As marketing shifts from traditional cookie-cutter methods to digital marketing, businesses have been forced to reimagine their marketing strategies. For instance, research indicates that newspaper advertising revenue has dropped from $22.3 billion annually to only $6.5 billion between 2017 and 2021, while magazine advertising revenues have recorded more than a 60% drop in annual revenue in the same period.
These figures clearly express the crucial necessity for digital marketing and, similarly, the reason why most businesses are skeptical about outsourcing such a special department.
Nonetheless, digital marketing is an expensive and complex endeavor that requires expert attention with such a sense of vitality.
It goes without mentioning that outsourcing your digital marketing needs comes with several advantages. You don’t have to acquire expensive digital marketing resources as you would for an in-house team, for starters. These resources include SEO tools, content creation software, and other marketing analytics software subscriptions.
Additionally, your business gets to benefit from an elite pool of talent and a team of creatives who can reshape the destiny of your business.
Are you ready to outsource your digital marketing needs? Here are crucial things to have in mind:
1. Get your budget right.
The bad news is that digital marketing is way too expensive. It is a whole circus of professionals from the start to the end. When budgeting, think of who makes a digital marketing team. There is a project manager, a social media manager, an SEO expert, a web and UI designer. Did we mention content creators and managers?
In a nutshell, this project will cost you a fortune, hence the more reason to do it right.
By allocating a reasonable budget to your digital marketing team, you can realize a positive Return on Investment (ROI) in a single shot. Sufficient funding supports impactful campaigns and a well-designed and optimized website that keeps drawing traffic to your web store.
Remember, hiring a digital marketing agency gives you a chance to work with a coalesced team rather than hiring different individuals who might not fit together as a team.
2. Work with a plan
Digital marketing can take a few months to several years before you can realize a positive ROI. Its success comes down to your digital marketing strategy. A poorly executed digital marketing campaign can result in losses and waste of valuable time.
It is advisable to interview several digital marketing agencies before settling on one that suits your budget and strategy. The team should be able to factor in crucial considerations such as the ever-changing consumer behavior and trends. In addition, it is wise to avoid agencies that advocate for outdated marketing techniques such as black hat SEO and old-school email marketing campaigns.
3. Be patient
Digital marketing takes time before you can realize a positive ROI, with some strategies taking up to a year. Furthermore, its success is primarily influenced by factors out of your team’s control, such as the nature and competitiveness of your niche.
As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and if you expect instant results, you are in for a rude awakening.
Attracting leads and guiding them through the marketing funnel takes time. For example, it will take time before your site gains traffic or before your social media channels gain any followers. Therefore, you should bear these essential considerations before outsourcing your digital marketing, especially when setting the lengths of the contracts.
Lastly, digital marketing is a continuous venture, and once you get things rolling, you will still need the team to keep updating your sites’ content and interacting with prospective clients on these sites.
4. Be flexible
A digital marketing agency with a perfect portfolio comprises expert marketers who better understand the sector. It would be prudent to be receptive to new ideas and strategies.
Most digital marketers start by accessing your brand’s position in the digital space before deciding on actionable steps to be included in their marketing strategy. In some cases, marketers may advise you to change your brand altogether, a bold suggestion that may appear absurd.
Being flexible gives your team a chance to be creative, stretch their limits and be outstanding in your niche.
5. Start Communicating
Let’s face it! Having a clear communication channel is crucial in any business, and a transaction cannot be successful without a dialogue.
A clear communication channel fosters an excellent working relationship between you and your team of expert marketers.
In digital marketing, the communication channel is a three-way street. You have to respond to your customer messages, at the same time, keep in touch with your marketing team.
The sector carries a high risk of miscommunication, whose price is hefty, hence the need to set up proper communication channels. Additionally, communication aligns goals and objectives and ensures that you are on the same page on all matters.
6. Push your marketing team to the limits
Digital marketing is costly, and you want to make the most out of every penny spent on this endeavor. The only way to get this is by ensuring that your digital marketing team delivers nothing less than pure gold.
The marketing sector evolves by the day, and your team should be up to date with the latest marketing trends and analytic tools. In addition, they should leverage the latest marketing techniques, including new social media channels such as TikTok and Facebook’s Collab, that primarily rely on video marketing.
7. Work with an HR
Getting the right digital marketing team is crucial to the success of your business. It is wise to partner with an HR agency that can interview different agencies and suggest only crème de la crème marketers for your business.
One advantage of using HR companies rather than going the DIY way is that they already have reputable marketing agencies on their databases and can easily substantiate their portfolios. For them, it’s a matter of pulling a few files from the database and picking the right one.
Parting shot
Digital marketing is costly if poorly managed. Outsourcing digital marketing services is one sure way of cutting down operational costs in terms of tools and human resources while at the same time giving you access to the best available talents in the industry.
With a digital marketing agency handling all your marketing needs, you will have ample time to deal with other business departments.