Playing to your core competency is one of the most important things in business. If web marketing isn’t in your core competency, you’re best off finding people who know what they’re doing in that arena.
The web is an incredibly powerful driver of traffic for just about every industry in the world. You can’t afford to ignore it. However, you also can’t just jump in if you don’t know how to make things work.
When you’re outsourcing to web marketing professionals, you could choose to hire one firm to handle all your marketing needs, or choose specialists for each department.
Here are some of the main areas you may want to look into.
==> Pay Per Click: Google, AdCenter & Facebook
Pay Per Click marketing is one of the most profitable kinds of marketing you could do today. It’s highly trackable and allows you to target potential buyers very directly.
Running PPC campaigns requires a very specialized skill set. It’s rare that you’ll find someone who’s truly great at both SEO and PPC.
==> Search Engine Optimization
Getting your site ranked in the search engines is important, but difficult. Expect to pay significant amounts of money to have this handled by an outsider.
Make sure you understand exactly what kind of techniques they’ll be employing before you hire them. Try to research the risks and potential rewards of these techniques beforehand.
==> Split Testing and Conversion Optimization
Split testing is the act of testing different aspects of a website to figure out the best way to make the most sales. For example, you can test different versions of your website’s fonts or test different price points to see what makes the most money.
==> Affiliate Program Management
If you have products that can be sold by affiliates, you may want to look into hiring an affiliate manager. Your affiliate manager’s job is to go out and find affiliates for you and manage those relationships. They may also help you get into affiliate networks like Commissions Junction and ShareASale.
==> Newsletter Management
Your newsletter is one of the most important tools you own in your business. A marketing specialist can help you build a connection with your newsletter, as well as market products to your newsletter.
==> Tips for Outsourcing
Make results your main criteria. Even if you hire a PPC expert who talks a great talk, if they can’t deliver results then don’t keep them on board. Develop early metrics that’ll tell you whether or not you’re on track.
Test small. Don’t sign a one year contract with an affiliate manager until they’ve delivered at least a few high volume affiliates.
You can’t abdicate web marketing. While you can absolutely outsource, you still need to manage your outsourcers and know enough to determine whether or not they’re doing a good job.