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Marketing your business online is an incredibly powerful way to increase your visibility and to start attracting more new customers. The cost of online marketing is relatively low compared to other types and yet it's possible to create a much more impactful and engaging campaign this way when compared with advertising in magazines for example. Seeing as most of us now find they companies we want to buy from on the web, it stands to reason that this should be the logical place to spread the word when promoting your own offerings.
The question then is not whether to market yourself online but how to go about it. Here you have two main options: managing your own online marketing and doing everything in-house, or outsourcing the process to another individual/company who can take care of it for you.
Here we will look at why the latter is the much better option.
The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Online Marketing
When you outsource your online marketing, you will be paying for a specialist to handle your online presence and to help you reach more customers. This is what they specialize in, and it means they're able to advise you on the very best strategies and help you accomplish your goals online.
This is their 'day job' and it is what they have been doing professionally for a long time. No doubt they will have worked with many other companies before yours to help them increase their visibility and to get more customers and as such they will know the process inside out and be up-to-date on the very latest techniques and tools. Things like search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing are changing constantly as Google alter their algorithms and as new social media sites are emerging all the time. Did you know that Google recently released their 'Penguin 3.0' update? Have you heard of IFTTT and how it can streamline your social media efforts?
The point is, that even if you have a good basic understanding of online marketing, you aren't going to have the same level of experience or in-depth knowledge as a company that is constantly immersed in that industry. Likewise, you aren't going to have the time to dedicate to your marketing unless you either hire more staff (which is very expensive) or neglect another aspect of your business. Unless you run an online marketing agency, you won't have the same skills and expertise as an online marketing agency… And thus any attempt you make to market your business will be less effective than it could be.
Just imagine that one of your own clients or customers decided to handle the service/product you provide 'in house' instead of using you. Do you think they could do as good a job as your business by trying to learn themselves? Probably not and the same goes for internet marketing.
Bear in mind too that there is a cost to bad online marketing; not only can you waste a lot of time, energy and money if you approach online marketing incorrectly but you could even risk damaging your company's reputation or getting penalized by Google. This is why you really need a company or professional that knows what they're doing.Have you enjoyed reading so far?
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Why Companies Often Go In-House – And Why it's a Mistake
Many bigger companies have a large desire to do everything they can 'in-house' and even to buy the companies they work with to accomplish this, or to hire lots of new staff to create whole new departments. This stems from a need to 'control' every aspect of their business (often partly due to ego) but it is actually very misguided.
For starters, outsourcing to another company almost always results in a higher quality of work and greater output than using employees. That's because companies that provide these services are trying to exceed your expectations in order to retain your business on a long term basis and they want to work quickly and efficiently so that they can increase their turnover. Small service-based companies and freelancers then will put in much more effort than employees because they own their business and thus you'll get better value for your investment. Did you know that the average employee completes about 3 hours of work in an 8 hour day? And that's when there's actually something to do… When you outsource you only pay for the work you're actually getting.
Likewise, even if you hire extra staff to form your own marketing department, you are still going to have to dedicate time to managing those employees. You are still going to have to provide them with somewhere to work and you are still going to have provide them with the right equipment. Not to mention costly benefits and negotiate pay too.
In other words, hiring your own department involves a lot of overhead – both financial overhead and communication overhead. When you outsource on the other hand, none of that is your problem and you are able to keep your business lean and focused while you put more time and energy into delivering the best possible service or product to your customers. Let them do what they do best so you can do what you do best!
Plus, with tools like Skype, Google Drive and TeamViewer providing more forms of location independent communication, you can now stay in constant contact with companies you're hiring and even work collaboratively as though they were right in the office with you.
How to Outsource Your Online Marketing
Outsourcing your online marketing then is by far the most efficient way to get the best service for the least expense and is a very good investment. What's just as important though is that you also hire the right online marketing company and that you take due diligence in choosing the right people to work with. Make sure they have a good track record, discuss strategy with them and take your time finding out whether they're right for your organization. If you get this right, then they will be able to greatly increase your turnover so it's more than worth the time required to do a little research first!