Common Ways to Launch Your Digital Marketing Efforts

Digital marketing is a powerful

tool for generating leads, drumming up sales, and building an audience. However, digital marketing is a tricky, intricate field and many companies find themselves spending money and resources, but not producing results.

drumming up sales, and building an audience. However, digital marketing is a tricky, intricate field and many companies find themselves spending money and resources, but not producing results.

Like many things in life, there are right ways to do digital marketing and wrong ways. That’s why we’re going to look at the various ways you can launch a digital marketing campaign. Along the way, we’ll consider the pros and cons of each.

First, there are many different digital marketing channels. Some of the most common ones include search engine optimization (SEO), paid ads on Google and social media, inbound marketing, Youtube ads, and email marketing. This list could go on, but you get the idea.

Unfortunately, it’s easy to mess up your strategy with any and all of the above channels. Let’s take a glance at the four main ways companies and businesses can launch a digital marketing plan so you can decide which method makes the most sense for you.

Do It Yourself

Many small businesses try to start their digital marketing campaigns by doing it themselves. If you’re considering this, you need to ask yourself: am I going to be dedicated enough and interested enough to develop professional-level digital skills?

Fact is, if you don’t use the right approach and strategies, your digital marketing efforts are likely to fail. You might think you’re saving money by doing it yourself, but in fact, you’ll be losing it. And you’ll be missing out on leads and opportunities as well.

If you decide to do it yourself, you need to commit to becoming a digital marketing professional. Seriously, anything less and you’ll be doing yourself a disservice.

Hire an On-Staff Professional

Not looking to become a digital marketing expert? We don’t blame you. Many business owners and managers simply have too much on their plate already. If you’re running a local restaurant, you probably don’t have the time to become a digital marketing professional. You’ve got a kitchen to run and customers to serve. It might make sense to instead hire a digital marketing expert and to bring them on staff.

There are benefits to this method. You remain in control and can direct your employees when needed. You’ll have someone(s) who can respond quickly to your needs and who will know your business intimately. For these reasons and more, many big companies prefer to develop on-team staff members with digital marketing skills.

There are a lot of downsides, however. For one, digital markets expect to be well-paid and even finding a marketer can be difficult. Of course, you could always train someone on staff, but that’ll cost money. And what if you spend money on training only for your staff member to leave when a better opportunity arrives. Finally, you might not actually have enough work for a full time digital marketer.

Working with a Freelancer

The next option is to work with a freelancer. World-wide, there are millions of people who claim to be digital marketing experts. Some of them truly are, but some also offer subpar performance. Still, working with the right freelancer could be the right choice in a given situation.

First, when it comes to freelancers, you often get what you pay for. If you work with a cheap freelancer, they’re most likely going to provide subpar services. Even if they have the talent, if they’re working on a limited budget, they’ll struggle to allocate the necessary resources.

Second, finding the right freelancer can be exceptionally difficult. Many people simply over promise but under deliver. You may find yourself shuffling through a dozen freelancers or more before you find one who can meet your expectations in budget.

Hiring a Professional Agency

Finally, you can hire a professional marketing agency. A good agency will be able to handle all of your digital marketing needs, helping you cultivate winning strategies in every channel. An agency will also be able to guide you through the whole process and can help you develop a strategy.

Few lone digital marketing freelancers, let alone DIY folks, will ever possess the talents and skills of an entire agency. Agencies will have multiple experts on staff who specialize in just a few areas, such as SEO or paid ads.

However, you won’t have as much control over an agency. Often, that’s a good thing. Quite frankly, they can stop you from making bad decisions. Further, digital marketing agencies can cost a pretty penny to hire, but often, they produce the best results.