The Pros & Cons Of Hiring a Small Marketing Agency
You know that you need to generate marketing for your company. You know that you don’t have the time to build and micromanage your ad performance. It’s time to hire a digital marketing agency. That’s where you have to ask yourself, “Do I want to hire a small marketing agency or a large one?” In an effort to be completely transparent, we’ll be the first to admit that there are definitely pros and cons to both.
PROS
Flexibility
Forbes compares big agencies to mammoths: they’re big, awkward, and unable to adapt. When you’re working with a bigger business, you have to deal with bigger bureaucracy. It’s easy to feel like you’re lost in a corporate machine. Because the firm is so large, they’re not going to worry as much about retaining clients with smaller budgets. Some larger firms will even turn away clients because they couldn’t meet their demands for a monthly ad spend. A small digital marketing firm like Set Fire Creative specializes in working with small and medium businesses and their smaller ad spend.
Attention to Detail
Another advantage a small digital marketing agency has over a large agency is the attention paid to details. A larger firm is looking to finish designing a campaign, launch it, and move on to the next client ASAP. Yet, a smaller advertising agency can add little touches and check in more often on your campaigns. In my time at Set Fire Creative, I’ve been able to see our fulfillment teams slow down, look between the lines for opportunities to strengthen their clients’ campaigns and launch successful high-performing ad campaigns. We like to consider going above and beyond for our clients the “mint on the pillow” approach—taking a little time each month to do something extra for our clients just to show how much we care.
CONS
Bandwidth
One disadvantage of a small marketing agency is smaller bandwidth and resources to work with. Large agencies have more employees, money, and resources available to them. If they don’t have someone who can do a task in-house, it’s easier for them to subcontract someone who can. Large agencies can also move more workers to different accounts and execute large-scale changes on a campaign. Contrast this with a smaller agency, where the time and resources of a team can be tighter. A larger agency may be able to offer amenities such as 24-hour service and a weekly scheduled phone call while a small marketing agency may not be able to provide that.
Range of Services
Generally, a small digital agency is less expensive than a large one, but can’t offer a full range of services. I’ve known some clients to pick up one or two services from one firm and go to another firm for another service that the first one didn’t offer. Despite that, those clients still paid less for services across different firms than they would’ve paid for at one large firm. This encourages smaller agencies to specialize in key offerings. This precise tooling of skills helps them to stand out from the larger competitors.
After weighing the pros and cons, I believe a small digital marketing agency like Set Fire Creative will fit the needs of any small to medium business. In my experience, the personal touch and attention to detail mean more to most business owners. Here at Set Fire Creative, we make sure to meet your marketing goals and we make sure that your business gets the attention and care it needs. Learn more about what Set Fire Creative can do for you by scheduling a free consultation today!
Matthew is a Brand Strategist who has a passion for learning, and for improving the world around him. He does this by helping share the stories small businesses have to share and building bonds between businesses and communities. He’s currently working through a movie marathon of all the Academy Awards Best Picture winners.
