Marketing Verse Out

Outsourcing your Web Marketing

The online world is still very new, and constantly evolving. You may be thinking about outsourcing your Web promotion to an expert who is immersed in this world as their fulltime occupation, rather than trying to acquire this knowledge, and cope with the pace of change in-house.

So, what should you look for in a consultant, and what guarantees can you expect?

Choosing the consultant

The consultant should ask a lot of questions about your business and your objectives. They need to be very clear about the strategic and specific goals of your site. Do you want as many visitors as possible (as in: “We get millions of hits on our Web site”), or are you more interested in attracting qualified leads for your association? Are you selling products? Are you looking for new members, sign-ups for your newsletter or events, media coverage, etc.

It’s possible that there could be different markets for each of your objectives. The consultant needs to demonstrate that they clearly understand the demographics of the audience you want to attract. This includes whether your markets are currently online, whether they are comfortable using e-mail, etc. It’s also important to clarify any restrictions on your marketing – for example, if you are only targeting specific locations.

The key to effective Web marketing is to have a comprehensive, integrated plan that focuses on where your markets “hang out” online. It’s absolutely not enough to concentrate your efforts on search engines – that’s a passive rather than an active approach. You want to reach out to your potential visitors, not wait for them to come to you. And, you want to ensure that your offline marketing includes your Web site – up to a third of your traffic can now come from real-world sources.

So, the consultant should propose to you a wide-ranging plan (assuming that’s appropriate for your goals) that includes:

• Search engine strategies
  
• Paid (bid for placement) listings
  
• Review sites and directories
  
• Linking with other appropriate sites
  
• Advertising / e-zine sponsorships (depending on your budget)
  
• Online public relations opportunities
  
• Integration with your real-world marketing
  

Effective Web marketing must also include an e-mail strategy. The consultant should include in their proposal some ideas for targeted, personalized (and fully opt-in) e-mail. This requires a contact database that you can use to select out the different audiences that you might have for these messages. The consultant should also be able to help you create this, if required.

And finally, the consultant should explain how they propose to evaluate the success of any marketing campaign your goals and objectives. Marketing is an ongoing process, during which you’ll learn a lot about your site and about your visitors. This knowledge should be analyzed and used to tweak your site and refine your business strategies. A good consultant will be able to work with you to achieve this.

What guarantees can you expect?

Let’s be very clear – there is a distinction, which often gets blurred, between sales and marketing. The job of a marketing consultant is to bring qualified traffic to your site (or in other words, into your storefront). Completing the sale is then a separate challenge.

Marketing is also a very gray area, in which it’s difficult to provide cast-iron guarantees of results. This is particularly true in the area of search engine optimization, since the search engines are so unpredictable. In my opinion, if a consultant promises you “top ten placement” you should be very wary – it’s possible that they are using tactics that could be classified as spam – soon if not now.

But obviously you do want to check that the consultant has a good track record, and that they can provide references from other clients. I believe that good Web knowledge and proven online marketing tactics are as important as an in-depth familiarity with your industry.

In setting your contract with the consultant, it’s important to have a mutual comfort level with your goals, expectations and budget. There are many opportunities for free promotion online, but if you’re prepared to spend some money, you can potentially build your traffic faster. Since building awareness of a site takes time, perhaps a minimum six-month period would be advisable, but with appropriate get-out clauses for both parties.

Conclusion

Good Web marketing is a team effort! Hire a consultant who you feel very comfortable with, who asks lots of questions to really understand your business and your goals, and who seems genuinely interested in promoting you. But then be prepared to work with them – respect and consider their suggestions, and allow them to be creative in their approach.

Author, Philippa Gamse, CyberSpeaker, is an internationally recognized e-business strategist. Check out her free tipsheet "Beyond the Search Engines" for 17 ideas to promote your Website: http://www.CyberSpeaker.com/tipsheet.html.

Outsorcing Marketing Verse

Outsourcing

Can your business benefit?

Depending on the project, outsourcing can sometimes be a very cost-effective business decision. Sure, we can all accomplish some of it in-house, but can we do it all, and do it well?

Would it surprise you to know that Compaq Computer™ outsources? How about Underwriters Laboratories™? Gateway Computers™? Yes, even the Chicagoland Area Chamber of Commerce™! I was involved with projects involving each one of these companies. They all outsourced specific portions of their projects. Even Hyperformance Media out-sources specific project requirements! Every business does not know every other business.

What I mean is, your business can not know everything there is to know about printing (for example). Therefore, in certain situations, it would benefit your company to outsource this service to some printing specialists. It could save you time, money, and benefits, leaving your employees their time to continue to do what they do best, their job - with minimum productivity loss!

In this simple example you can begin to see the many benefits.

• You have professionals creating the desired product.
  
• They will do a better job in less time.
  
• No need to buy additional equipment or software.
  
• No set-up, no training, no lost time.
  
• No payroll, benefits, or accounting headaches.
  
• Your employees remain focused on their goals and your business productivity!
  

These are just a few of the many reasons used to justify the outsourcing of some projects versus attempting to do everything in-house.

Your business website is a mission-critical marketing tool. Used properly, your website should be your most outspoken salesperson. Your business should be getting more business from the Web, if not doing business on the Web.

The successful marketing of your business website should NOT be taken lightly. Yes, your company now has a webmaster on the payroll full-time, not to mention the design and development staff, but is your web presence working? Are you achieving results besides just looking good?

Outsourcing the marketing services of your website gives you the experience you desire and the results you need. Your business needs to be found yesterday! Your business needs customers to grow, not just survive! Who has your market share?

Let's talk about getting some of that back! Let's talk about what changes can be put in place to GET BUSINESS from your website.

Today, tomorrow, and every year going forward!

Thanks - and good luck with your promotions!

Author, Scott 'Gears', is the Founder and Sr. Project Manager for Hyperformance Media.com, a Technology Marketing Company serving online businesses since 1996. His 23+ years of experience in the computer industry will help you succeed. Their website offers free education & resources that will assist any business in successfully marketing their company online. ss@hyperformancemedia.com.