can use content to address them. This can encompass thought leadership, search engine marketing (SEM), and other strategies.
- Create a content calendar: Your agency can create a calendar that establishes a cadence of when content will be created and published. You can choose how closely you’d like to work with the agency on this. Your agency can do everything from creating and executing the content, or they can create a calendar for your team to take control of.
Get started now
Talk to your agency to get some ideas on their radar. We understand that projects may be canceled or put on hold, but we want to help you achieve your business goals. Don’t feel bad about getting your agency involved just to brainstorm ideas; that’s what we are here for.
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This post was originally published by Imarc.
