Many Australian business owners are wary about outsourcing overseas.
In fact, many people in western countries often squirm at the thought of outsourcing. Even if we as a country are interested in preserving jobs here in Australia, there are some circumstances in which outsourcing is just more profitable.
It would be devastating if a digital marketing agency hired a full-time local employee at each step of the process. Outsourcing made it feasible for many businesses to fare magnificently compared to other businesses that had to make significant layoffs when COVID hit.
Due to the limited time and resources available to marketing teams, it is frequently necessary to outsource digital marketing services so that internal marketers may concentrate on their core strengths.
The difficult part is choosing which digital marketing tasks should be outsourced.
Small business owners frequently find themselves in a bit of a marketing squeeze play as they compete for clients in a digital-first marketing landscape. It makes sense that companies are vying with one another for the top spot on Google.
According to studies, search engines account for 93% of all online interactions, and they are the primary source of visitors to content websites, outpacing social media by more than 3000%.
Also, more than 1,000 Australian consumers were polled for Telstra’s 2018 Business Intelligence study, and nearly two in three Australian consumers will stop evaluating a business if they can’t discover information about it online.
In view of the ongoing epidemic and customers’ continued preference for online purchasing, it is imperative to use efficient digital marketing strategies to outperform rivals. However, because of the pandemic’s financial impact, companies are also keeping a close watch on costs and returns on investment, which restricts their capacity and desire to grow internal digital marketing teams.
So how can firms succeed in this struggle between competing priorities?
We already covered the topic “Should you outsource digital marketing?”. In this post, we will focus on which aspects of digital marketing are typically outsourced and which should be handled internally, especially for B2B businesses.
While there is no one-size-fits-all method for assigning digital marketing activities, some jobs are simpler to do by team members who are already on the team, while larger projects or more specialized services frequently require the full focus of a third-party specialist.
The first step: Finding out “what needs to be outsourced and what’s best to handle on your own” is the first step in outsourcing digital marketing.
Which digital marketing practices should be kept in-house? Big-picture strategy, goal formulation, and performance tracking are best handled internally because no one knows a company’s operations better than its own personnel.
General Plan of Action: Without an in-depth understanding of the market, the organization’s long-term objectives, and the industry, it is impossible to create a sensible digital marketing strategy.
Marketing managers can rely on outside experts for sanity checks for their digital marketing mix or a study of a specific channel or campaign, but the business should ultimately establish the strategic direction and long-term goals.
Content Management: Much like the larger marketing plan, content marketing initiatives should be linked to your target market and be in line with your organization’s aims.
The competitive advantages of their goods and services, as well as the demands, issues, and pain points of their target market, are profoundly understood by in-house digital marketers.
Analytical and Measuring: Without performance data, how can you evaluate the ROI of your digital marketing efforts?
Without proof of their worth, how can you justify engaging a digital marketing agency or consultant? All internal marketing teams should be able to recognize the sources of web traffic and leads and have a basic understanding of digital analytics.
Plan ahead and assign tasks: The finest in-house marketing directors have the ability to delegate well and plan their digital marketing mix clearly.
It is considerably simpler to decide which services should be outsourced if your team has established a budget, established channel priorities, and identified internal skill sets.
What can be outsourced? Depending on your marketing mix, budget, and internal capabilities, these marketing initiatives may be handled internally or by agencies.
They are frequently handled internally with strategic direction or assistance from a professional in outside marketing.
Search Engine Optimization: Search engine optimization (SEO) is an essential part of any marketing mix because search engines are frequently the top source of traffic and lead for any website.
The field of SEO is always changing, and it calls for a deep understanding of website technical specifications, content strategy, and search engine algorithmic criteria.
As a result, businesses frequently outsource SEO work or organizations to help them with their search strategy.
Copywriting: One of the most popular skills among marketing professionals is copywriting, which is frequently mostly handled internally.
Daily content tasks are often performed internally because in-house staff members typically have a greater familiarity with the sector and easier access to subject matter specialists within the organization.
Social media: B2B organizations frequently rely on agencies or consultants for strategic social media advice, audits, or paid advertising strategies, but entrusting a third party with all of your company’s social media operations may not be the most cost-effective option.
The editorial calendar must typically be defined by a member of the internal team in order to create genuine consumer, employee, and stakeholder experiences, even if an outside firm is handling your social media channels.
So, by now, one must have a clear idea of what should be and shouldn’t be outsourced. Let’s move to the next step.
Task and Milestones: It is hard to manage a project with a vast scope and many moving parts without segmenting the work into tasks and milestones. For one-off projects, milestones are also frequently utilized to divide payment.
But a lot of that depends on the scale of the undertaking. Regardless of payment, Milestones will help you arrange your project in chronological order.
When milestones are set and dependencies are taken into consideration, you could be surprised to realize that a project that you had believed would take a few weeks actually takes a few months.
Duration of a project: When you hire a white-label SEO reseller to handle your SEO needs, keep in mind whether this is a one-time task or one that will require continuing support (i.e., a monthly retainer).
Although your initial objective may seem that it is a one-time task, “if you’re standing still, you’re going backward,” as many SEO professionals say. Therefore, continual keyword research that results in content production and dissemination may be needed in order to effectively compete on competitive search terms.
Budget: This is the element that is most obvious. If you’ve never purchased SEO services, you should start shopping around and requesting quotes from white-label SEO reseller services to get an idea of how much your project will cost.
Only through quotes and proposals can you learn the going price for the kind of work you need to be done.
Reporting requirements: Although it is occasionally disregarded, reporting may be one of the most crucial elements. Progress and performance reports must be presented when reporting to clients or stakeholders.
The outsourced agency is primarily in charge of this when you outsource SEO work.
You might do the reporting yourself if money is short or you have a keen interest in statistics.
Ultimate Goal: The foundation of any successful project is a strong brief.
Therefore, consider the project’s broad scope from the beginning. A realistic and quantifiable goal might be “improving search rankings to show up in position #5 or higher for our target keywords.”
This is a great goal because it is obvious whether or not it will be attained. The scope of the project outlines what is covered by it.
The broad topic of SEO includes on-page SEO, keyword research, link building, outreach, content briefing, content production, content optimization, and a number of other techniques. When outlining the scope of the work, be quite specific.
Closing Words
With SEO as a marketing strategy, you may enhance both your reputation and performance in organic searches.
A successful campaign is usually better than a failed one, so you should keep in mind that outsourcing your SEO job may get expensive. SEO professionals are more dedicated, knowledgeable, and successful at this type of promotion than business owners.
Outsource SEO to the right business or individual to get the best results for your company in the shortest amount of time.