When your company is failing to keep up with local trends and target audiences, it may be a good idea to hire a marketing or ad agency to develop a deeper understanding of your brand. A huge advertising agency may look good on paper but may not be the right fit for your business’s needs. If you hire a larger firm or have an in-house marketing team, you may not have access to specific information, experience, or local contacts that a small local agency may supply.

Larger agencies can have bad customer service and slow response times compared to an agency that values connection and client communication. If you're short on time, a local agency can provide you with quick access to a storefront and will have the added advantage of understanding the community where your company wishes to extend its audience. When it comes to improving the marketing for your business, choose a local ad agency. They can guide you when it comes to determining who to direct your marketing efforts toward and how to accurately do so in the community you live in.

Here are 5 reasons why your advertising agency should be local to your business:

Face-to-face interactions

In the midst of a technology-driven world, finding an agency that can prioritize face-to-face interactions is important, making hiring local crucial. Finding an agency that can provide both virtual and in-person meetings can increase transparency and make sure each business understands one another and their individual creative processes.

Sitting down with someone one-on-one can make sure each party stays engaged, have positive reactions, and increase comfortability enough to ask questions if needed.

Knowledge of the local market

In comparison to a larger or national agency, a smaller, more local one will have a solid foundation to provide the strongest market insight. They can help understand what works and what doesn't because of past experiences and identifiable customer insight.

• Positioning and Messaging

  If your advertising agency can not reach the target audience that is needed to help retain and bring in new customers, your business will not grow. An agency that is local and experienced in your community can write and curate content that will appeal to the specific audience you want. Local agencies can also help you with marketing tactics such as geofencing that will acknowledge the importance of your location to serve content to specific locations.

• Local Connections

  A local agency also has an established network of relationships to help connect you with the resources you may need to grow your business. They can also provide potential insight to anticipate a rival’s business success and strategy, showing you how you can differentiate from theirs. There is a wealth of knowledge that is available when you decide to hire an agency that is local compared to one that does not understand the area past a simple Google search.

Personal/Individual Attention

Hiring a small marketing firm gives you more personal and individual attention than a bigger agency. This allows you to communicate with different parts of the agency to have a better idea of what you want for your brand. If you are dissatisfied with the way anything is or seems, you can express your dissatisfaction with a shorter feedback time. By developing a close relationship with your local agency, you can have more room to be creative, access data, and observe results first-hand.

Cost-Efficient

Working with a local agency can help your business stay within the budget you have in mind to help stick to certain financial parameters. You can personally discuss your business’s goals one-on-one to create a personalized budget to avoid overruns. Because they work with so many clients, a larger agency tends to have more fixed charges that can be impersonal to your personalized needs.

As a local agency is typically smaller, the prices are generally lower than if you worked with a larger company. If you're experiencing a sluggish month, most small agencies can put marketing on hold, whereas larger organizations can't.

You Can Grow Together

Smaller, local agencies place a high priority on your business's success because if you thrive, they will succeed as well. Your company's growth will assist a local agency’s growth and expansion as well as inspire your company to continue growing your business as a strong customer. When working with national companies, you are just another number and are not the main focus compared to their other larger clients.

How We Can Help

Here at Auburn Advertising, a public resource service from Inner Spark Creative, we are here to exceed all of your marketing goals for your business. As a full-service advertising agency and marketing partner in Auburn, Alabama, we understand the importance of working with an agency that is local to your business. As a community with a largely younger audience and a high population turnover, we can provide the best insight into the community and how to best reach them.