As a small business owner, you are likely familiar with the phrase “time is money,” and the reality that there rarely seems to be enough of either. Because you understand the importance of being seen by your audience in the online space, hiring a digital marketing manager might be on your mind, not only to preserve time to run your business, but also to increase your bottom line.
Are you on the fence about hiring a digital marketing manager? If so, it’s likely because you are not sure of the benefits you’ll reap, or you think you can do it yourself. Either way, keep in mind that digital marketing has transformed from traditional advertising to lead generation. This means that digital marketing is a sales activity and needs dedicated and experienced resources to grow your business.
Sales presentations, advertising, promotions, introduction meetings, customer service, demonstrations, stores, and more are all successfully being conducted online. So, considering that all these aspects (and more) of digital marketing can make or break your business, understanding the difference that a digital marketer can make for your business starts with awareness of what they do. Here are some guidelines to help you.
What Does a Digital Marketer Do?
Traditionally, a business would hire a marketing person to coordinate advertising, create sales tools, and other promotional activities. With digital marketing, this role has expanded across multiple platforms with multiple responsibilities. Let’s look at the individual roles a large company has in its digital marketing team.
Content specialist
They are responsible for creating content for digital marketing campaigns. Content specialists write blog posts to develop and maintain an audience and ensure that the produced content aligns with the goals of a given digital marketing campaign.
Graphic designer
Graphic designers create visually appealing graphics along with consistent branding. By using the same graphic designer, you ensure continuity for your brand across multiple uses, whether it be for your company logo or your website layout.
PPC specialist
They are into tracking, testing, refining, and optimizing pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. The costs and performance of campaigns can change rapidly. Having a person who understands the “rules” and can adjust accordingly pays for itself.
Social media specialist
Social media specialists follow trends, engage customers, function as customer service, and have excellent engaging and entertaining skills. They are responsible for creating and publishing content on all social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and others to increase brand awareness and boost sales.
Email marketing specialist
These digital marketers work with email automation software to send email blasts, newsletters, and more. They build an email list, create and monitor email marketing campaigns, and ensure that email layouts and designs are well-optimized, user-friendly, and mobile-friendly, among others. These are all aimed at the goal of increasing brand awareness and nurturing leads through email communications.
Front-end developer
Front-end developers create the different digital elements for campaigns such as landing pages, framework, pop-ups, and navigation and user experience aspects.
Project manager
The project manager handles all the roles mentioned above. Of course, a marketing manager could also do this, but a marketing manager usually works with upper management and sales to determine goals and growth strategy.
Each of these positions is essential to your business growth and lead generation. Could you automate email marketing? Probably, but email marketing is an excellent tool for remarketing, increasing order value, nurturing leads, creating urgency, and more, all at a minimal cost. So your business can’t afford to miss out on any email opportunities. A graphic designer is a talent that requires specialized training. A PPC specialist must understand the tracking, scoring, and metrics that optimize campaigns for effective spending.
Could you hire a digital marketing manager to do all these roles? You could try, but it wouldn’t be fair to you or the person tasked with these different, specialized responsibilities. What usually happens is the person can’t excel in every position, and something starts “falling through the cracks.” We often see companies spending too much time searching for the “unicorn” that can handle all the different aspects of digital marketing. In the meantime, they’re losing valuable marketing and sales opportunities to their competitors.
How to Find the Right Digital Marketing Company
We’ve reviewed the different roles and benefits. Now let’s talk about finding the right digital marketing company by exploring the characteristics that make it successful.
Experience and knowledge in the business – The digital marketing industry evolves as new platforms enter the market, trends develop, customer behavior changes, and more. An experienced and knowledgeable company will bring these developments to you, explain how they will affect your business and adjust your digital strategy accordingly.
Accountability – You should see measurable results from your digital marketing company. This begins with an honest discussion of the goals, how they will be measured, expectations, and ongoing adjustments. Be wary of anyone who promises instant or “too good to be true” results.
References – Any service company should provide these, and a digital marketing agency is no different. Their current or previous clients should be able to tell you:
- The successes they’ve achieved
- The value in the money spent and the results
- If they are continuing the relationship
- If the company is enjoyable to work with
- How they respond to communication
- If they are transparent in their plans and strategies
- Whose interests they look out for
Digital marketing is an ongoing process, not a one-time expenditure. The fact that you’re deciding whether to hire a marketing person or the right digital marketing company shows you understand this is a long-term relationship.
What Type of Digital Marketer Do You Need for Your Company?
If you are ready to learn more about outsourcing the responsibilities of a digital marketing manager for your small business, we’d love to meet with you. Contact The Light Digital to see how we’ve helped all types of small businesses reach their digital marketing goals.
