Outsourcing can be scary. I’ve heard some horror stories of business owners who have outsourced very important tasks to the wrong types of companies. In contrast, I’ve also seen, how certain tasks can be outsourced with extraordinary results that simply could not be replicated in-house for anywhere near the same cost. My advice is to do your research, interview prospective companies like you would prospective employees, and hire slowly but fire quickly.
What I specifically want to focus on in this blog post is the benefits of hiring a professional SEO company to handle your digital marketing. I do this. It’s simply not my time best spent and I acknowledge there are individuals out there who know way more than I do in this realm. When outsourcing works, it allows you to do more of what you love, and in return allows you to earn way more than what you would if you tried to do it all yourself. As you know, I’m all about life balance. So allow me to give you some reasons why you should consider outsourcing…especially for your business’s digital marketing.
Best and brightest industry knowledge
You don’t know what you don’t know. When you outsource your digital marketing strategy to a professional SEO company you gain the “latest and greatest” industry knowledge to will ensure the money that you’re investing into this is being used in the most effective way possible. For any business owner who is pouring their time into other areas of their business such as development, staffing, and operations, it would be impossible to also have the same level of knowledge of digital strategies as a professional firm who does this all day every day. By hiring an outside company to handle this for you, and at a fraction of the cost of having an in-house specialist, you gain the expertise without the overhead.
Helping you see your blind spots
As an “insider” into your own business, it can be hard to see what you’re missing. Or maybe you know so much about your industry that it’s hard to tell what messaging is going to be the most effective for drawing in your target audience. No matter where you land on this spectrum, hiring a professional SEO company to handle your digital marketing will allow you to identify blind spots and missed opportunities. Most importantly you will have the outside perspective of people who don’t know the ins and outs of your industry and who can help bring to light your most effective messaging strategy.
Outsourcing your “problems”
When you’re the jack of all trades in your business, this also means you’re expected to solve all sorts of problems that may arise day to day. When you outsource certain pieces of your operations, especially your digital marketing, you also outsource any problems that may arise. What I mean by this is that when there’s an issue with your Google listing, or when you’re not ranking as high as you wish you did in search results, these are issues you can redirect and assign to your “team.” It’s the job of an outside firm to make things right for you, as a paying customer. It’s also their reputation on the line. What this boils down to is immediate attention and follow-up to make sure your problems are solved, without you needing to take time away from other business-related tasks.
Gaining and partner and sounding board
Many businesses mistakenly think that when they outsource something, like digital marketing, to an outside firm or consultant that it will result in a disconnect between the business and the strategy. This doesn’t have to be the case, and for my clients I assure it never is! I need my clients to remain an active participant in all of the strategy calls and to approve work before it goes live. The truth is that when you partner up with an outside firm to handle a certain area of your business, you increase your manpower and expertise, and you gain a partner who can serve as a sounding board for your ideas and concerns.
What’s your time worth?
Finally and most importantly you must consider what your time is really worth. Any hours (or minutes) in a day that you devote to your digital marketing takes you away from other areas of your business. If you’re using much of this time to learn the basics and drudge through online articles telling you contradicting facts about “best practices,” well then this is not your time best spent! Instead, if you can redirect this time toward other business development activities that yield a far greater result for you, then do it! Then, outsource your digital marketing to a professional SEO company who, for a much lower cost, can take this off your plate while amplifying the results.
Have you considered hiring a professional SEO company to handle your digital strategy? What have been your hesitations and hold-backs? Or maybe you have a success story to share.
Join in the conversation by leaving a comment below!