For whatever reason you have kept your online marketing in-house. Many companies do this, and it’s a reasonable approach, considering that your own staff will know more about your business than anyone else. Some executives think that online marketing is a black or white premise; you either do it in-house or you outsource to a marketing company. Actually you may be surprised that a wide grey area exists. There are a number of businesses that employ an internal marketing staff and work with an outside marketing company. Let’s examine why this can be a terrific choice for your business.

1) Your internal team needs a helping hand. Again it’s a good idea to involve your staff in your marketing; you may even employ a dedicated department of professional marketers. Even the best people need help from time to time, and if they get busy some tasks may fall through the cracks. When your marketing department works with a digital marketing company the benefits can be huge. The outside firm offers a conduit to all the latest knowledge in the industry. They can share that information with your staff, so your team will always know the latest best practices that they can apply to all of their marketing tactics. Your team may also need training and an outside firm can provide that (you may need to do some interviewing beforehand to find a firm that offers these services). Over time an educational arrangement like this (where the external marketing team offers onsite seminars or online webinars) can provide an excellent return on investment.

2) A great marketing company can make all of your campaigns better. Now that’s a general statement, but consider this: If you are already sending out email marketing campaigns, writing blog posts, and engaging on social media, and not seeing the results you want, then you have to sit down and ask yourself if your marketing investment is bearing fruit. Are you just treading water, and how long can you afford to keep doing that? Working with a top marketing agency can get you pointed in the right direction by analyzing each of your campaigns. The agency will align your campaigns so that each of them supports the others and delivers results.

3) Your agency will help you track your progress. So often the strategy and execution are there, but finding great ways to track a campaign is where marketers have problems. A great marketing company wants to prove it’s worth. It wants you to see the results it is providing for you. This is a terrific advantage for you because as soon as you start working with a top agency you will finally be able to get the data you need to make smart business decisions. You will receive monthly (or more frequent, if you desire) reports that track your progress versus the benchmark (where you began at the start of the campaign). What a relief! You will finally be able to see how your campaigns are resonating with your audience and you will be able to make sound decisions on where to allocate your marketing spend.

4) A great marketing company will expand your reach. The marketing firm’s job is to put your message in front of your audience and persuade them to do business with you. This seems quite logical; you would expect them to do that. What you might not realize is they will do the research to find out your customers’ preferred means of communication. Email, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, blogs, and more – your agency will create a plan that puts your message into your audience’s hands, and they will also craft irresistible calls to action to direct people to conversion.

Bonus tip: Here’s one of the best reasons to find a great marketing company. You’ll have more time to pay attention to your business. Marketing activities can eat up a lot of time that you need for all the other important jobs you have to do. How would you like to get back hours every month you could invest in other projects? Hire a top marketing agency today and you can make it happen.