10 questions to ask before you choose a growth partner

Outsourced marketing, design and business consultancy providers exist for a very good reason. Businesses get the benefit of an experienced team of experts to uplift their visibility for a fraction of the cost of hiring each expert in-house. But when is the right time to outsource your marketing to drive business growth? 

When leads are inconsistent and messaging becomes fractured between platforms, outsourcing your marketing efforts is a viable way to increase leads, conversions and visibility. But before choosing your growth partner, these are the questions worth going through before you sign up. Here's a breakdown of what to expect in this article:

• Will a marketing partner really understand my business and sector?
• How will a marketing partner know where my customers really are?
• What does success look like when outsourcing marketing and will they measure it properly?
• Is your website ready for the extra traffic and leads?
• Can you keep up with the extra leads a good partner will generate for you?
• Has anyone looked at what’s already working before starting fresh?
• Are you comparing partners like for like?
• What's the realistic timescale for outsourced marketing to deliver results?
• Who's actually running your marketing, in-house, outsourced, or a mix?
• How long will you give a partner before judging the results?

 

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Will a marketing partner really understand my business and sector?

A good partner will aim to do a deep dive to fully immerse themselves in not just your business, but your sector as a whole. This fresh eye perspective, combined with experience of other sectors can reveal things even your long-term staff may not have noticed. They should ask questions about the stage and level your business is working at and who your customers actually are compared with your aspirational target market, while also analysing the pain points of your business and of course your customers. If they’re happy to skip the research stage, it’s worth noting.

How will a marketing partner know where my customers really are?

If a marketing partner is happy to simply take your lead and follow in marketing footsteps that you have already tried but say they’ll do it better, that’s a concern. Thorough research into where your customers are and analysing search intent are crucial to ensure budget isn’t wasted in the wrong place. Analytics can be skewed by the wrong intent being chased, which leaves the business wondering why conversions aren’t happening.

What does success look like when outsourcing marketing and will they measure it properly?

Providing analytics reports every month is something every provider will promise, but what will good results look like? Businesses need to be clear in their expectations and what good results for them are measured in. Whether it is enquiry volume, cost per lead on paid ads, or higher Google rankings, make sure everyone is on the same page so you can effectively measure your return on investment (ROI).

Is your website ready for the extra traffic and leads?

A good marketing partner won’t just look at driving traffic. They will audit the full sales cycle to ensure that visitors who reach your site don’t then drop off when they face friction points such as slow loading speeds, unclear navigation or missing call to actions on your website. A user-centred conversion strategy is just as important as a lead/visitor generation strategy, because there’s no point in sending traffic somewhere that simply won’t convert. This is where a consultancy approach to growth as a whole can really make the difference.

Not sure where your website stands? Get a free website audit with Serenity.

Can you keep up with the extra leads a good partner will generate for you?

So it's working and you’re now dealing with extra enquiries and/or sales. Do your internal operations have the capacity to handle it? Before implementing any campaign, a partner should have discussed your growth capacity with you beforehand because leads that go unanswered or sales that are unmet can do more damage than no leads at all. 

Unnecessary manual admin is a big friction point in stunting business growth, but it doesn’t have to be. If you would like to know how much time and money could be saved in your business by reducing admin, take our systems efficiency quiz here. This could give you the scalability you need to grow. 

Has anyone looked at what’s already working before starting fresh?

It's tempting for a new partner to come in with a clean slate and a new plan. But most businesses already have a channel or source pulling in more than its fair share of enquiries and the smarter move is often to build on that rather than replace it. Ask them how they'll assess your existing activity before they propose anything new.

Are you comparing partners like for like?

One provider's SEO isn't another's and the same goes for paid ads, content or social. If a previous outsourced marketing relationship didn't work, it's worth separating what actually happened (wrong strategy, execution, or simply wrong fit) from a blanket verdict on the channel itself or even outsourced marketing itself. Take past experiences as data when you're evaluating a new partner, not as a reason to rule something out entirely. 

What's the realistic timescale for outsourced marketing to deliver results?

Some marketing shows results within weeks; however some, particularly anything built on organic growth or brand rebuilding, can take months to compound. Ask directly what timeline they're working to and what you should expect to see at each stage. A partner who won't commit to a rough timeframe is either being cautious for good reason or avoiding the question and it's worth finding out which. An iterative schedule is often preferred to ensure you're not committing to a long-term plan that isn’t delivering results. 

Who's actually running your marketing, in-house, outsourced, or a mix?

Some businesses hand everything over; others keep strategy internal and outsource execution, or keep one channel in-house and bring in specialist support elsewhere. There's no universally 'right' split, but it’s important to plan this strategically. 

It's also worth asking what "the team" actually looks like on the other side of that decision. A lot of outsourced marketing still comes down to one generalist juggling paid ads, SEO, content and design across several clients at once, doing a reasonable job of all of them and an excellent job of none. The alternative is a genuine in-house team of specialists, someone who lives in paid ads, someone who lives in SEO, a content writer, a designer, a photographer, working on your campaign together rather than in isolation. That's the difference between a marketing agency that's spread thin and a marketing partner where every part of it has a specialist's attention.

Here at Serenity, we’re proud to be the latter; a team of specialists in their own right, working collaboratively to get the best results for our clients. Meet our team here. 

How long will you give a partner before judging the results?

Marketing rarely delivers overnight, and deciding to bring your efforts back in-house or switching partners after six weeks because nothing dramatic has happened is actually one of the reasons businesses seem to go through providers without ever seeing what sustained, consistent work can actually achieve. 

Before you sign up with a marketing provider, agree on a realistic evaluation period and judge the relationship based on data, evidence and results when you actually have some. 

If you’re weighing up whether to bring in some outside expertise or whether to keep your current in-house setup, please get in touch. We’ll be happy to get you in a room with our specialists and we’ll talk through how that can make a difference for your business. 

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