As the world continues to shift into the digital realm, more and more businesses are recognizing the increasing importance of digital marketing. And with public consumption of digital content growing at an exponential rate, there is little doubt that digital marketing is where the future of the field lies.But digital marketing is a broad subject. It roams around content marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing, etc. And within each specification lies more elements like the articles, photos, videos, the website and web design, and many more.This overload of tasks can be difficult especially if you’re a starting business, or a small enterprise, or any organization that do not really have the resources for an all out digital marketing campaign. Creating a video, which is now what you need for a successful digital marketing, for example, can be time consuming and resource exhausting with all the materials, equipments, and creative personnel you will need to create even just a 5-minute stream.This brings two questions on the ways you can go about it: Do you keep the task in-house? Or do you opt to outsource your digital marketing efforts?Here are some outsourcing pros and cons to help you make the right choice for your business:
This may sound counter-intuitive, but outsourcing your digital marketing needs is actually the cheaper alternative. As noted by digital marketing agency Waypost, you can outsource an entire inbound marketing department for the cost of ONE qualified on-staff marketing professional.And, with a myriad of tasks entailed in a comprehensive digital marketing campaign: content strategy social media marketing, SEO, email marketing, creatives, website maintenance, sales support and reporting, among others, it’s just common sense to delegate those tasks to an entire team rather than have one in-house staff responsible for all of those things.
By outsourcing, you are paying for the services of experts who are well-versed in the continually changing landscape of digital marketing, and who will research, create and implement marketing strategies or produce compelling content designed to bring results.By outsourcing your digital marketing, you are not paying for the salary of an employee — you are paying for results.
In a similar vein, because you will be hiring field experts, you also get access to the latest technology required to succeed in digital marketing — tech you probably otherwise wouldn’t have had a whiff of.Not only will your digital marketing strategy be using the latest tech and industry updates, you can also learn to integrate those same developments to your core business.
Speaking of core business, outsourcing your digital marketing allows you to focus on what you do best.Without being burdened by the jargon of analyzing digital data, various types of optimization and figuring out what type of content you need, you can focus on growing your business, while having a team of experts helping accentuate that growth simultaneously.
Of course, the growing importance of digital marketing have also spawned “snake oil” companies that are more in the business of promising results than actually providing them. This is why you need to make the selection process of your third-party digital marketing team a stringent one.Do the necessary background check of both the agency and its team, and examine their list of clients to get a picture of the kind of company they actually are. Practice the requisite vigilance in your selection process, and you should be fine.
Just as keeping digital marketing efforts in-house could lead to a lack of focus on the variety of other business functions, a digital marketing agency with too many projects on their plate could likewise do the same.Just as you need to do the necessary research to ensure the credibility of the agency you’re dealing with, you also need to be direct in asking if they can provide the necessary focus to your digital marketing needs — set clear guidelines and goals to ensure you get the results you need.
This another risk of outsourcing, as there are inexperienced agencies out there who, while are experts at social media and content marketing, SEO and other digital tools, may not have the capability to full grasp the nature of some of their clients’ businesses.Again, exercise due diligence to find out about you prospective digital marketing agency.
While there comes a time in every business’ life span when digital marketing becomes a must rather than an option, there remain guidelines for recognizing when the right time is for you to outsource this aspect of your business.Here are some of the signs to be on the lookout for:
Growth entails more customers, hence more tasks for in-house employees. As noted by digital marketing firm Marketing Zen, once the growth of your business puts marketing efforts in the backseat, that a telltale sign that you need to outsource your digital marketing.Keeping your marketing efforts up to speed with your core business growth is key to maintaining vital momentum in the business world.
Whether you find that your list of missed business opportunities are beginning to pile up, or you feel like you’re losing your mind due to the absence of any semblance of work-life balance, when you recognize that you’re spread out too thin, you probably need to learn to delegate some of the business tasks.
In this age, getting off the right foot when it comes to your social media presence is an extremely pivotal part of your digital marketing strategy.You want an experienced digital marketing agency to ensure that you get off to a strong start, and deciding to push the task for later may lead to crucial missed opportunities.
Ultimately, the only way to start outsourcing your digital marketing is by exercising due diligence in choosing a third-party agency.At present, there are different agencies for almost any task you need like for video and brand storytelling services, writers, web designers and developers, etc.But as discussed earlier, doing the necessary research to check for credibility, work history/samples, financial stability, and overall capability, is where the success of your digital marketing strategy begins.Once you’ve done that, finding an agency that speaks your language enables you to have and maintain a client relationship necessary for the success you desire.Create a list of your top picks of agencies that passed your initial research and deliberations and rank them according to your convenience, either financially, demographically, or time-wise, and corresponding their capabilities.Think long-term. Even some of the most successful businesses suffered the worst outsourced services before finding the best.It’s a mixture of trial and error on both ends. Make sure to agree first on a trial period or a small project, like making one video together, to have a more solid background to determine your compatibility to save time and trouble from both parties.
Entrepreneur’s list of massively successful startups that resorted to outsourcing in their earlier days shows some of the largest companies — the list includes:Skype- They used a teams of developers from Estonia to help them build out their businessSlack- This cloud-based team collaboration tool was valued in 2015 at an astounding $3 billionMYSQL- they showed their commitment and faith in the outsourcing business model by doing exactly that — using outsourced staff in various countries to help grow operations in different locations
A number of the most successful companies have proven that outsourcing is a crucial part of doing business if you want to optimize growth potential.However, it is crucial to keep in mind that exercising comprehensive due diligence is of utmost importance to give your digital marketing ambitions the best chance to succeed.Examine your current marketing efforts today, and find out where you can integrate the concept of outsourcing.
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