Should You Handle Your Own Marketing

When small businesses launch a website, one question that will undoubtedly come up in discussions with the web design or web development company is, "Will you be needing marketing services, or will you be doing it yourself?" That is question that can catch you by surprise if you haven't given it some thought beforehand.

Online Marketing is Different From Web Design

It can be easy to confuse web design with web marketing. The reason for this is that these two aspects of the Internet are related. The definition of web marketing (or digital marketing) as defined by this wikipedia page is, "an umbrella term for the targeted, measurable, and interactive marketing of products or services using digital technologies to reach and convert leads into customers." That is very different from the definition of web design which "encompasses many different skills and disciplines in the production and maintenance of websites." Notice that the description of web design does not mention "reaching the audience" or "converting leads into customers". However, the two go hand in hand.

A well designed website makes the marketing easier and contributes to the effectiveness of any marketing efforts. In other words the marketing gets people to the website and the design makes it easy for people to find what they are looking for when they get there.

Who Should Market Your Site?

That is a question that many ask themselves once they perceive the differences. And the answer is, "it depends". If your business plan includes a marketing budget (and it should), you will need to consider that budget when you make the decision. If you have a budget that will allow you to pay a digital agency to handle it, then I would recommend doing so. But be prepared to be involved in these efforts. You will have to communicate certain things to the marketers in order for them to effectively drive the right people to your site. Even though you may choose to have an agency handle the marketing, you still need to know what goes into it. For that reason, you may want to start out your marketing the site yourself.

The great part about marketing your idea, brand, business, or service yourself is you know the product and the audience better than anyone. This is an advantage for you, because it means that you can do the job more efficiently in some aspects. What do I mean by that?

Well, think about this, you have already thought this through to a certain degree. You have identified a need or a problem that individuals need solved and have created or found a solution. So, you are already familiar with the audience to a degree. If you hire a marketing agency or if you decide to have a knowledgeable web designer do it, you will have to communicate this information to them. On top of that, they will likely require you to help them narrow the scope(s) to a smaller group so that you can speak to each one much like you would in person. Communicating all of this information to them will require meetings, time, and perhaps even travel. And even if you get busy to the point that you cannot run the business and market it too, having this information will still pay off.

Choosing a Marketing Agency

Even if you choose to go with an agency, you will save yourself time and money if you are familiar with the concepts of marketing online because your meetings will be shorter your targets will be clearer and your efforts will be aimed better. So, whatever you decide in the way of who is going to market your site, you still need to have an understanding of what it is and what is effective.

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