Why A Virtual Assistant For Your Marketing Agency Is A Poor Investment

As agencies grow, increasing staffing costs are often the main reason why profit margins don't reflect a similar growth rate. Hiring an offshore virtual assistant (VA) for your marketing agency might seem like a perfect fit if you’re looking to cut costs – they’re affordable, flexible, and cover day-to-day tasks like scheduling, admin work, and basic project support. 

But it’s worth asking: can a virtual marketing assistant offer the level of expertise needed to drive meaningful growth? Or is there a better way to invest in affordable talent that can support your business goals? 

While VAs are handy for administrative support, they often lack the industry knowledge and specialised skills that will actually help your agency drive revenue. Services like GrowthBuddy solve both problems at the same time – finding you full-time remote experts who are 55% more affordable.

In this article, we will be sharing a few key roles in marketing agencies that demand expertise and how hiring a remote specialist at the same cost as a virtual assistant through services like ours could drive growth for your agency.

Below we cover:

1. Key growth areas for marketing agencies that demand experts rather than assistants

2. How GrowthBuddy is a one-stop shop for all your agency needs

Key Growth Areas for Marketing Agencies That Demand Experts Rather Than Assistants

1. Performance Marketing

Performance Marketing, or PPC, is one of the core functions of most marketing agencies we work with. For $3,000 per month, you could hire an ad strategist with 3+ years of experience in managing multiple client accounts and ad campaigns.

While some digital marketing virtual assistants may have basic knowledge about campaign monitoring and optimisations, they will rarely have the advanced skills required to build strategies and funnels that will bring in revenue for your clients.

There’s no comparison in the value that virtual assistants and Performance Marketers will bring to your team – both at the same cost (a fact that will be emphasised repeatedly by us throughout the article). We say this because we consider PPC roles our bread and butter and over the years, we've handpicked exceptional candidates who have consistently delivered outstanding results.

Here's what our client, Archa, has to say about our Performance Marketer.

2. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

SEO takes time, effort, and a LOT of patience to see real results. We’re of the opinion that if you want to gain actual results from your SEO strategies, whether it’s building brand awareness or getting leads that will convert, a virtual assistant just isn’t going to cut it for you. 

That’s not to say they don’t have value – they can help with handling tasks like keyword research, updating meta tags, or tracking backlinks. However, seeing results from SEO efforts requires someone who understands the importance of great content, user experience and technical nuances to convert the organic traffic into actual revenue. That’s where an embedded full-time SEO expert, with deep knowledge of search engine algorithms would be able to contribute to the team’s success.

To give you a real example – when one of our clients reached out to us for an SEO role, we did countless interviews (156 to be precise) before we finally found the perfect fit for them. Safe to say, our GrowthBuddy showed results from the get-go and was a great culture fit with the team. 

Here’s the feedback they had within a week of our GrowthBuddy starting with them 👇

3. Data Analytics

   
   

Today’s marketing success relies on data. While a VA might be able to pull reports or enter data, they typically lack the expertise to analyse this information in depth or recommend the strategic changes needed for your client accounts to perform well.

On the other hand, an experienced business data analyst will be able to interpret complex data sets and provide actionable insights for your client accounts. They won’t just look at the numbers but will understand the greater business context behind them.

We placed a Business Analyst last year with Bright, a marketing consultancy based in the UK. For their client projects, our GrowthBuddy not only improved the quality and structure of the existing data but also supported their customer operations team by building dashboards. This helped them analyse important metrics like response time and speed to resolution – enabling the team to understand their performance better.

4. Ad Operations

The success of your campaigns depends on how well they’re executed, and Ad Operations is always at the heart of it. It requires a level of expertise that goes beyond basic management and involves being able to provide analysis, optimisation, and attention to detail to ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

While a virtual assistant can easily assist with simple tasks like monitoring budgets or compiling campaign reports, they often lack the advanced skills needed to fine-tune targeting, optimise performance, and make data-driven decisions.

An Ad Operations expert will bring these critical skills to your team. They will understand the nuances of every part of your ad strategy – from targeting and budget allocation to performance tracking and optimisation.

5. Marketing Automation

Contrary to what many believe, Email Marketing isn’t just about sending a few automated emails and hoping for the best. You need to know your client’s audience and their pain points to actually be able to stand out in a sea of emails that’s likely already flooding their inbox.

Hiring a virtual assistant who can assist with scheduling emails or managing email lists is a good start, but what’s stopping you from hiring a full-time remote expert at the same cost? They can create targeted campaigns, design compelling copy, and run advanced A/B tests to improve open rates and conversions from the get-go.

We’re not saying that you’ll never be able to find a virtual assistant who can help you in these areas; you certainly can. But as you grow, the gaps in expertise and the need for more advanced support will become increasingly evident. GrowthBuddy helps you avoid exactly this – saving you both time and money with remote experts who are 55% more affordable and highly experienced.

This brings us to the next section where we will discuss some of GrowthBuddy’s features and promises to you when you do decide to give us a chance.

How Hiring From GrowthBuddy Is A One-Stop Shop For All Your Agency Needs

1. Proven Experts – The Best At What They Do

Each GrowthBuddy brings 3+ years of experience in their respective fields, ensuring you’re working with highly skilled professionals. We don’t believe in compromising on quality – every candidate we present is carefully selected to be the best fit for your business needs.

Think of it as finding a needle in a haystack; we make sure that the person you get is an expert in their area, excels in client-facing roles, and has the go-getter attitude that makes an impact from day one.

Best of all, they come at the same cost as hiring a virtual assistant, meaning you get high-quality, experienced talent without the high price tag.

2. Thoroughly Vetted Through A 5-Step Process

Our candidates go through a rigorous 5-step process before they’re shortlisted for you:

• CV screening to ensure their experience aligns with the role.

• A video task submission to gauge their communication skills, ensuring they can effectively articulate ideas and present themselves professionally.

• A discovery call where we assess their suitability, gauge their technical capabilities and manage role expectations.

• Take-home case study to evaluate their practical skills, including their technical expertise and presentation abilities.

• Technical interview to assess their skills more deeply and give us a comprehensive, fair evaluation of their fit for your business.

  
  

This process takes us just 3 weeks and by the time we present them to you, they are fully vetted, so you can trust their ability to deliver.

3. An Embedded Member Of Your Team

Our GrowthBuddies are full-time, embedded members of your team, working remotely during your preferred working hours. This means they operate just like an in-house employee, fully integrated into your processes, but without the overhead costs.

What you get:

• Flexible monthly contract – you’re not tied down to long-term commitments.

• Lifetime replacement guarantee – if for any reason your GrowthBuddy doesn’t meet expectations, we’ll find a replacement at no extra cost to you.

• Tax and payroll compliance – handled by us, so you can focus on growing your business without worrying about the administrative hassle.

  
  

4. Growth Opportunities – They’re Always Learning

Each GrowthBuddy receives a learning and development allowance to keep them at the top of their game. This ensures they’re constantly evolving their skills to stay on top of the latest marketing trends and strategies.

Whether it’s through courses, certifications, or new tools, we make sure our specialists are always improving, so they can bring the latest and most effective strategies to your business.

5. Monthly Feedback Check-ins

We prioritise open communication, which is why we conduct regular feedback check-ins with both you and the candidate. During the early stages, we keep the check-ins weekly to make sure things are going smoothly, giving you the chance to voice any concerns, no matter how small. This ensures that any issues can be addressed quickly, rather than us waiting months to realise something isn’t working.

Our goal is to ensure that your GrowthBuddy not only meets your expectations but consistently exceeds them in every aspect of the job and that your experience remains hassle-free.

Conclusion 

In the end, the choice between a virtual assistant and a remote expert often comes down to your agency's growth objectives. While VAs have their value if you’re looking to hire someone for more basic tasks temporarily, agencies looking to scale need full-time dedicated expertise in core areas to truly maximise their ROI over the long term.

By choosing to work with GrowthBuddy, you choose to invest in expert level talent – without stretching your budget. But don’t just take our word for it, see the results through the case studies of our clients.

If you're interested in learning more about how GrowthBuddy can help you build your remote marketing team, feel free to reach out to us for a quick chat.