Differences between hiring a Marketing Company versus a Freelancer
Are you a small business owner looking for help with your marketing efforts? Maybe you've noticed that the competition is increasing, or you're trying to make a name for yourself in an oversaturated industry.
The challenge is finding someone to help who can meet your needs and budget. Should you just hire a freelancer, or invest in bringing on a marketing company?
In this blog post, we’ll discuss the differences between hiring a freelance marketer versus working with an established marketing company so that you can decide which approach best aligns with your business needs.
Breakdown of the differences between a marketing company and a freelancer
Hiring a marketing company versus enlisting the help of a freelancer is a debate that has been happening for years--which option is most suited for your needs?
Marketing companies will have more resources to dedicate to the endeavor, such as teams of staff that specialize in crafting campaigns from start to finish. On the flip side, while they might be more costly, they also offer budgetary benefits due to the access they have to materials and resources.
Conversely, freelancers can be more affordable and can provide personalized services due to their single point of contact. However, with less experience and no backing of larger companies or teams, there's a much greater risk when hiring one.
Ultimately, whether you opt for a marketing company or freelancer comes down to what works best financially and logistically for you and your business.
Pros and cons of hiring a marketing company
When it comes to making sure your business is getting the marketing attention it needs, hiring a professional marketing company can be a great decision.
With their in-depth understanding of the complexities of marketing campaigns and strategies, they can help you reach new audiences and bring in more customers. However, there can be challenges to consider such as increased costs and more time needed for management if dealing with multiple contacts.
Also, if you don't have a good understanding of your business goals, the marketing company may propose strategies that don't align with your long-term objectives. Taking the time to do your due diligence up front will pay dividends when deciding whether or not to hire a marketing company.
Pros and cons of hiring a freelancer
Hiring a freelancer can be a great way to get help for specific tasks that you're unable to do yourself. By enlisting the services of a freelancer, businesses and individuals have access to talent from many different parts of the world who are highly knowledgeable in areas like web design, writing, or programming.
While there can be advantages to hiring freelancers including savings on overhead costs and having access to unique skills, there are also disadvantages to keep in mind such as difficulties communicating goals due to time zone differences and ensuring mutual understanding of expectations.
No matter what your project is, be sure to consider the pros and cons before committing to work with a freelancer.
Cost comparison between hiring a marketing company and a freelancer
Utilizing marketing experts is an inevitable step for any business. But when it comes to deciding between a marketing company and a freelancer, there can be a big difference in cost that might sway your decision one way or the other.
A freelancer might offer more control over the budget and can generally provide services at a lower price. Depending on the scale of the project though, you may need an experienced marketing company with their full range of experts, which will naturally cost more than going with an individual freelancer.
Consider both options carefully before making your decision; analyze what expertise you require, the scope of the project and how much budget can be allocated towards it.
How to measure success when working with either option
When it comes to determining success when working on any project, the most important step is to prepare a goal and strategy for how to achieve it. Having an action plan lets you know whether or not the project was successful in meeting the target goal, and can provide insight into what areas may need improvement if not.
You can also measure success by looking at how close you came to your expected outcome and seeing where there may be room for growth. Additionally, tracking data metrics with benchmarks is another way to measure how successful you are when working with either option - as long as you track all pertinent information, viewing the differences and analyzing where any changes need to be made should be easy.
In conclusion, hiring a marketing company or a freelancer to handle your marketing needs can be a great way to achieve success in business. While each option has its own advantages and disadvantages, it is ultimately up to you to decide which one is right for your situation.
By taking into account factors such as time, cost and the need for skilled professionals, you can make an educated decision on whether to hire a marketing company or a freelancer. Finally, measuring success when deciding between these two options comes down to setting realistic and achievable targets that are in sync with your vision for the future of your business.
If you're interested in learning how Floww can help your business grow and enhance it's marketing efforts, book a call with us today!
Building a strong relationship with clients is vital when running any type of business, so it’s paramount that you are able to manage those relationships effectively. Establishing trust and confidence with a client will lead them to view your business as dependable, which in turn will make them more likely to engage with you for future sales or projects. Clients that are left happy after interactions with you can also lead to referrals to other clients, increasing both revenue and reputation. Building and maintaining ties with a client requires time and effort but the payoff is well worth it, so here are some helpful tips to follow for establishing and strengthening client relationships. Be Positive and Professional The way you present yourself is the way prospective and existing clients will view you, so it’s important that you conduct yourself in a positive and professional way. You want clients to be impressed by your energy, confidence, and enthusiasm, all of which are attractive personality traits that are inclined to engender trust. Staying upbeat and focused when interacting with clients will go a long way toward bolstering your working relationship. Make Clear Communication a Priority With clients, good communication is key. It’s sometimes easy to let communication slide when things are busy or slow, but it will be appreciated if you touch base with your client regularly to keep them informed. Even before a working relationship has been formed you should make it clear that you will work with your client to meet whatever requirements or needs they have and encourage ideas, concerns, or questions. Being available and open to discussion shows that you value their input and are working hard to secure their satisfaction. Share Information If you are working with a client that isn’t well-versed in your area of expertise, it’s easy for them to feel left out or ignorant about details and procedures. When this happens, they can also experience a sense of disconnect from you. In circumstances such as these, you should take the opportunity to share information in a manner that will help a client gain understanding into what you do, what you are working toward, and anything else they will benefit from knowing. A willingness to share information and keep your client in the loop can build a solid foundation of trust and confidence. Be Adaptable A successful client relationship is built upon reliability and communication, and in regard to the latter you may sometimes need to adapt. Not every client is going to want to confer through phone or email and may instead prefer video conferences. Even if that’s not something you do regularly, you should be willing to adapt. Every interaction with clients should be modified in order to accommodate that particular client due to the fact that everyone communicates in different ways. One client may prefer a fact-based exchange of texts while another may want a video meeting that’s a little more conversational. Being flexible and meeting their preferences is a great way to foster client satisfaction and strengthen the client-business relationship. Always Ask For Feedback Requesting feedback from a client after a project, sale, or other significant interaction is complete allows them to express their opinion about how you performed. This is valuable insight into what areas you exceed in and what areas may need improvement, and also proves to the client that you value their input. Feedback can be gathered through a survey or questionnaire and once they have given their feedback, be sure to be grateful and appreciative of the time they spent to give it to you. After the business has concluded – or if there is a lull between your interactions with the client – be sure to follow-up with them. Doing so will extend your working relationship and let them know that you still consider them important.
Running a successful business isn’t possible without strong organization. Clearly defined procedures and guidelines can go a long way toward saving your business both time and money, which in turn will allow for booming growth. Any business owner knows just how many things need to be done on a daily basis, often at the same time. Trying to tackle this with non-existent or poor organizational tools can lead to crippling chaos. Fortunately there is a large selection of very useful organizational tools for you to use, as well as some great organizational techniques that can help you better manage your business and your time. Keep Up With Customer Support Customers are the heart and soul of most businesses, so it’s imperative that you stay on top of customer support. You want to make sure that they have no difficulties contacting you, and it’s just as important that you respond to them in a timely manner. Handling customer support can be a time consuming process, but there are a number of good programs out there that can help you efficiently manage all of your customer tickets. The less time you spend managing your customer tickets, the more time you can spend on other important projects. Hire a Virtual Support Services Company Nothing sucks up valuable time like day-to-day tasks and operations that are a fundamental part of any business. Unfortunately, these tasks and operations have to be done in order to keep things functioning smoothly. A great organizational choice is to hire a virtual assistant (VA) to delegate all these duties to. Vas work remotely and provide cost-effective services, often on a flexible schedule. VAs can also tackle things such as sales and customer support, social media management, research, and project management, so it’s worth looking into if you find your valuable time being eaten up by such tasks. Incorporate the Cloud There really is no reason for businesses nowadays to not be storing all files in the cloud. Not only is it a terrific option for backing up all important documents, it also makes accessing and viewing said documents easy and convenient. Storing documents in the cloud means that you can sync them across all relevant work and personal devices, to be accessed whenever you need them. Employing a cloud strategy can also be quite low-cost – Google Drive and Dropbox all have free versions of cloud storage for mobile devices and computers. Improve Your Time Management Skills Poor time management skills goes hand in hand with poor organizational skills, so fixing the way you manage your time can improve your organization. A good tip is to take care of all the daily menial tasks during your morning commute, if possible. You can check all of your emails, do research, and check your messages. If you don’t rely on public transportation, use Bluetooth technology to safely make and receive calls while you are driving. Another good time management tip is to take productivity breaks every couple of hours. Many studies have proven that taking these five to 15 minute microbreaks can improve your ability to focus when you return to work. Grab a snack, take a short walk, or read a few pages of a book to give your eyes and your brain a break. By doing this, you’ll be increasing your focus and drive for later. Make Improvements to Your Customer Management System Staying on top of managing your customer leads, all your payments, and other important information can be a frustrating and time-consuming challenge. In order to combat this, many businesses are utilizing customer relationship management (CRM) apps in order to keep all of this information organized in an easy and convenient manner. These apps will connect to all relevant business apps and alert you to areas that need follow up, such as customer inquiries and overdue invoices, before too much time has passed. Plan Out Your Social Media Campaigns Ahead of Time Managing social media in general can suck up large chunks of time, but running campaigns can be overwhelming in that regard if you try to do it without first having a plan in place. Don’t waste time publishing posts hourly throughout the day. Instead, schedule everything first and then make use of an automated publishing tool that will publish them for you at the appointed times. This lets you keep on top of a social media campaign without having to devote too much time to it so that you can focus on other important areas of work. Tidy Up Your Workspace It may seem trivial, but working in a chaotic, messy environment can prove detrimental in a number of ways. Organizing your workspace can go a long way to freeing up time, making certain tasks more convenient, and improving productivity overall. File all loose documents in the appropriate places, keep your desk free of clutter, and keep everything you need regularly close at hand. Doing so will improve both your efficiency and your workflow. Always Respond to Emails Promptly Responding to work emails is a task most people dread and often put off for as long as possible, but letting it fall behind turns it into a big chore later on down the road. For optimum organization, it’s best to respond to work emails promptly. Set aside a couple chunks of time every morning and afternoon in which you turn your full attention to dealing with emails. This will prevent them from piling up and will also ensure that any matters contained in them are addressed in a timely and efficient manner. Taking time to develop good organizational habits and techniques, as well as using organizational tools, can go a long way toward streamlining your work day and giving you more time to focus on pressing matters and projects. Once you’ve established solid organizational practices in your business, it will be easy to keep up with them without fear of falling behind again.
Keeping clients satisfied is one of the best ways to stimulate business growth as a satisfied client can lead to referrals and glowing reviews. The best way to garner client satisfaction is to ensure that every experience they have with your business is a positive one. Solid communication skills are a necessity in guaranteeing client satisfaction, so it is vital that you are able to develop highly effective communication skills. Why is Communication So Important? In any kind of business, communication is necessary in order to establish branding, customer service, and strategy. When you are building or representing a brand, the method in which you communicate is a reflection of you, your values, and your goals. You want to deliver a message to prospective clients and customers that you are reliable and consistent. Solid and clear communication can have a direct impact on profit margin, reputation, and company growth. Communication is also key within the company, as it can engender rapport and solidify teamwork among employees and managers alike. Tips on How to Improve Communication Skills If you want to ensure positive experiences with your clients, learning how to properly and effectively communicate is key. ● Be available – Adapting your availability is an important aspect to developing better communication skills. Not every client will be able to contact you within the confines of working hours, so it’s a good idea to make yourself available for an hour or two afterward or before. Making an effort to be available this way to meet a client’s needs will garner respect and build trust. ● Ensure communication is ongoing – Building loyalty among your clients requires more than just a one-time exchange of words. In order to gain trust and earn respect, make it a point to reach out and contact your client on a regular basis. ● Be proactive – Contact your clients about potential issues before they contact you. Doing so can alleviate frustration and can actually increase loyalty. Be upfront about potential problems and honest about the time frame for a solution. ● Be consistent – If you have a large number of clients, it can be difficult to effectively communicate with them all. However, consistency is crucial. Make sure to touch base with all of your clients regularly so they will know you still consider them important. ● Do not avoid problems – If you encounter a conflict situation, it is in your best interests to see it resolved as quickly as possible. Avoiding the issue can lead to negative feedback being spread through social media and a loss of trust by other clients. ● Make sure there is dialogue – Many businesses nowadays make use of social media for their advertising and promotions, and while these platforms are effective they don’t leave much room for dialogue. Make sure there is a way for your clients to feel heard, even if it’s just through reviews or feedback. ● Ditch the formality – Being too formal can be off-putting to clients. Personalization is key in making clients feel heard and valued, so be sure to treat each one like an individual instead of just a potential sale or project. ● Practice patience – It’s inevitable that you will encounter an irate client at some point, and when it happens you need to be patient. Even if the matter at hand is trivial, patience on your behalf can go a long way toward proving your dedication to helping fix what is wrong. When a client has a positive experience, they’ll be more inclined to return to you for more business in the future. They will also likely share their experience with others, which can result in new clients and increased revenue for you. Keeping clients happy is one of the fundamental pieces of running a successful business, and to do that you need to establish solid communication skills.
There are currently more than four billion active social media users worldwide. The influence of social media is so widespread that it is no longer possible to ignore, and this has had a direct impact in all areas of business and commerce. Marketing through social media has become so important that many businesses, regardless of size, are devoting time and money to social media strategizing. Small businesses can benefit just as much from having an active social media presence as larger ones can, and this article will explore the top benefits in detail. Increase Your Website Traffic It is a fact that having an active and effective social media presence will deliver increased traffic to your company website. Being active on the most influential social media sites – LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – will garner media shares, which in turn will rank your website higher in search engines. Increase Your Sales As your social media presence grows, more and more people will discover your brand and engage with it. The more followers you amass, the higher your opportunities for sales becomes. Most strategic social media marketing will feature content that is embedded with material meant to boost sales or improve promotional visibility. Validate Your Company’s Brand More often than not, consumers will look up a business online in order to learn more about them. If you provide all important information in your company’s social media, it will boost consumer recognition of your brand, your products, and your services. Ensuring that your company’s social media is always kept up to date and responds regularly to inquiries can further legitimize your brand. Receive Lead Generation For a Lower Cost Lead generation through traditional media such commercials (for radio and TV) and newspaper advertisements can be expensive. Lead generation that comes from an active social media presence will come in at a fraction of the cost – in some cases, nearly 80 percent of all lead generation costs. Social media can also increase your business’s ROI by being cost-effective and increasing sales. What’s more, most of the big social media sites give companies the option of using paid advertising options, which can boost your online reach and lead generation even further for a cost that is minimal. Gives You Insight Into Your Target Audience Social media makes it very easy for companies to become familiar with their audience and interact with them. Through tools that are available on each social media platform, businesses can learn the important statistics of their audience, such as the main language spoken, gender, age, personal interest, and other data. This information can then be used in designing advertising campaigns, sales, discounts, and special offers. Any social media platform can be highly beneficial for a small business if it is run properly. There is plenty to be gained by coming to know your online audience and connecting with them, particularly for smaller companies that lack the money to invest in larger and more traditional marketing projects.
Now that working remotely has become the standard across many avenues of business, Zoom calls are just another daily or weekly normality. Videoconferencing has proven as effective as its in-person alternative, but even though it is simple to get up and running, there are many beneficial features and settings that many people remain unaware of. In order to ensure your Zoom video calls are as effective and professional as possible, here are a few pointers that will let you get the most of the service. Test Lighting and Sound Before Joining or Hosting a Meeting You want people to be able to see you and hear you clearly, so before you begin it’s a good idea to test the lighting and sound. You can run a test meeting with some friends or coworkers beforehand in order to tweak what needs tweaking. You want the sound levels to be such that you can be clearly heard without any kind of distortion or feedback from the mic. Keep in mind that embedded mics can pick up a lot of ambient noise in a room, so if you are using one you should choose a room that is quite quiet. An external mic will typically have improved audio quality over an embedded one, so consider investing in a corded mic if there are to be a lot of Zoom video conferences in your future. Ideally, you will want natural and direct lighting so that your face is clearly visible to everyone else in the meeting. Sitting near a window is a good idea and you should always try to face the light source instead of having it behind you. Outline Meeting Etiquette for Host and Attendees It is important to lay the groundwork with some general etiquette before the video even starts in order to ensure an orderly, efficient meeting. A few good etiquette pointers for everyone include: ● Being punctual ● Preparing and adhering to an agenda ● Dressing appropriately ● Respecting others when it is their turn to speak ● Speaking clearly ● Dedicating an allotment of time for questions (usually at the end) Establishing etiquette before the meeting can help to ensure smooth proceedings once the meeting actually starts. Disable Anything That Could Be Distracting or Unprofessional To prevent any notifications or messages you may receive from being viewed by other Zoom call attendees, you should disable those pop-ups before starting or joining the meeting. Windows 10 users can do this by going to the “Settings” menu and from there choosing “System” and then “Focus Assist.” Toggle the option for “When I’m duplicating my display.” This will automatically disable all notifications from popping up while you are in a Zoom call. If you are a Mac user, you will have to utilize a third-party app, which will activate macOS’s DND (Do Not Disturb) mode whenever you begin duplicating your display. Make an Effort to Look Presentable Working from home is great for a lot of reasons, one of them being that you don’t have to get all dressed up because you won’t be leaving the house. However, as tempting as it is to just log onto a Zoom video call while still in your pajamas, don’t do it. You should always make an effort to look clean, neat, and presentable when interacting with others over a video conferencing call. However, if you’re still worried about how you look, make use of Zoom’s own appearance touch-up feature. In the video settings menu, check the box for “Touch up my appearance”. This will basically add a soft-focus lens effect to your appearance, which can smooth out small imperfections like wrinkles and blemishes. As the Host, Don’t be Afraid to Mute Attendees By this point it has basically become common courtesy to join a Zoom call muted so that people can’t hear your dog barking or your spouse vacuuming in the background. However, it is an inevitability (particularly in larger meetings) that someone will forget to mute and everyone else will be forced to listen to the background noise. When that happens, don’t be afraid to mute as the host. There is an option to make it so everyone who joins the meeting is muted by default, which can be found in the “Schedule Meeting” part of Zoom’s account settings. You can also mute individual attendees by toggling the mic icon next to their window. They will be able to unmute themselves when it’s their turn or they have something to say. If the meeting needs to proceed in a more orderly fashion, there is also the option to have them “Raise Hand” to be called upon by the moderator to speak. Learn the Keyboard Shortcuts for Easier Participation and Management Zoom has quite a few keyboard shortcuts that can streamline things and increase efficiency. The following are some examples: ● Mute all: Alt + M (Windows), Cmd + Control + M (macOS) ● Share your screen: Alt + Shift + S (Windows), Cmd + Shift + S (macOS) ● Start or stop recording: Alt + R (Windows), Cmd + Shift + R (macOS) ● Pause or continue recording: Alt + P (Windows), Cmd + Shift + P (macOS) ● Send invitations or meeting links through email: Alt + L (Windows), Cmd + L (macOS) These shortcuts can make management and participation much smoother, which in turn can shorten the overall length of the meeting. Gather Feedback at The End of Each Meeting To ensure the Zoom meetings are as effective and professional as possible, it’s a good idea to gather feedback at the end of each one. You can send a survey or a follow-up email to the participants to see what they think and use that feedback to ensure subsequent meetings are as efficient and professional as possible. Take notes on what the general consensus is about what seems to be working and what isn’t and make your adjustments from there. It might take a couple sessions to iron out all the kinks until you’ve got a video conference that is running without any kind of issues, but once you’re more familiar with Zoom and what people expect it should be smooth sailing.
