Many small business owners start out doing their own digital marketing to save money. That can work for a while, but as your company grows your DIY efforts may stop delivering results. If you’re feeling frustrated or in over your head with online marketing, you’re not alone – about 73% of entrepreneurs aren’t confident their marketing is effective. The digital landscape changes fast, and it’s tough for a busy business owner to keep up. How do you know when it’s time to bring in outside experts? Here are four telltale signs that your business might need help from a digital marketing agency.
Sign 1: Advertising Campaigns Fail to Deliver Results
Investing in online advertising is important – but only if it actually brings in customers. If you’ve been putting money into Google Ads, Facebook/Instagram promotions or other digital ads and seeing little to no return, that’s a glaring red flag. Perhaps your click-through rates are low or your website isn’t converting visitors into buyers. You might even feel like you’re pouring money down the drain with nothing to show for it. If your marketing initiatives aren’t delivering the results you need, it’s a clear sign to consider bringing in a digital marketing agency.
Mike runs a local furniture store and spent months on Google Ads but saw almost no sales. An agency audit found his ads were too broadly targeted and his website’s landing page wasn’t converting visitors. After the agency refined his campaign to reach the right local audience and optimized his site, Mike’s online inquiries and sales quickly shot up.
Sign 2: Lack of Expertise in Online Marketing
Digital marketing involves many moving parts (SEO, social media, content, web design, analytics), and it’s tough for one person to excel at all of them. As a business owner, you’re an expert in your industry – not necessarily in search engine algorithms or marketing analytics. If you or your team lack skills in key digital marketing areas, your efforts might be ineffective or even counterproductive. Maybe you have a beautiful website that nobody finds on Google, or you post on social media a lot but get little engagement. These kinds of problems are common when you don’t have specialized digital marketing expertise.
This is where a digital agency shines. When you hire an agency, you gain a team of experienced specialists – SEO experts, social media managers, content creators, and more – without the overhead of hiring each role in-house. They can quickly audit your marketing, pinpoint gaps or mistakes, and implement solutions. For instance, an agency can improve your website’s SEO, and manage your social media presence (and online ad campaigns) to engage your target audience and drive conversions.
As the CMO of Constant Contact put it, small businesses recognize marketing is vital, but they often “lack the time and expertise to be effective, especially in the rapidly evolving digital landscape”. Bringing in experts fills those knowledge gaps and lets you focus on running your business while they focus on growing it.
Sign 3: Not Enough Time to Manage Digital Marketing
If keeping up with your website, social media, and online ads feels like a whole separate job, it’s a sign you need help. In fact, over half of small business owners say they have less than one hour per day for marketing, which makes it nearly impossible to give your digital strategy the attention it deserves. One huge benefit of hiring an agency is that it frees up your time. You can hand off the daily grind of posting updates, tweaking campaigns, and monitoring analytics to professionals who live and breathe marketing, while you focus on the core of your business.
Samantha owns a local gym, and her marketing was inconsistent at best. As a result, new member sign-ups had started to stall. She decided to partner with a digital marketing agency, which took over her social media and online ad campaigns and improved her website’s local search visibility. Within a few months, online engagement was up and new memberships were growing – all without her having to spend extra time on marketing.
Sign 4: Growth Has Plateaued Despite Your Efforts
It’s frustrating when your sales and web traffic flatline despite all your efforts. If growth has been stuck for months, that’s a clear sign you may need a fresh approach.
An e-commerce company’s in-house team tried boosting ad spend and social media activity, but nothing changed. A marketing agency came in and discovered the website’s checkout process was causing customers to abandon their carts – an issue the team had overlooked. The agency also identified a new customer segment to target with fresh advertising. After fixing the checkout and launching the new campaign, the company saw an immediate jump in online sales and a boost in web traffic. In cases like this, an agency offers the fresh perspective needed to break through the plateau.
Agencies draw on broad experience and data-driven analysis to spot opportunities you might have missed, then implement changes to kickstart new growth.
Conclusion
If any of the above signs sound familiar, it’s probably time to bring in the pros. There’s no shame in getting help – outsourcing marketing is increasingly common among small businesses. Hiring a digital marketing agency isn’t just another expense; it’s an investment in growth, giving you a partner who’s dedicated to your success. By handing off your marketing to experts, you free yourself to focus on running your business, and you’ll start seeing real improvements – more traffic, more leads, and ultimately more sales. So don’t be afraid to let specialists help carry the load – you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!
