Why Small Marketing Firms are Better for Your Small Business

Companies come in all shapes and sizes, no matter the industry or the business. As consumers, we often have the misguided idea that larger companies are somehow more trustworthy, more successful, or better at what they do. This really couldn’t be further from the truth.

In fact, surveys consistently show small businesses provide better customer service than their larger counterparts. Likewise, small businesses typically rank higher on “best places to work” lists.

Ironically, the misconception about big business vs small business isn’t limited to just consumers. Even small business owners themselves fall into this trap. But selecting the biggest is not always the best – especially when it comes to choosing a marketing firm. Keep reading to learn why a smaller marketing firm is probably the best fit for your small business.

A large agency means lots of clients. And lots of clients means employees are dealing with multiple – maybe even dozens – of accounts. It’s hard to get personalized attention when you’re just one account in a stack of many. Even worse, the person handling your account is totally in the dark about the accounts handled by the person sitting next to them, and vice versa. That means if you can’t reach your particular account manager, there’s a good chance no one else will be able to help you. After all, they have their own pile of accounts to look after.

In a small marketing firm, it’s more likely each account is handled as a team effort. Rather than one person maintaining your account from start to finish, each member of the team is involved along the way. There’s more time to invest in you, the client, and more of an opportunity to get to know your marketing partners. If a question or issue pops up, there’s a good chance anyone on the team can help.

The very nature of a small marketing firm means you’re likely to find great talent. Just like in your own small business – when you’re building a team of only 10 or 15 people, you must have the best of the best. Most often, large companies just can’t be this picky when it comes to sourcing talent.

And with this small but strong talent pool, you’ll also reap the benefits of a great company culture. While a healthy culture is often hard to build and maintain in large businesses, small businesses made up of like-minded talent often develop a great culture naturally. And a great company culture trickles down to make a great customer experience.

Set processes and well-defined roles are a necessity in large companies. Lots of clients, tons of projects, and all the moving parts could get out of hand without clear structure. Unfortunately, this type of structure can stifle the creativity a marketing firm really needs.

Conversely, small marketing agencies typically have less defined roles and the team environment means responsibilities are shared. This encourages each team member’s strengths to shine alongside everyone else’s. The result is a creative and unique marketing experience geared toward your needs, not just the bottom line of the company.

You may think more people means work gets done faster. In fact, most consumers have this mindset. But often, that’s just not the case. For all the reasons mentioned above, larger marketing firms have processes and procedures to follow and sometimes red tape to deal with. Ad hoc requests or last-minute changes can’t always be accommodated.

Small firms, on the other hand, are nimble and can handle issues as they crop up. The ability to quickly pivot resources and make quick changes is a unique benefit of small marketing agencies – and it’s essential for a successful marketing plan.

You might think the bigger the business, the more clients, means prices are bound to be lower. But that’s not always the case. Big marketing firms have big bills – employee salaries, overhead, legal fees. All expenses that are substantially less, or even non-existent, in a small marketing firm.

Most small marketing agencies offer extremely competitive pricing. The price, along with the other benefits of small firm, make their overall value far greater than a large firm.

As a small business owner, you’re undoubtedly looking for a marketing partner who is an expert in small business. A large firm may tell you they’re experts and they may have read all the latest industry news about marketing for small businesses. But ultimately, a small marketing agency truly knows small business – because they are one!

A small marketing agency understands firsthand the challenges that come with running a small business, so they’re uniquely qualified to provide you with the best small business marketing services.

Here at Locallogy, two of our principles have over 13-years experience as small business coaches, helping hundreds of business owners. This is why we understand small business so well and are inspired to help them. In fact, our recruiting process has this built in - We do not hire anyone who is not passionate about helping small businesses. It is an integral part of our culture.