Strong graphic design will help keep your organization’s brand top-of-mind and get the most out of your marketing dollars. The question is, do you partner with an agency or keep it in-house? Most professionals agree that outsourcing certain business practices to experts is preferable, especially for those tasks that aren’t your particular strong suit.

Here’s the good news: If you’ve considered hiring an outside graphic designer but hesitated because of the perceived cost, know that you can afford it. Long term, it’s a decision that gives you back two things we’re all looking for more of — time and money. You really can’t afford not to partner with an experienced graphic design agency. Here’s why.

Tick, tick

Ever start the day at 9 a.m. and before you know it, it’s getting on past 5 p.m.? What you can do (or think you can), a professional can complete in half the time. Narrowing down a color palette, writing headlines for an ad campaign or deciding on the right file type for digital use? Those are tasks an agency filled with strategists and designers just know. If you have some marketing projects waiting in the wings because of your own time constraints, you could be losing more money in the long run than it would take to pay for agency services at the get-go.

Objectivity

You are working in, and on, your business every day; needless to say you are familiar with it. But are you too close to the fire for true objectivity? Implementing some fresh marketing ideas might take an outsider’s eyes. A good agency has well-rounded experience with the entire industry. While you deal with lots of aspects of your business (P&Ls, taxes, etc.), professional designers work solely on creative solutions day in and day out. Hiring a designer almost guarantees you’ll end up with a better product — more polished, fresh and professional, garnering greater attention from your audience.

Staying Consistent

Marketing and design professionals have keen eyes for keeping congruency among all marketing activities, whether it’s a Facebook post or a printed event program. If you use different logos, different fonts and different messages at different times, it’s hard to look professional, never mind standing out in a potential customer’s mind. Professional marketers keep an eye on little details and ensure that every piece of your communication fits with everything else. Sure, your audience might not notice if you used Times New Roman in one ad and Calibri in another, but the subconscious mind picks up details and uses them to form an overall opinion of your business. You look and seem more put-together if everything does, in fact, fit together.

Insurance from start to finish

Professional designers will work with other vendors, such as printers, to ensure final products come out right. Time management and cost come into play here: It will cost you more in the long run to have to redo something that wasn’t done properly the first time around.

Added Value

A good agency will offer you more than just lovely designs; they’ll work with you on strategy to ensure those designs are being used in the right way to engage your audience and influence their behavior. Furthermore, if you need supporting materials to share with others, such as file or style guides, an agency can put these things together for you.

Ready to move ahead with some design help? Here are some things to consider.