The Ins and Outs of Online Marketing

Quality, control and the bottom line – three things that companies should consider when deciding whether to outsource online marketing efforts or to keep things in-house. There are pros and cons to each, and while the bottom line is probably the first thing that comes to mind, quality and control are just as important. Tasks that can be handled by individuals outside your organization, without negatively affecting quality, make good candidates for outsourcing. However how much control will you have once the task is outsourced? Finally, will you save money by outsourcing or are the added benefits worth the extra cost?

There are three questions a company should consider:

1. Will the quality of the work suffer?
2. Will I lose control over how the work is managed or completed?
3. How will the decision to outsource affect my bottom line?

According to Joshua Steimle, a Forbes.com contributor and online marketing guru, there is no standard rule of thumb for deciding what to outsource. Every situation is unique and the only way to make smart outsourcing decisions is to handle each situation independently.

An example of an area which should be considered for outsourcing is SEO, and price, while just one part of the equation, will have a big influence on how you handle SEO. According to recent industry averages, an entry-level SEO specialist will demand a salary around $50,000 per year. The more experience you require the more expensive it becomes, with a true industry expert running closer to $100,000 per year. Also worth noting, an effective SEO campaign will likely require more than one employee, so planning for two or three is wise. This drives the price up considerably making outsourcing more appealing.

Content marketing is another great example of one of the easiest things to outsource. There is no shortage of quality writers looking for work, and most are willing to sign on as a contractor, which is cost-effective. Web design on the other hand depends more on how comfortable you feel with quality and control because you are giving a third party access to some of your most valuable information. While most companies providing this service are probably trustworthy, studies have shown that 63% of data breaches are directly related to outsourcing tasks.

Ultimately there is no clear answer on whether to outsource your online marketing efforts or keep them in-house. It almost always comes back to the three questions regarding quality, control, and cost. By weighing the positives and advantages related to each of these factors, you can make an educated decision that will point your business in the right direction.

Bullets

• 42% of sales reps feel they do not have the right information before making a sales call. (2.pardot.com)

• Nearly all (98%) of small-business software buyers are shopping for marketing-automation software for the first time, according to a new report by research firm Software Advice, a division of Gartner. (Softwareadvice.com)

• Many B2B companies have started deploying inbound marketing strategies. At the core of those strategies is content marketing. Some 93% of B2B organizations are using some form of content marketing, but less than half (42%) say they’re effective at it. (marketingprofs.com)

• Beyond contact information, product pricing is the next-most important information buyers need to move forward with a vendor, and also is the top “must-have” among the various sales and product-related information assets buyers need to see on a website. Yet pricing information also appears to be often neglected, with 57% of respondents saying that pricing information is lacking on vendor websites. (This was second only to details about technical support, said to be lacking by 59% of respondents.) (marketingcharts.com)

• According to October 2014 research by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the greater availability and use of data in business can create a “virtuous circle,” with nearly two-thirds of executives worldwide reporting that information and knowledge were being shared more quickly and freely in their companies. (emarketer.com)