Consulting

Have a marketing strategy that isn’t working or need an integrated digital strategy?

Traditional marketing methods have become outdated. In today’s competitive market it’s essential for small businesses and nonprofits to embrace new marketing trends and technology that can increase revenue, expand into new markets, strengthen customer relationships, and stay ahead in this new e-technology era.  Having a solid integrated marketing plan that encompasses a variety of activities: Email, Direct Mail, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Linkedin, Directories, Angie’s List, CRM, SEO and a host of others…how do you know which ones are right for your organization?  How often should these activities be performed?  Before these questions can be answered, you will need to know what your business goals are and determine how much time and budget you have and then create the plan.   Marketing is an investment in your company to get more customers and grow your business.  Undoubtedly, marketing takes a lot of hard work on a consistent basis that when adhered to will yield the expected results.  As your business grows and goals change, your marketing plan will evolve and need to be updated periodically to engage more marketing activities and measure your results.

We assist senior management teams in identifying marketing and e-Business requirements and integrating these initiatives within the overall business operating strategy of your organization. Our services empower your company, help streamline business processes and optimize your brand awarenes

NGT Marketing will keep you abreast every step of the way with monthly reports so you can see your progression.

Do-It-Yourself (DIY) vs Managed Services

One of the biggest challenges small to medium-sized business owners face is understanding and deriving value from your digital marketing efforts. Businesses who don’t adapt to the shift in marketing by complementing or replacing traditional marketing tactics with strategic digital marketing will more likely trail their competition.

Careful consideration should be given to which option makes the most sense – both short and long term – for your company.  One of the first choices you need to make is whether you should invest in hiring and training a digital marketing team who will learn and embrace the company culture to implement and manage an in-house, DIY model or outsource the expertise to professionals who are comparatively inexpensive and flexible.  How do you know which option makes the most sense to your company? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both approaches.

DIY Pros

Business Knowledge. The advantage of having an in-house marketing team is their close to the business.  Most effective content marketers are led or managed by a dedicated team or person.  Once trained, they can time tweets and be flexible with marketing tactics based on your strategy.  By going the in-house route, you’ll have a team that understands the goals and objectives of your business and its culture.

Consistent Posting.  Have you wanted to boost your content output, but simply don’t have the time to commit to writing a blog every two weeks, let alone tweet every day?  It’s known among marketers that about 50% in the B2C and B2B space indicate not having enough time to adequately do digital marketing, specifically citing their greatest challenge was in content production.  With the DIY approach, you’ll have a team of digital marketers who – if properly prioritized and focused – can produce quality content that is timely and consistent.

DIY Cons

Expensive. Finding and retaining great digital talent can be challenging for a small and mid-sized business owner not to mention staffing an in-house digital marketing team can be expensive. Take into consideration, a team of three at an entry-level to intermediate skill level can run up to $150K a year or more, not including benefits, bonuses, and all the other costs of hiring.  

Delayed Training.  It takes time for a newly-formulated team to ramp up. And, depending on the skill level of your new employees, the learning curve to get them to the point of what you would pay a savvy and experienced consultant could prove considerably high. This invested time could radically impact your business and affect the timeline and ROI of your digital marketing.

Outsourcing Marketing Services Pros

Cost Savings. Outsourcing your digital marketing efforts to an external marketing firm or consultant will save you as much as half the cost of hiring a full-time marketer. When outsourcing, you only pay a contracted rate – whether it’s on retainer or on a per-project basis. The costs are considerably lower than going in-house because you have no benefits, bonuses, vacation, and hiring costs to deal with.

Cost scenario of an in-house marketing team

Cost scenario working with outsourced marketing firm.

Source: Newincite

Flexibility. When outsourcing your marketing services to an external firm or consultant, you’re paying for highly experienced marketing professionals already knowledgeable about digital marketing and can hit the ground running when you’re ready for them. Bringing a fresh, objective approach to your business, an outsourced firm is unlikely to get bogged down by everyday office distractions within your company. And, lastly outsourcing enables you to redeploy resources to other critical business areas, thereby helping you increase the efficiency and accuracy of your daily core functions, as well as providing you with cost savings. 

Outsourcing Marketing Services Cons

Competing Priorities. More than likely you aren’t the external marketing agency’s only client and prioritizing could be an issue. But, it doesn’t have to be as long as the agency has developed a plan and schedule for your projects.

At the end of the day, the decision to implement a DIY digital marketing solution or use a managed marketing provider is a strategic decision. Ultimately, you will want to choose the solution that lowers your total cost, while streamlining business processes, increasing productivity and provides results, especially if the skills and talent you are looking for aren’t in-house, or even in the same city. With technology readily available, agencies can seamlessly plan schedules, make assignments and track and manage a client’s project.  Keep in mind that implementing a digital marketing strategy should save you time and valuable resources so you can focus on your core business competencies.