What are managed marketing services?

What are managed marketing services?

Managed marketing services have become increasingly popular among businesses of all sizes and industries. 

Many businesses are seeking managed marketing services to outsource their marketing efforts to a team of experts who specialize in various areas of marketing, such as SEO, PPC, social media, and content creation.

But what exactly are managed marketing services, and how do they differ from traditional "pay as you go" marketing services? In this article, we explain what managed marketing services are, the key benefits, and how they compare to the traditional approach.

 

 

Traditional marketing services 

The conventional marketing approach is to pay for each service or project on demand. In other words, businesses pay for the specific services they need at the time, rather than committing to a long-term marketing strategy or hiring an agency on a retainer basis.

Examples of pay-as-you-go marketing services include graphic design, website development, social media management, search engine optimization (SEO), and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. 

The advantage of pay-as-you-go marketing is that businesses aren’t locked into a long-term contract or marketing strategy. However, this may be outweighed by the following drawbacks:

  • Less access to specialised skills
  • Difficult to coordinate strategies with numerous service providers
  • More expensive in the long term

Managed marketing services

If you opt for managed marketing, you’ll commit to a team of experts who specialise in the services you need. On a regular basis, these experts will work together to create a customised marketing strategy and deliver assets for your business. 

Unlike traditional marketing services, managed marketing services provide businesses with a comprehensive range of marketing services that can be tailored to meet their specific needs. Since the contract is on a retainer basis, you can reach out for help at any time and rely on the agency to resolve any issues quickly.

Key benefits of managed marketing services 

The most significant advantages of a managed marketing service are as follows: 

A strategy tailored to your business goals

With a managed marketing services provider, a team of experts will create and execute a tailored marketing strategy aligned with your business goals. These services can be scaled up or down depending on your changing needs, whether it's expanding into a new market or scaling back during a slow period. 

Flexibility and adaptability

While managed marketing agencies work on a retainer basis, you aren’t locked into a fixed marketing plan. Within your contract, the plans and services can be adjusted according to the changing state of your industry. If you need one service in one month and a different one the next, your agency can make it happen. 

More effective use of time and resources

By outsourcing your marketing to a team of marketing experts, your internal team members will have more time and resources to focus on other important tasks. 

Additionally, you will benefit from economies of scale, accessing a wider range of marketing services at a lower cost. Compared to hiring an in-house team or paying for each service as you go, this can result in significant savings over time. 

Tracking progress is easy

One of the key benefits of managed marketing services is that it’s easy to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Agencies typically provide regular reports and analytics that allow you to see how your marketing campaigns are performing over time.

This takes the guesswork out of marketing and allows businesses to make data-driven decisions about where to focus their efforts. If certain activities are working better than others, you can quickly make the relevant adjustments. 

Easy access to specialised skills

By engaging a managed marketing agency, you gain the skills and expertise of the entire team. This means you don’t need to hire an in-house expert or contractor for each project. Some common examples of specialist skills include search engine optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), social media, and content creation. 

As well as the team, you’ll also gain access to the latest marketing technology. As new tools and resources become available, a marketing agency will be the first to know. 

Workflows are more consistent

With the same team delivering your marketing strategy regularly, the workflows can be much more efficient. Consistency is crucial for marketing success, ensuring assets are executed on schedule and to a high standard every time. 

Unlike pay-as-you-go services, managed marketing services typically follow a structured process of consultation, strategy development, execution, and reporting. This is particularly important when dealing with complex marketing campaigns that involve multiple channels and stakeholders.

Support available is on-demand

A significant advantage of managed marketing services is having support when you need it. You can rely on your agency to provide support and guidance on demand, with easy access to a wealth of relevant knowledge. 

Whether you have a question about a particular marketing campaign or a technical issue that needs fixing, you can rely on your managed marketing services provider to provide prompt and reliable support. For small to medium-sized businesses that don’t have an in-house marketing team, this gives much-needed agility and peace of mind. 

Managing marketing tailored to your business

At Vanguard 86 we offer full-service digital marketing management on HubSpot. You can choose from three levels depending on your business goals - Build, Grow, or Accelerate.

Every month, our team of experts will deliver marketing assets to attract your ideal customers. We also track your website traffic, conversion rates, and search engine rankings to optimise results over time. 



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