Owning a marketing agency that works with travel, food and beverage brands is a blast, for the obvious reason that all three make people HAPPY! How often can a marketing company say that? As said agency owner, I am always glad to pay it forward and share advice with startups and small businesses. Here are a few FAQs that always come up during a consultation:
1. How much should we budget for marketing?
This is the number one question I get asked! There really is no exact formula, but as a general rule I recommend clients spend between 1-5% of their top line revenue. There are so many factors to consider – like how competitive your market is – but that is a good place to start. This budget should include your media budget, vendors, and your agency cost.
2. Should we spend our money on traditional media (print, broadcast, radio) or go all digital?
So…I’m not an all-or-nothing gal when it comes to media planning. You really need to look at your consumers and see where they’re active to determine how you allocate funds. Any agency worth their salt will help you determine the best way to get the most out of your budget. That being said – Digital Marketing Channels (social, programmatic, SMS, GPS – the list goes on!) allow us to target consumers based on their interests, demographics, intent and behavior (just to name a few). It also gives us trackable metrics that we can interpret for future marketing campaigns.
So does that mean you should cut the cord with traditional media? NO WAY! But if you have a “petite” budget you may want to focus on digital tactics that can return measurable data about your customers.
3. What can we do in house?
Nothing. You need an agency to do 100% of everything 🙂
Many of our clients hire us to do the lion share of their marketing, creative and content creation; however, there are many models that work, including a hybrid of in-house + agency. One of our clients has an amazing in-house social media manager (looking at you Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum) and they use us to create their website and marketing materials. I have also seen this go very very very wrong when it was brought in-house. You just have to make sure your team is equipped and has the time and resources they need.
When we develop a website, we make sure that our clients’ in-house team is prepared to manage the site’s content. In my opinion, website management isn’t the best use of our time and is something that can easily be managed in-house.
4. What is better left to an agency?
Your branding and creative direction should DEFINITELY be an outside job – but done in collaboration with your team. Many times, an in-house team can be too close to see how others perceive it – which can lead to tone deaf branding that doesn’t connect with consumers. Once the brand is developed and the look and messaging established, your team can and should help implement it; but that outside perspective is so critical in the development phase.
ALSO – Digital marketing is a deep puddle with many tactics (and opportunities), but without a solid strategy and skilled team it can be easy to waste a lot of money without much effect! Unless you have a dedicated and skilled digital marketer on staff, I wouldn’t have someone “dabble” in marketing, in addition to their other responsibilities.
5. Do we need to “do” social media?
Yep.
Ok, I’ll elaborate. A lot of brands aren’t thrilled about churning out social content and flirt with the idea of a barely-there social media presence. Much like consumers go to your website to see if you are reputable and relevant, they will do the same on your social media feeds. If they check you out and see a meager number of posts, your brand will feel dated, and look like a virtual ghost town.
Have a question that you don’t see here? Let us shoulder the load of your marketing and you can get back to doing what you do best. Schedule a consultation with Paperkite here.
