In the post-coronavirus world, business owners need to be more strategic about their budget allocation more than ever before. That includes making more calculated decisions when it comes to digital marketing needs.
While 34% of digital agencies suggested that their clients increase their investment in digital marketing during COVID-19, others have encouraged them to explore alternative marketing methods despite an 18% increase in digital sales in Q1 2020.
Regardless of whether or not businesses are reckoning with the aftermath of a global pandemic, business owners still need to understand when it’s appropriate to hire a digital marketing agency, in-house marketing employee, or to skip out on digital marketing altogether.
Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency
Even before coronavirus hit, 87% of consumers began their journey online, making digital advertising an incredibly important investment for brands. But committing to a digital marketing strategy requires careful consideration.
The following questions can help business owners take a more strategic approach to their digital marketing needs:
- Are you Googling your cores services only to find results for your competition?
- When you Google your business name are you unsatisfied with the results?
- Is your online reputation suffering (do you have bad reviews or poorly branded SEO)?
- Does your competition run PPC ads?
- Do you have the budget to hire a digital marketing agency?
- Have your internal resources reached the end of their expertise?
- Is your market oversaturated?
If you answered yes to these questions, you’ll likely want to invest in hiring a digital marketing agency to increase brand awareness, conversions, and sales.
By hiring a digital agency, you can ensure your marketing goals are aligned with your business objectives, and are managed by a team of trained professionals.
A digital agency will not only develop your ad creative, messaging, and delivery strategy, but will carefully analyze campaign performance to optimize for the best results. In essence, the investment you make in a digital marketing agency will ultimately pay for itself through the results they’re able to provide.
When to Hire an In-House Digital Marketing Employee
Sometimes, hiring a digital marketing agency isn’t the best solution. Yes, we realize that we probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but sometimes it’s necessary to have this realization now versus in the middle of a digital marketing campaign.
Rather than hiring a full agency to manage your digital ad campaigns, you may only require a full-time marketing employee. Before beginning your employee search, consider the following questions:
- Does your industry/message/content change rapidly?
- Does your budget support a new hire?
- Can you find the right person for the job?
- Can you manage and direct this person effectively?
For those of you who answered yes to these questions, we give you the green light to go ahead and hire a marketing professional to start building your in-house team.
It’s important to note, however, that a marketing team will only be successful under the right leadership and with the right expertise. Be sure that you can lead and manage your team, and that you have the resources necessary to hire an experienced professional to get the job done right.
Not All Businesses Need Digital Marketing Help
Despite our digital world, sometimes digital marketing just isn’t a good fit for your business — that’s okay! Businesses that are just getting started or do not have a budget to support hiring a digital agency should refrain from doing so until they’re able to fund their advertising goals. It’s also important for business owners to consider their scalability model: If you’re not prepared to handle a ton of new business in a short period of time, digital marketing is probably not for you.
Additionally, businesses operating in niche markets where the competition is light won’t need to market as much as those in highly competitive industries. Especially if you’re already succeeding with your current marketing strategy or are able to get free digital marketing services through a friend or family member, hiring a digital marketing agency can safely be removed from your business success plan.
Making the Best Decision for Your Business Goals
Regardless of whether you choose to hire a digital marketing agency or not, it’s important to make the best decision for your business objectives. If you’re prepared to invest in your digital marketing needs at a larger scale than you have in the past, it’s a wise decision to hire a professional team to get the job done right. However, if you’re content where you are and don’t face much market competition, you can get away with placing your digital marketing plans on hold.
