Small businesses are continually weighing crucial decisions that will impact their operations, finances, and reputation in the marketplace. Do they need more Sales personnel, do their technicians need better training, do they need to improve their accounting systems? Arguably, one of the more critical decisions for any small business owner is whether or not to commit to marketing as part of their growth strategy. In part one of this article series, we interview a team of Digital Marketing Account Managers to get their inside take on marketing for technology professionals. We'll explore everything from exposing common challenges technology professionals face, to revealing answers from routine questions small business owners have about marketing. Let's get started.

SEE ALSO: Working With A Marketing Agency: Interview Part 2 

How do you make sure each client's unique brand is accurately represented?

"We take the time to have onboarding calls with each client to learn more about their business priorities, such as what geo they want to target, what brands/products are they looking to promote, and what percentage of their business is residential vs commercial, among other things. We take all these factors into account to put together a unique and effective marketing campaign tailored to each client's individual needs and goals."

What questions do your clients ask frequently?

"I frequently get a lot of questions about how the clients' campaigns are performing. They usually want to hear certain KPI's (key performance indicators) such as their cost per click in ads or how their keywords are ranking in the search engines. They want to make sure their money is going to the right place! I also often get general questions about our digital marketing services and the strategies we put behind them. I often hear things like 'how exactly does SEO work' or 'how do you target the ads that you run for us' or 'will I get reports on my marketing?' (Answer there: Yes---but only if you join our meetings!)"

Why might hiring an agency make more sense than handling your marketing in-house?

"I recommend clients consider a simple cost-benefit analysis. If you don't have a marketing team right now, and you are choosing between hiring a full-time employee or outsourcing to an agency, start by looking at the price. If you hire someone right out of college you might pay them $3,500 per month (not counting benefits, PTO, etc.). For that same price with an agency, you might be able to afford a whole team of strategists and producers that are dedicated to helping you meet your business goals. You may need to spend some time with your agency helping them to understand how your business is unique from their other clients, but even that is likely a relatively small time investment when you consider the time it would take to onboard a brand new employee."

Why is SEO so important?

"Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making your website "search engine friendly" through various tactics to ultimately increase your site's visibility when relevant searches are taking place. SEO is important because if done correctly and consistently it can increase your opportunities to capture new leads, help spread awareness about a new product/service you are offering and ultimately save you money on digital marketing dollars that you can reinvest into your business."

How have you seen your clients grow in their time working with you?

"Obviously clients start with us at different stages of experience with digital marketing; some come to One Firefly after experience with a previous firm; others are coming to us having attempted no digital marketing at all in the past. The one thing that all of my clients share, though, after several months of conducting marketing services with us, is that they realize how important marketing is and how it can really help their business grow. When they see that search term their website wasn't ranking for now showing up No. 1 on Google, when they see that increase in organic search traffic, when they see that online lead come through that was traffic acquired from a Facebook advertisement; they see how marketing efforts made a change in their business. And if I can help play a role not only in educating my clients but also genuinely helping their business grow, that means the world to me."

What do you wish your clients knew before hiring us?

"Hiring a Marketing Agency is like a marriage- it's a long term relationship that will have ups and downs but overall be WELL WORTH it! It takes time for marketing efforts to see results. You won't be ranking 1st in Google results on day 1 of our marriage. We do have methods that will yield immediate results (such a PPC campaigns) but overall- this is a process of building your online reputation (with customers and with Google) and that doesn't happen overnight. Trust that we want what's best for your business and we are delivering results as fast as we can. After all, nobody wants a divorce!"

Is there anything that has the potential to get in the way of a client's growth?

"The key to growth is consistent, strategic effort. The most common obstacle we see to a client's growth is simply patience. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither was your business -- growth is a process."