I can’t find the time to dedicate to digital marketing

When it comes to digital marketing, ‘I don’t have the time to learn new skills’, is a reason which many businesses give for their lack of marketing output. It is a position which we have some sympathy with. Even as a business which specialises in digital marketing output, and does not lack skills, we don’t always spend as much time on our own marketing as we would like.

Here in the UK, small and medium sized businesses make up a massive percentage of all the businesses in the country. Data collected by the government at the start of 2019 saw that the UK private sector comprises of largely non-employing, owner run businesses and small employers. In fact SME’s (small and medium sized enterprises) make up 99.9% of the UK business population of 5.9 million businesses with 1.4 million businesses having employees and 4.5 million having no employees aside from the owner(s). Of those 1.4 million businesses, 1.1 million manage with just 1-9 employees.

It’s no surprise then, that a huge number of business owners, and employees within small businesses, have to wear multiple hats, from accountant to HR manager to marketing guru. Inevitably, some of those hats receive less attention than others.

Businesses have to continually adapt and change to suit the environment of the time and this has never been truer than now, when new technology and different platforms continue to emerge. The online environment, in particular, is fast moving and keeping up to date with innovations in website design, online apps, search engine optimisation and social media can feel like a job in itself. This is especially true if it is not part of your normal skill set.

Upskill, Employ or Outsource?

If you accept that doing nothing is not an option - you have a few choices when it comes to keeping on top of your online presence - upskill, employ or outsource.

There are merits to all the options but for many smaller businesses, the latter is probably the best option in terms of cost, both in time and money.

THE CASE FOR OUTSOURCING...

1

Your marketing won't stop for staff sickness or annual leave

Rumble Digital Marketing

One of the most important factors of a successful digital marketing strategy is consistency.

Staff holidays, sickness and busy periods where attention is diverted away from ongoing marketing all have an impact and it is often marketing which suffers.

If you suddenly stop updating your blog because you get too busy, this could impact your search engine ranking. Not too mention, a patchy or out of date blog does not give a good impression of your business. If you outsource to an agency you can expect consistency of output, regardless of any personnel challenges which you may face.

2

Marketing agencies offer you a range of skills and experience

If you employ an agency to undertake any aspect of your digital marketing output - the least you can expect is that they know what they are doing.

You will also get the benefit of their experience and knowledge in a range of different disciplines like content creation, search optimisation, email marketing, website design and website development. Particularly if you are a smaller business, it would be very difficult to re-create the breadth of experience in-house which you would get from an agency.

Rumble Digital Marketing

3

You get to see your business through the eyes of an outsider

Rumble Digital Marketing

Whilst no-one probably knows your business better than you - sometimes an outside perspective can be helpful.

When you are close to something you can’t always see what’s obvious to others. Many businesses admit that they don’t even look at their own websites regularly. Agencies will approach marketing your business without any pre-conceived ideas and may be able to offer insight into different marketing approaches or channels which you have not considered.

4

You get access to technology

Another benefit to using an agency is likely to be access to technology which you probably would not pay for yourself.

An agency managing social media or content for a number of clients is likely to use software and apps to make that easier and, as a client of that agency, you will get the benefit from that - without having to pay for it yourself.

5

Analytics and insight

Rumble Digital Marketing

One of the great things about online marketing – in many of its forms, is the ability to see the results and benefits of that marketing quickly.

Whether you are looking at simple website analytics to measure site visits and interactions, email marketing click-throughs, blog views, social media interactions or the success of online advertising – data about what is happening is available, almost in real-time. This means you can measure campaign performance against a wide variety of metrics and make tweaks quickly if things are not working out as planned.

Whilst it is possible to do this yourself, generally speaking, marketing professionals would be able to analyse this data more readily and react accordingly, without the need to upskill.

6

You get to focus on your core business

If you are considering outsourcing your marketing - marketing is not likely to be how you make your money. Therefore, the costs to your business in terms of lost time and opportunity can far outweigh the costs of outsourcing - especially as a professional is likely to spend much less time, writing a blog, say, than someone whose skills lie in other areas.

7

You lack the right skills

Whilst again, you may possess a number of the skills required for online marketing, they are unlikely to be as well honed as those skills which you use to do your ‘actual’ job. To use a simple analogy, you would probably not consider attempting to fix your own car or do your own plumbing. Of course, the consequences of doing your own marketing are unlikely to be anything like as dramatic or serious as attempting your own plumbing - but you get the idea!

8

Marketing Agencies stay up to date

Another benefit of working with an agency is that they stay up to date with new ideas, new thinking and new technology within their industry – so that you don’t have to. Just as some professionals keep their skills up to date through training and other ongoing professional development, when you outsource your marketing to a specialist agency you get the benefit of their industry knowledge and the fact that they are at the forefront of what is going on in their industry. You also get the benefit of working with industry professionals who are as passionate about marketing as you are about the industry you work in.

If you need more information on the benefits of developing and maintaining a cohesive digital strategy for your business - have a look at the 'I've started but what do i do now?' page.

We also have a large amount of information on our blog - for some further reading, we recommend the following posts:

If you are ready to take some action, head over to our resources page where you can organise a free content marketing and social media consultation or a website audit.

I don’t have the time to learn new skills...

Upskill, Employ or Outsource?

Your marketing won't stop for staff sickness or annual leave

Marketing agencies offer you a range of skills and experience

You get to see your business through the eyes of an outsider

You get access to technology

Analytics and insight

You get to focus on your core business

You lack the right skills

Marketing Agencies stay up to date

Contact Rumble

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