DIGITAL STRATEGY BLOG

If you rely on HubSpot for marketing automation or customer relationship management, lifecycle stages are an essential component of the platform. The problem is that they can be really confusing to understand since the concept of each stage is open to interpretation and adaptation, but HubSpot’s current format makes the lifecycle stage implementation pretty rigid and automatic. Developing a clear understanding of the purpose of each stage and how they can work most effectively to motivate leads to become customers will help your sales and marketing teams avoid the need for workarounds in the future. 

When starting out on your inbound or SEO journey with an agency, there are a lot of things to consider, especially if it is your first time working with an agency.

Contrary to popular opinion, agencies are not full of magicians.

In order to get the most out of your SEO or inbound marketing agency, you need to be involved.

One thing that we tell our clients up front is that we're never going to be as much of an expert in their business as they are. They will always be the 1a expert. Our goal, instead, is to be the 1b expert. In order to get there, we need some help though. 

Let's take a look at how you fit into the client-agency relationship and how you can get the most out of your agency.

Whether you are familiar with digital marketing or not, there seem to always be some terms that pop-up that make you go, "huh?" 

Whether you are familiar with inbound marketing or not, there seem to always be some terms that pop-up that make you go, "huh?" 

Whether you have worked with a marketing agency before or not, there will be some terms that pop-up that make you go, "huh?"

Extremely grateful, that's how I feel every time I think about my transition into the world of inbound marketing. It’s been a long journey; from getting my bachelor’s degree in marketing, to applying that knowledge to what were then my college jobs and internships, to finally getting my foot in the door at a digital marketing agency.

I can't believe it. As of today it has been five years since I started my marketing agency. FIVE YEARS! How did that happen?

It's been one heck of a ride full of ups and downs, great clients and not-so-great ones, and plenty of fantastic decisions along with some shaky ones. As with any business, it's not all sunshine and rainbows, but I wouldn't trade my experiences over the last five years for anything.

While it would be easy to focus all on HIVE in this article (I mean, our team is pretty amazing!) and toot our own horn, instead we've decided that we'd share some of our other favorite inbound marketing agencies throughout Colorado. Colorado has a TON of skilled marketers and we're proud to be part of it!

As with anything, there are distinct pros and cons to working with any kind of business. While we would love to work with everyone, the fact is, not every company needs or should work with a marketing agency. Let's look at situations where you should consider hiring an agency as well as reasons to avoid it.

When it comes to working with a marketing agency, it can be scary, especially if this is your first experience with an agency relationship or if you've been burned in the past.

When you begin your inbound marketing journey you are going to need help. That's inevitable. One or two people simply cannot do it alone. So when you start to look for this help you will likely consider whether you should hire an internal employee or work with a marketing agency, specifically a HubSpot Partner Agency. 

Not every business has a huge marketing budget. Scratch that. Very few businesses have a huge marketing budget. Spending that money wisely has a huge impact on your effectiveness and bottom line throughout the year. 

If you only have the budget to run a small campaign with a content marketing agency, there are things that you can do to supplement their efforts. It's important to remember that no one tactic can stand on its own effectively. Check out my previous blog post on that very topic HERE. So if you are paying an agency for just one tactic, it's unrealistic to expect that one tactic to be wildly successful without help.

If you can't afford to run a full blown campaign right now, it's important to take an active role in your marketing and work with your content marketing agency to achieve your goals. Let's take a look at a few simple things that you can do to support your campaign and boost your results!