HOW MUCH DOES SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION SERVICES COST?
IS OUTSOURCING YOUR MARKETING A GOOD IDEA?
Outsourcing can be a very lucrative strategy to help you overcome marketing gaps. If you know what are your weakest areas, you can tell at least what kind of marketing agency you’d need to search for.
For instance, the business owner in the first example above could use a content updating and some search engine optimization. The one in the second example could use some SEO works and some social media help. These are only hypothetical examples to help you understand how to identify the gaps in your marketing strategy and how to find the right marketing services provider to address them.
WHEN TO HIRE A MARKETING AGENCY
If you can afford it, you should hire a marketing agency right after you identify your areas for improvement. By outsourcing things you may not know very much about, you’ll free up your time to spend it on what you do best, which is to improve your offerings and to keep your clients happy. If you can’t outsource, you should start to factor in some time for these marketing activities.
Briefly, the amount of time you’ll need to take into account for marketing depends on your specific situation and needs, so it is up to you to find the right balance.
NEVERTHELESS, WHAT’S A GOOD RULE OF THE THUMB TO KEEP IN MIND?
You should probably plan to spend anywhere between 10 and 30 hours per week on marketing activities. If your work week counts 50 to 60 hours, you should consider spending 10 to 30 hours a week on marketing. However, keep in mind that this is only a rough estimation of the time needed to do a good job. You are the only one who can tell whether 10 hours are enough or you need rather 30, 40 or even 50 hours to make a difference.
Generally speaking, most business owners spend about 1/5 to 50 percent of their time on marketing activities. Considering a work week of 50 to 60 hours, the result is 10 to 30 hours per week.
Some business consultants recommend their clients a ratio of 60-30-10 when it comes to splitting the work time between the different activities. Feel free to adjust these percentages as you see fit.