Give Your Firm the Attention it Deserves
Niche and distinguished professional service firms are now in competition with online behemoths like those who promise legally binding contracts in under an hour, tout guarantees on tax filings that get flagged for audit, and even companies who shell out one-stop-shop canned architectural renderings. We don’t even have to say the names of those companies, and we bet you could list a handful of them immediately.
Most anyone looking to conduct serious business will tell you that they prefer to work with a reputable brick & mortar professional service firm, but how can professional service firms like yours that offer unmatched service from a real person compete with the big-named bot companies? It’s not hard… IF you have the time, resources, and personnel needed for a robust in-house marketing department. The problem is, many firms don’t have a fully-staffed in-house team, and the cost of hiring personnel to handle marketing services can blow an annual budget and not even deliver you the results you deserve.
So, what are your options when you need to ensure maximum marketing results? Let’s take a look at how to get a comprehensive campaign that will deliver the results you deserve, in-house or not.
How Do I Evaluate if I Need to Hire Help With My Digital Marketing?
This may seem obvious to some, but knowing when to hire a digital marketing professional can actually be a gray area in your firm.
You may have a great marketing team that handles the bulk of your marketing, but perhaps they aren’t particularly tech-savvy, or maybe they don’t have a lot of experience with data or analytics… or access to the tools necessary to even obtain that data.
Digital marketing is inherently tech-focused, and having a strong digital marketer who understands the tech side as well as how all the pieces fit together is imperative for success. If you find that your team is struggling to connect your digital actions and your digital results or outcomes, then it may be time to hire a digital marketing professional. Hey, you might not even realize that every step you take online directly feeds back to your bottom dollar – and that’s all the more reason to hire someone who does know that.
We know countless bright and brilliant marketers who are incredible at marketing strategy overall, but who don’t have the time or skills to execute digital marketing initiatives. The thing is – digital marketing itself is a broad area of marketing that is more than just writing social media posts and updating your website with regular content. Having someone who can help you not only build, but execute a strategy around digital marketing is really important in today’s digital first world.
Marketing Partner Checklist
How can you ensure that you select a digital marketer who will provide an overall marketing program to increase your brand’s voice and increase its effectiveness? If you are planning on hiring a marketing professional, you should take into account the skills and experience they should possess:
- Social Media Marketing
- Video Marketing
- Email Marketing & Automation
- Direct Response Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Content Marketing
- Data/Analytics and Reporting
- Graphic Design & Multimedia Design
- Website and Landing Page Development
- Copywriting
- Tech Savvy
Just a list of 11 essential skills and experience – no biggie, right? If you know anything at all about running a business, you know with certainty that a professional who has all of these skills is what we refer to in the marketing industry as a unicorn. They are few and far between, and finding and hiring one is going to be an expensive feat.
Many firms aim to find those “diamonds in the rough” whom they can train, which is definitely a more cost-conscious endeavor (at first), if you have the time and tools to help an emerging marketer grow; but, what does that really look like?
“Is it better to hire and train up or hire someone experienced as a digital marketer?”
The answer to this question isn’t quite so simple. A professional who is new to digital marketing is great if you have the time and budget to wait for results, as mentioned. If you’re looking for a more immediate return on your new hire, then you’re going to want someone more experienced. (which is more costly).
The truth is that digital marketing is a complicated area of marketing, and hiring someone new to the field will mean you need to invest resources in getting them the training and development they need to be successful.
Digital marketing requires varying skill sets, and the person you hire for your digital marketing role will ideally be someone who is passionate about the field, regularly stays on top of trends, and is an avid social media user. In general, we’ve found that those who use the platforms are more likely to stay on top of trends.
It’s important to note that experience does come at a higher cost, typically, when hiring a digital marketer. This is why we think many firms would benefit from using another budget-conscious approach and work with an agency in their earlier stages of online marketing, and then transition to hiring a full-time marketing employee once you have a more robust budget.
Remember, though, that getting to the stage in your business of hiring a dedicated in-house team for marketing doesn’t mean you’ll never have to branch outside of your own walls for digital marketing support (reference that list of 11 key skills and experience needed). Once you have the budget to support an experienced digital marketer, he or she may still need additional outside resources to accomplish everything required for a comprehensive marketing strategy, including possibly a team, which could include a communications manager or copywriter, a graphic designer and/or video editor, and a project manager and/or analytics professional.
In other words, a single digital marketer isn’t a silver bullet and will need support.
So, what’s the solution to wanting it all (and you absolutely deserve it all) without spending it all on what a full-time hire would cost you annually + the outsourcing fees for projects your in-house team can’t quite carry? Outsource fully.
When Should You Outsource Digital Marketing?
We’ve already covered how surprisingly difficult it can be to access a marketer who can do it all. Outsourcing isn’t new, but the idea of outsourcing needs to the internet marketing industry hasn’t always been top-of-mind in professional services. We mostly think of manufacturing or data-mining as outsourcing industries, but the statistics on companies that outsource tell a much different story, and outsourcing work doesn’t necessarily mean using companies outside of the U.S. With the remote workforce growing exponentially by the day, more U.S. providers who are hired as outside consultants are able to stock their supply with highly qualified professionals.
If you’re looking for experienced help and need to find a solution for your digital marketing woes quickly, outsourcing can be an easy and painless solution.
Besides taking the burden off of yourself and your likely over-burdened in-house marketing team, several benefits of outsourcing your digital marketing needs include:
- Access to the Latest Marketing Technologies: Digital marketing has become an extremely challenging process. Do you know how many dollars you should allocate to various marketing technologies? Those tools are expensive and may eventually become obsolete, leaving you stuck in your seat wondering which action to take next. When you hire outside digital marketing companies, you alleviate that concern, as stand-alone digital marketing firms provide the newest technology and tools.
- Progress Without Micromanagement: When partnering with a digital marketing agency, your digital presence will remain in their care, meaning you can now devote time and energy to determining your actual business objectives and processes. Look at outside hiring as an investment that will save you time, money, and the headache of the unknown.
- Work with Seasoned Professionals: Working with a professional digital marketing agency helps leverage its decades of knowledge and practical experience. Digital marketing agencies are built upon an experienced, synchronized team who can handle the heavy lifting your firm requires.
Outsourcing your digital marketing needs to a digital marketing firm is really a no-brainer. You can probably see that clearly now and might be wondering where to begin on your journey to perfect your digital presence, and we have some good news for you on that front:
You’re exactly where you need to be. Reach out to our By Aries digital marketing gurus today to start perfecting your digital presence, compete with the big names, and rid yourself of the headache of navigating an industry with which you have little experience.
