Well, we’re here. Catalyzed by Covid-19, the digital age has arrived sooner than anyone expected and earlier than most business owners were ready for. With the whole world indoors, there has never been a better time to start thinking about online marketing for your business.
Millions of small business owners across the country are now scurrying to create an online presence. For many, this is a massive undertaking that can seem almost too big too tackle, and when you consider the slew of other issues that have accompanied Covid-19 [namely lack of brick and mortar revenue, production delays, and increased costs to adhere to safety measures], it can be easy to feel overwhelmed.
This already frustrating problem can be even more difficult for older, less tech-savvy entrepreneurs that now find themselves entering unfamiliar territory.
It’s one thing to have to do the work; it’s another thing entirely to have to educate yourself then apply those ideas while balancing all the other responsibilities that come with running a business.
It’s simply too much… and that’s okay. Every entrepreneur encounters obstacles. The difference between an entrepreneur and a successful entrepreneur is often found in the way they deal with these issues.
So how do we deal with this issue? Well, let’s look at the options.
#1: Hire a Digital Marketing Manager
Rejoice! Your marketing problems are solved! Well, hopefully. First you have to undergo the daunting process of finding, interviewing, hiring, and training someone. But that’s no problem, right? We can just leave that for the HR departme—wait!
This is a small business!
You are that department. In fact, you are EVERY department; and you simply don’t have the time or resources to undergo that process let alone pay someone a lucrative salary in the middle of a recession.
The median salary for a Digital Marketing Manager is $72,000/year. That means your already hurting business has to give up another $6,000 a month. Not to mention that first month or two will consist of on-boarding, training, and familiarization. That’s at least $6,000 of expenses, maybe more, before your business is even seeing any ROI on this hire.
Even then, you’ve got one person doing a job that sometimes takes an entire company to do well. You could pay the best recruiter in the world to find you an online marketing superstar and they’d still be limited by the fact that there is only so much one person can do in a day.
I think we can safely say that option is off the table.
#2: Hire a Digital Marketing AGENCY
Let’s take a look at this option and, just for a single moment, give it the chance we don’t give those dozens of cold emails in our inbox every morning.
It’s easy to make the assumption that if hiring an online marketing specialist is difficult and expensive, then the same process in regards to an entire agency will only be more time-consuming and pricier. This, in actuality, could not be farther from the truth.
First and foremost, the price. There’s a general misconception surrounding marketing firms that they’re reserved for large companies that have to the funds necessary to foot the bill. This is quite simply baseless.
Yes, some large companies hire outside firms to take care of some or all of their marketing efforts, but not as often as people think. Those deep pockets we referenced enable these companies to build a marketing team of salaried and specialized individuals. They have no need for an external firm: they can create one internally and call it their marketing department because they can afford to do so.
This brings us to those that can’t. Small to medium sized business owners often rule out the possibility of hiring outside marketing help before they even do the research. For many, it would be a more viable option than they would even believe. It is almost always cheaper than the salary of single digital marketing expert would be and it also solves our time/work limitation.
Instead of one person focusing on every aspect of the marketing within your business, you have an entire team of trained experts working within their specialties to generate growth. Even better, you don’t have to deal with the hidden costs of hiring because there are no benefits to pay nor bonuses to give.
Marketing your small business becomes as simple as a utility bill: you pay a reasonable fee once a month and rest easy knowing your the lights are on and the water is running.
And that’s exactly how it should be. As a small business owner, you already have your hands full. Let a team of experts handle your online marketing needs so you can focus on what matters: growing your business, your baby, into the best it can be. Contact us if you need any help with your business!
