Why You Need an Online Marketing Consultant

Deciding to outsource the digital marketing to an external online marketing consultant is a huge decision. It is a decision that can bring a lot of benefits to any organization. Ironically, a lot of businesses and organizations are quite reluctant to make this important switch. This is even when they know that great expertise and talent can only be found out there.

The hesitance can be attributed to a number of factors. In some cases, this is due to a bad experience in the past when someone failed them. The other reasons could be failure to understand the processes, their actual needs, working with an external party to manage their digital marketing campaigns. It can also be related to the extra cost – wonder why they should hire an outsider when the same work can be done internally. Sometimes it could be due to security concerns and issues or simply the lack of power to take action.

These are just some of the main reasons why an organization will be reluctant to make the switch from their in-house digital marketing team to working with an external online marketing expert.

Despite these reasons, the advantages of working with an external online marketing consultant far outweigh the risks. But you can only reap the benefits if you hire the best person for the job. This requires you to take your time during the hiring process.

The caveat aside, here are 10 pointers that your business should hire an external party for your digital marketing project.

Corporate Branding: Email, Social Media, Website

Online branding is a tedious job. Creating a website, managing social media accounts, and your emails should all be done with the highest levels of professionalism. There is also the issue of ongoing maintenance, regular updates and changing technology trends. Your in-house digital team may not be up to task. Moreover, since this is not your core business, it makes sense to outsource.

Future Planning and Strategy

As a business, you have a lot to do in terms of short term and long term goals. When you are planning on online marketing, you want someone who is doing it full time to advise you on the best approach. An outside consultant will help you come up with an effective plan for your digital marketing campaigns.

Poor Sales or Low/Slow Demand Generation

Are very few leads coming through from your website? Are you inadequately represented on various social media platforms? If this is the case, it is time you engaged an eternal online marketing consultant. The digital consultant will help you develop effective online marketing strategies as well as the right marketing funnel.

Website Freshness

If the last time you updated your website is a couple of years ago, it is high time you hired a digital marketing consultant. To stay competitive in the ever-evolving online market, you need the most current website design and a proper SEO routine in place. We have not even mentioned the importance of regularly updating your social media accounts and responding to users appropriately.

Analytics Metrics and Tracking

If online marketing is going to work for your business, you must test, track and analyze results to establish the strategies that work and the ones that do not work.

This is a time consuming exercise that requires talent and expertise. It requires looking at the traffic numbers, the user behaviour, as well as the number of conversions (the leads you get from your online marketing campaigns). An online marketing consultant will help you with the tracking as well as the analysis of the metrics. On this note, it is important to hire someone who understands your business well. Such a consultant will be in a better position to provide the right tools and resources for the tracking.

Poor In-House Digital Marketing Skills

Some people assume that digital marketing is not too complex or intricate. This is a completely misguided assumption.

A lot is involved in digital marketing. You want someone who is knowledgeable on all facets of online marketing. A person who does digital marketing as a full time engagement is the right pick for the job. Look for skills such as SEO, content marketing, web development, conversion rate optimization, social media and copywriting. While it may not be possible for one person to have all these, they are likely to have most of the skills. You can even have an arrangement where the online marketing consultant trains your in-house team.

Lack of Frequent Content Updates

If you do not have the time to keep your website content current, it is time to hire an external digital marketing expert. The search engines love websites that are updated on a regular basis with fresh and unique content. Content update is not restricted to your website alone; your social media accounts also need fresh content all the time. By the way, an external digital marketing consultant can advise you on the best ways to help you stay on top of everything.

Lack of Fresh Ideas

If you rely on your expertise and that of your in-house digital marketing team, you could be losing out on fresh ideas. You want to call someone who will come and identify gaps in your digital marketing campaigns and offer solutions. This is another reason why you should work with an external digital marketing professional. Sometimes, a little spark may be just what your business needs to soar to the next level.

Growing Your Business

If your business is on an upward trend and you want to build up your reputation in your industry, it is time to hire an external digital marketing specialist. The expert guides you through the expansion processes. As you grow, you will need a better website and a better approach to social media management. You want to rely on someone who is savvy enough to help you come up with online strategies that are in sync with your growth goals.

Limited Access to Digital Marketing Tools

A lot of tools are available to make your online marketing effective. More tools are released to the market every other day. Your in-house team may be overwhelmed with their current work load they do not notice this. They could be doing things the traditional way when what is needed is a new approach. Hiring a digital marketing adviser will help you and your team to begin using the latest tools in the market today.

To sum up, it is evident that there are many reasons why you should consider working with an external digital marketing expert. To reap the benefits, take your time and hire the best consultant for the job.