By: First Union
Should Your Business Work with an Online Marketing Team?
Online marketing is poised to become completely reinvented in this next year. According to Shopify, e-commerce sales are projected to reach over four trillion dollars by 2021. This is why so many companies are recognizing the need for greater efforts in terms of SEO and keeping their online presence fresh and relevant. However, the problem is that with smaller companies especially, it can be difficult if not impossible to keep up with the ever-evolving world of online marketing. And this is precisely why numerous small businesses are choosing to team up with an online marketing company.
They Know What Metrics to Monitor
Partnering with an agency that knows their stuff when it comes to online marketing means deeper insights for your firm. They understand exactly what metrics to watch. What objectives need to be accomplished to deem any such online campaign a success. So before you just go ahead and dump all kinds of money into Google and Facebook ads without really understand what to measure, how to measure and what KPIs you need to watch for, first talking to an experienced online marketing agency may be the smart move; it could bring you a much better ROI than if you're going it alone, without the right understanding of how things work. With any site there is going to be one metric that's important initially—so what number should you be aiming for first: visits for example. From there as the marketing campaign progresses this number can certainly shift to say the cost per sale. The bottom line is you want to make money. And working with an online marketing company could very well be the way to do that.
They Can Create a Customized Solution
What's more, in understanding what stage your business is in, they can zero in on exactly what you need to have in place to more effectively market. As a startup, for example, you might have an idea of basic metrics, however as you continue to grow and gain some traction, you are going to have more in-depth goals in mind; meaning, you need to be looking at more detailed metrics. Make sure that in partnering with any online marketing firm, you're getting to work with someone who is experienced (in other words, not junior staff/), someone who is receptive to your input and who makes themselves available to you. Any approach they suggest to marketing should always be customized to your business and industry.
They Have Experience Your Company Likely Does Not Have
This is what they do…They focus exclusively on online marketing. You might have in house help, but is that their core job, or are they "filling in." A good agency will be able to show you examples of client results and have the references to back it up. And even if you do have an experienced in house marketer, it certainly can't hurt to hire a firm to help with the more complex, detail-oriented parts of marketing, for example, things such as SEO, PPC ads, and CRM setup. Make your expectations clear from the start and the relationship could be to your advantage.
If you're looking to hire an outside firm to handle your online marketing, First Union Lending can get you the cash you need. Call today!