Small trades businesses are often faced with a crucial decision: Should they handle their digital marketing efforts in-house, or is it more advantageous to hire a digital marketing agency? There's no one-size-fits-all answer, as the choice largely depends on your business's specific needs, goals, and resources. In this blog post, we'll explore the pros and cons of both options to help you make an informed decision, and the best choice for your business.
The DIY Approach
Pros:
1. Cost Control: Depending on who is actually taking care of the social media management and other digital needs, you can save money. If you do it yourself, you will obviously save money by not paying someone else to do it for you.
2. In-Depth Knowledge: When you manage your digital marketing, you can contribute a deep understanding of your industry and audience. You're in touch with your field of work and know how to explain terms when someone asks a question on social media.
3. Quicker Posting: You can post on social media faster doing it yourself, as you likely take pictures on your own and post directly from your device, instead of sending it to someone else.
Cons:
1. Resource Demands: Effective digital marketing requires a wide range of skills, from SEO and content creation to social media management and data analysis. Building a skilled team can be costly and time-consuming. Even just having one person in your company full-time doing social media and digital management can be expensive if you are paying a livable wage plus benefits. Hiring a digital marketing agency like BluTrade will set you back less than half of what you'd pay for a full-time staff member.
2. Time-Consuming: DIY marketing can be time-consuming, diverting your attention from core business activities. It's easy to become overwhelmed with the volume of work. If you are pawning off these responsibilities to your office manager, you are probably overpaying for the service in the long run, or more than likely, not getting done at all.
3. Limited Tools and Expertise: You might not have access to the advanced tools and expertise that a digital marketing agency can provide. There are various software programs that BluTrade Brands uses to help all our clients, but it can get costly when one business is subscribed to money different digital marketing softwares. This can impact the effectiveness of your campaigns, or force you to spend less on advertising.
Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency
Pros:
1. Expertise and Resources: Agencies have teams of specialists with a diverse skill set, ensuring you have access to a wide range of digital marketing services and expertise. BluTrade is still a small business, but we split our responsibilities evenly between us, depending on our skill sets.
2. Agencies work efficiently. They have processes in place, which means your marketing campaigns can be executed quickly and effectively. We use a social media scheduler, so we can schedule your posts ahead of time, on time, and plan out the month in advance. We do this so we can dedicate enough time to other aspects of our services, such as periodical website updates, blog posts, and review generation, to name a few.
3. Measurable Results: Agencies use data analytics to measure and track the success of campaigns. BluTrade sends monthly analytics reports and explains where we are doing great and where we need to recalibrate.
Cons:
1. Cost: Hiring a digital marketing agency can sometimes be more expensive than managing efforts in-house. But not if you hire BluTrade! We work for small businesses and our prices reflect that.
2. Less Control: You have less direct control over your marketing efforts when working with an agency. You'll need to trust their expertise and allow them some creative freedom. We have sometimes needed to discuss with clients if we posted something they didn't like, but we are always receptive to our clients' desires.
3. Communication Challenges: If you're not in the same location as the agency, communication can be challenging. Clear and open communication is vital for a successful partnership. BluTrade Brands is located in Utah, but we have clients in Nevada, Illinois, and more!
Making the Right Choice Between DIY Digital marketing or Hiring an agency like blutrade
The choice between DIY digital marketing and hiring an agency ultimately depends on your business's unique circumstances. Here are a few factors to consider:
Budget: If you have a limited budget and are willing to invest time in learning digital marketing, the DIY approach might be suitable. If you have a more flexible budget, an agency can provide the expertise you need. Our digital marketing agency is affordable compared to others!
Expertise: Consider the depth of expertise required for your industry and marketing goals. If it's complex, an agency might be the better choice. Your time might be better spent doing the things you love, such as running your business, rather than trying to figure out all thi"tech stuff." ;)
Time: Evaluate the time you can realistically allocate to digital marketing. If you're short on time and resources, an agency can take the burden off your shoulders.
Goals: Your specific goals and objectives should drive your decision. If you have ambitious goals, an agency might be the best route.
In conclusion, there's no one-size-fits-all answer in the DIY vs. Agency debate. Of course, we at BluTrade are biased, because we love what we do, and we love seeing the increases in engagement, leads, and boosting Google rankings of our clients.
Your decision should be guided by your business's unique needs and circumstances. Whether you choose to DIY or hire an agency, the key to digital marketing success is staying informed, adapting to changes, and staying focused on your goals.
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