Three ROI-Boosting Strategies For Working With Marketing Agencies Hiring a marketing agency to which to outsource your inbound or direct marketing strategies is one the best things you can do as a small business.

Hiring a marketing agency to which to outsource your inbound or direct marketing strategies is one the best things you can do as a small business. It takes a lot of pressure off you plus it ensures that marketing and sales lead generation as well as conversion are in the hands of professionals who will be able to maximize the limited resources you have and the get the most sales for you.

However, unlike a situation where you are interacting with in-house staff, there are some peculiar quirks to working with an off-site digital marketing agency. If handled correctly, you will be able to get outstanding ROI (Return on Investment) but if you do not do it correctly, it is very possible that you might actually make a loss as well and lose myriad chances to convert and make sales for your business. Here are a few tips that'll help you get the most benefits and avoid the common pitfalls:

1. Set Granular Goals Many businesses enter contracts with agencies only the basis that they'll see "increased conversions" or "a boost in lead generation". While, clear, stratified goals are crucial within every organization, they are doubly important when you're outsourcing any aspect of your business processes like marketing. The reason for this is that unlike in-house whose work you can monitor, regular tracking of results is the only way you can be certain that you're getting your money's worth with an agency.

In fact, the shorter the time period for the goals, the better. For instance, instead of saying that you would like to see 50% improvement in conversion over the course of a year, it might be better to agree on a target of 3% increase every month. According to Peter Daisyme, CEO of Hostt in this article for Entrepreneur: a marketing plan is really a planning process and not a plan. We live in a dynamic environment and cannot afford to have static marketing plans. A good marketing plan will do everything from setting goals to tracking performance and measuring it in quantifiable units. It requires to be reviewed regularly and revised as necessary.

2. Streamline your Communication Channels In working with an agency, it will be much more beneficial for your efficiency if you could take steps to optimize the communication channels that exists between your company and the agency. One thing you could implement is to designate specific staff members whose responsibility would be to coordinate and remain in constant communication with the agency.

That way, you will have a constant contact person whom you can ask for information and get details on any aspect of your project at any point in time. Beyond time, it might also help to establish specific and regular meetings where you'll meet to review the steps that have been taken with regard to your projects. According to Johnathan Zheng, CEO of CouponBirds, drawing from his experience working with agencies: "The point here is to make the communication between both companies as seamless as possible. Regardless of how far away the company is geographically, staying in touch will make it easy for both companies to work in consonance and reap the benefits of each other's actions."

3. Set Them Free When you are working with a marketing agency, one thing you should definitely not do is to attempt to tether them so closely that you are overseeing every single one of their actions. In the words of Michael Gall, owner of Internet Business Solutions: ""you might be tempted to do that in order to ensure that they are not using black or grey-hat methods, but if you've taken the time to properly screen the companies and selected one that is reliable, competent and ethical, you wouldn't need to be worried about them using improper methods."

Also, crucially, when selecting a company, be sure that it's a company you can trust when it comes to finances. Whenever you have to constantly have to peep over the shoulder of your marketing agency to ensure that they are not running over budget or cheating in any way, it will likely damage the trust in that relationship and reduce the efficiency drastically. Instead choose a trustworthy company ab initio and give them the necessary leeway and budget to function and make the best decisions on your behalf.

Related: 12 Ways to Actually Get an ROI Using Influencer Marketing