There's Plenty of Fish In The Sea

We've all heard it during our teen years with our worst break-ups: "There's plenty of fish in the sea". This phrase, even though it might be painful for you to hear, is true about marketing agencies. There are plenty of digital marketing agencies out there in the world, even in the Twin Cities, and before you go ahead and whip out your checkbook, it's important to understand whether you need a marketing agency, and how to know which marketing company to go with.

First and foremost, you need to have an idea of what type of marketing you’re aiming for.

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One thing you have to take into consideration is what type of marketing you are looking for. Here are some common terms you might possibly be interested in:

• Google Ads
• Facebook Ads
• LinkedIn Campaigns
• SEO
• Social Media Management
• Print Marketing (Postcards, Brochures, etc)

You need to understand your goals, your audience, and the business that you want to attract. This will help create a profile for your ideal customer, which is crucial in deciding how and where to spend your marketing budget. You should also know who else is competing in the space and what they’re doing well so that you can make sure your own campaign beats out their performance.

If you don't know where to start, don't worry! I can't speak for other Marketing Agencies, however, XPRT Agency provides a Free Marketing Consultation in which we learn about your business and build a custom campaign to attract your dream clients.

Who are your competitors? What are they doing, and how can you compete?

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"But wait, there's more!" you say. You're not done yet. Now we have to talk about your competitors, market, and audience. This is where the rubber meets the road—you need to know who you're up against and what they're doing to win their business.

• Who are your competitors? What are they doing? How can you compete?
• What markets do those competitors serve: geographical, vertical (industry), product-related (i.e., manufacturers vs distributors), etc.?
• Who is buying from those competitors right now? Why do they buy from them instead of you or another competitor?

Sorry to overload you with questions, but it's important to understand all this because if you don't, you might be spending money on strategies that aren't benefiting your company. I'd hate to see you not get results and have the term "marketing agency" bring fear and thoughts of scam to your eyes.

I know with one of our current clients, a pressure washing business, we had three seperate meetings before we decided what would be the ideal customer, and how we can compete with their competitors without spending more than needed. In that same month, we were able to bring them 4 solid leads over the phone at a fairly affordable price!

You also need to figure out what kind of marketing results you’re looking for.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when marketing agencies promise the moon, and fail to land solid leads within a reasonable time. When we sit down with our clients, we treat you like friends. What we mean by this is we will tell you what strategies we recommend, but we will also tell you when we think you might be aiming too high, or aiming for something unreasonable without the ground work. We want you to succeed, and for that, we need to be sure we can narrow down your expectations and make them realistic.

If you can’t explain your goals in an elevator pitch, it might be too complex. If you can’t explain them in a tweet, it might be too broad.

Do you prefer to work with a local or national marketing agency?

XPRT Agency started out working in Merced, California, but since then has shifted over towards working in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Although that doesn't neccesarily make us a national marketing agency, it's important to establish this as our differenciator. Before you begin your search for the perfect marketing agency, the first question you should ask yourself is whether you'd prefer to work with a local or national marketing agency. For some businesses, this decision will be easy. If your business is based in Minneapolis and you're looking for an agency that can help grow sales locally by targeting customers in the area, it may make sense to work with a local agency who knows how best to market itself as part of the community. On the other hand, if your company is looking to expand into new markets but isn't sure how best to do so yet—or if there are already marketing agencies out there who have experience working with companies like yours—it might make more sense for them to work with a national firm instead.

Since we fall under both branches of being local and also national, we have dedicated agents in Merced, California, as well as Minneapolis - Saint Paul, to ensure we provide you with realistic numbers. We never want to assume how the market is, and give you unrealistic numbers and then crush your hope. We want to make sure we understand the area and the market as well as you if not better to ensure you get a return on investment.

How much are you willing to spend on a marketing agency?

Now that we've got the basics down, let's talk about money. It's not fair to ask how much a marketing agency costs without considering how much you're willing to spend on it. As with most things in life, the bigger your business, the more expensive this type of service will be. You need to be able to afford both the services and the results they produce—and that takes time and effort on your part (which also costs money). One of our biggest things is we want to understand what a solid customer would be worth to you. We won't tell you to get a new logo or build a new website if we can't envision a return on investment anytime soon. If you tell us how much value you place on your goals, it will help us gain an idea as the level of importance this marketing strategy is at.

Before hiring a marketing agency or any other kind of business consultant, sit down with your team and discuss what success looks like for each project. Ask yourselves: What do we want our business to accomplish? How long should it take us? Is there anything else we can do besides hiring an agency? Once everyone has input into these questions and agreed-upon goals for each project, then you can start budgeting accordingly.

A good marketing agency will help you find the best solutions for your business.

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• Picking the right marketing agency can be a challenge, but the process doesn't have to be.
• A good marketing agency will help you find the best solutions for your business.
• You should know what type of marketing you are looking for and who your competitors are.
• You should also know what kind of results you are looking for so that you can make an informed decision when choosing a company to work with.

So What Should I do?

I really didn't narrow down for you which marketing agency to get, because the fact of the matter is that we all offer the same services, just with different strategies and guidelines in place. Make sure to take sometime to do some research and see what company would be a better match. Most companies offer a free call with their sales rep to see if you'd be a great fit. If you're still not sure which company to choose, I'll make it easy for you: Pick Us!

I hate to give you a last minute plug, but if you've read this far into the article, you are our dream client! It shows us that you are building out a gameplan, and you are ready to make a decision, just don't know where to start. We are a one-stop shop, doing digital and print marketing to ensure your success. We offer web design, graphic design, google ad campaigns, social media managment, facebook ad campaigns, and brochure and flyer design. If you're interested, give us a call at (651) 370-9343 or email us at info@xprtagency.com

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