This is the dilemma for many smaller to medium sized businesses.
As traditional advertising is realized to not be as effective as targeted online advertising, many business owners and department managers are making the move to hire online marketers to boost their bottom line with as little cost as possible. Unfortunately, many decision makers are not very well-versed when it comes to the amount of work necessary to manage their company’s online campaign.
Over the years, I’ve often had businesses calling me asking about SEO or internet marketing help, and when I ask what they need specifically, they spurt out a combination of words like “AdWords, keywords, Google, Yahoo, rankings, social media, Facebook, link building, etc.” Unfortunately, these are all words they’ve heard relate to SEO and internet marketing, but they’re not quite sure how all this is integrated into the realm of online marketing. So, I’ve learned to not ask what businesses need specifically, but instead ask what their goals are for their online campaign. This way it’s easier to understand where they’re coming from and where they want to be, and it’s up to me, the professional, to propose an online marketing campaign and put it into action.
Still, not all businesses understand whether or not they need someone full-time in-house to execute their online campaign or if they can contract outside firms to do this for them. Typically, traditional businesses will go the full-time route as this is what they’re used to and this is what they assume to be necessary. This isn’t always the case, however. Take a look at the numbers:
- A full-time online marketing specialist with at least 3 years of experience in SEO, PPC management and Social Media Marketing is likely to demand a salary of greater than $50K per year. Under no circumstances should a business cheap-out and hire less-experienced employees for less money, unless they’re interested in throwing money away. In reality I would recommend looking for someone with a minimum of 5 years experience in the industry, as that shows they’ve witnessed the ups and downs of different online tools and they know the trends of online marketing all together.
- A firm contracted to manage a company’s internet marketing campaign will vary in cost depending on how competitive the keywords are the website is competing for and the breadth of the campaign in general (what level of social media marketing and if PPC management is required). I’ve seen firms contracted to manage online campaigns for as much as $3-4K per month, and as little as $200 per month. However, hiring a full-time specialist may be more efficient when it comes to businesses with highly competitive keywords and highly involved campaigns – they’re able to devote more time to the campaign over less cost per hour.
All in all, it comes down to the amount of work required on your website. Though most business owners do not know exactly how much online marketing work is required, they do know that they need help. The best starting point is to source out some contracted firms and gather some quotes as far as what they’d suggest doing as well as what they’ll charge you per month. Then weigh that out with the prospect of hiring someone full-time in-house and make your decision accordingly.