Many companies use an outside consultant, instead of hiring an additional employee or assigning in-house staff, to carry out their communications, marketing or graphic design needs.

In the business world, image really is everything. If you don’t promote a unique and professional image, then it is highly unlikely that you’ll fully meet your sales and marketing goals. It doesn’t matter how good your products or services are.

Agencies are able to devote full attention to your company’s opportunities and needs with an impartial and unbiased view. When you work with an outside creative firm, you aren’t just employing one person; you’re hiring a whole department—one that produces tangible, dollars-and-cents results. Staffed by experts in many areas of the communications and creative, rounds out your team. Each professional is highly trained and experienced in marketing. Because of this, they are experts at knowing what works and what doesn’t when creating a professional image that properly reflects your company.

If you don’t have public relations, advertising, graphic design or social networking experience yourself, then it can be difficult to determine what will actually work for your company. Creative agencies are experienced in planning and developing positioning statements and brand visuals day in and day out.

If you are thinking about promoting your company through public relations, the media depend on contacts that they trust to bring them a real news story. They trust agency personnel that they have been working with for the long term. PR professionals are skilled at communicating each client’s unique strengths in an interesting, innovative way.

Public relations is more than press releases. Effective publicity is choosing the correct placement of your news whether it is in print, broadcast or on the Internet. It’s getting your name out into the marketplace, getting that exact placement in the specific newspaper or trade publication.

A brand-marketing agency will help you differentiate your brand, generate new sales opportunities and increase your visibility through traditional and online marketing efforts. Using sound communications and marketing strategies will increase the support and awareness of your company.

Using a consultant leaves you to what you do best on a daily basis for your company. An agency’s full-time business is communicating ideas and messages to the public, and garnering marketing support for your product and / or service.

Your commitment to working with an agency to develop a sound communications or marketing program does make a difference. The payoff for your company can be tremendous.