As a startup, you’ve got a lot on your plate. You’re trying to refine your idea that’s going to change the world. You’re trying to find your place in the marketplace, both locally and on the Internet. And the bigger you get, the more growing pains you’re going to encounter. The startup life is a rewarding life, but it’s certainly a taxing one.
That’s why it’s a good idea to utilize all of the resources available to you. And there may not be a greater aid to your efforts as a startup than a challenger brand marketing agency.
Why Use an Agency?
Communication is the key to life. It’s one thing to have a killer idea; it’s something entirely different to properly convey that sentiment to others in a way that makes them want to do business with you. Whether you’re selling keychains or network technology, the ability to connect with your audience is key.
Being a challenger brand adds another wrinkle to the mix. No matter what type of business you’re running, there are established leaders that are at the forefront of your industry. Your goal has to be to find a way to coexist with those leaders while simultaneously challenging the status quo. It’s a delicate balance, and it’s not something that every startup owner is qualified to handle.
Enter a challenger brand marketing agency. Instead of winging it and hoping for the best, you’ll work with highly skilled professionals that have spent years doing exactly what you’re trying to achieve. In other words, they know their stuff, and they know what buttons to push to get your business recognized by your desired audience.
How You’ll Benefit
Today’s age of Internet-based tools has a lot of people believing that they can do their own marketing. It’s a noble endeavor, but it’s a misguided one.
The truth is that, as a startup, your time is extremely limited. You probably don’t have the time or the energy to fully commit to your marketing. And in marketing, it’s attention to detail that really wins in the long run. Something as simple as forgetting to include a field in a form on your website can be the difference between a well-oiled lead generation machine and a completely useless piece of data.
When you work with a challenger brand marketing agency, you don’t have to worry about any of the minutiae of your marketing. The agency takes care of all of the finer points of your advertising. That frees up your time to handle the things you really need to focus on – developing relationships with potential business partners, meeting and speaking with customers, securing funding, so on and so forth.
Every second you spend worrying about marketing takes away from these crucial endeavors. And if you don’t take care of these factors, your startup may not be long for this world.
What to Look For
Of course, a challenger brand marketing agency can only help your startup if they’re actually good at what they do. It’s your job to vet any agency you work with to make sure you’re getting what you want out of the deal.
Here are some of the most important things an agency should offer:
- Experience. Look for an agency that’s worked with businesses like yours, especially within your specific industry. Also, look for a variety of different approaches – you don’t want to end up with a one-trick-pony that has a limited scope of effectiveness.
- Up-to-date technology. One of the worst parts about handing marketing on your own is having to keep up with all of the changes in the marketplace. Your agency should not only be able to handle what’s popular now, but they should also be able to pivot towards any emerging trends or technologies that emerge in the future.
- Creativity. Challenger brands must always think outside the box in order to make a statement in a crowded marketplace. Your marketing agency should be able to do the same.
- A shared vision. You should have a clear idea of where you think your businesses is headed. Just as important is the vision that your marketing agency has for your company. These two philosophies should align very closely. If they don’t, it’s time to look elsewhere. The last thing you want is a conflict of ideologies at a moment where momentum is of the utmost importance.
The value of an effective challenger brand marketing agency cannot be understated. When you’re working with the right people, you obtain a tremendous peace of mind that you wouldn’t otherwise have.
Additionally, you’ll gain a great deal of time that you can spend on other parts of your operation that need your attention. To learn more about what to look for in a challenger brand marketing agency, drop us a line.
