When I moved back to NWA in 2019, it was clear there were few agencies catering specifically to local businesses. Most of them work exclusively with vendors and the major corporations in the area (Walmart HQ anyone?). Honestly, who can blame them? Massive budgets, producing killer creatives, and working with some of the most globally recognized brands? That's any marketer's dream. But to be honest, that never really appealed much to me. Who knows where life will take me later but since I was introduced to small business marketing in 2014, I fell in love. Perhaps it's the fact that I was raised around small businesses, but for whatever reason, this is where my passion lies.
When a small business owner hands you their marketing dollars, they have to see return and quickly.
There is a deep responsibility when your local electrician gives you their vacation budget, or Christmas gift spend to put together a strategy so that next year they can go on an even better vacation than they dreamed or buy even more presents for their family.
This isn't to say that corporate agencies don't have their work cutout for them. Their plans have to work, too, or they're fired immediately and that client has moved on to the next agency as if the other never existed. But, for the small business owner, the stakes are higher. There isn't money to blow and experiment. Not yet. Today, we're putting together solutions that yield measurable results tomorrow.
Many small businesses can't afford a full-time marketing manager, and if they do hire one, the scope of the work is much more than a one-man-band can handle. A local business agency is essentially a CMO for hire for small businesses. At Marketing Main Street, we serve as an extension of your team, assisting in the advertising efforts of your vision and dollars to help you grow.
Your local agency should serve as a shield between you and all of the advertising opportunists in the market. Local business owners get called on every day with someone trying to sell them the advertising strategy that will work for them. And some of those account executives are right! But what about the ones that aren't? Business owners know they need to advertise but figuring out the right plan is less than simple. Being presented with so many options can cloud your judgment and end up spreading your dollars WAY too thin, making every tactic ineffective. Having an agency means that you have someone who will come in, evaluate the options, hear your goals, and help you craft the plan that suits your needs. Consistently, my clients' favorite thing about MMS is that they can forward us opportunities that come their way and we can help them say yes or no. No more getting tied up in lengthy calls with account executives. We will help you make those choices.
Beyond strategy, our agency will help you in all of your marketing efforts. What good is having a stellar social media campaign if the website we're sending your audience to is clunky and not user-friendly? What business owner has the time to produce all of their own graphics, check for brand cohesion, measure marketing ROI, and everything else in between? It's like I tell my clients, "I don't do what you do. I'd never try to fix a car, perform surgery, repair a roof, etc. So let me do what I do and help people find you, tell them why they should use you over your competitors, and show you tangible, quantifiable results.
We love what we do and we know you'll love what we do for you. Just ask our clients.
Cheers!
Kayla Norris
Owner, Marketing Main Street
Email me today: kayla@marketing-mainstreet.com.