Do it Yourself Marketing Versus Agency Driven Marketing

Nov 26, 2020 05:24 AM

A lot of business owners believe that if they chip in a few hundred every once in a while to the Google Ad machine, that will take care of their online marketing efforts. However, they’re most likely chucking those dollars to the winds of cyberspace. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising is an excellent online advertising strategy, but by itself it’s an expensive short-term fix that will not keep your business at the top of the SERPs (search engine results pages) for long nor your business on the digital map for all to see. A mixture of PPC, content marketing, and market research are a better recipe for your business’s digital footprint to remain permanent and successful.

The question is: Can you handle marketing yourself or should you hire an advertising agency to do the work? This article weighs the options of DIY marketing versus agency driven marketing.

Complexity and Expense of PPC

PPC advertising is complex and the learning curve is a long one. That’s why many business owners opt to hire a digital marketing agency to take charge for them. When they choose agency driven marketing, they don’t have to learn the jargon and industry standards that goes along with PPC; not to mention the many menus and technicalities of Google Analytics. Google makes frequent updates to their advertising policies and rules, so you need someone who is on top of that or you could lose a lot of money.

Asking an employee (in-house DIY marketing) to handle PPC campaign management may be an uphill battle because this job requires more time than you’d think due to the amount of specialized knowledge needed.

Your DIY marketing team will need to:

• Research and compare keywords
• Analyze search campaign results
• Vast knowledge of Google Analytics and Google Ads
• Negotiate contracts with 3rd party vendors

An advertising agency can handle all of these and more for you, without you having to lift a finger. They can also boost your efficiency and their work will lead to improved results.

Another thing to keep in mind regarding PPC and search engine optimization (SEO) is that advertising agencies like Viviscape have access to powerful tools that come at a high cost. Tools like SEMRush are extremely expensive (up to $1k/month). Imagine having to pay for your own license to one of these much needed SEO tools. Viviscape has access to these tools and our very own suite of sophisticated software to help your website rank higher than your competition.

Lack of Time

One of the biggest reasons DIY marketing fails is that as a business owner, you have a business to run, not a marketing agency. Marketing takes time and effort. Most business owners do not have the extra time to devote to digital marketing. Your website must run seamlessly and be updated frequently. The load time should be close to instant for your website. A neglected website spells disaster for businesses because it shows that you’re outdated and possibly out of business, and worst of all -- not relevant. A business with broken webpages or broken links could turn away potential customers. Also, if you have a blog that hasn’t been updated for a few months, the visitors will wonder if you’re still in business. Plus, a website with broken links and error-ridden webpages can lead to demotion in search engine ranking.

As a business owner, you have a budget to keep track of, inventory, equipment maintenance, and employees to manage. You don’t have time to learn what long tail keywords are or which negative keywords you need to be aware of when creating ads in Google Ads. Don’t even get me started on Google Analytics - the search enigma to many. It takes time to figure out what you’re looking at in the mess of numbers and graphs.

It may be a bit frightening to hand the reins of your company’s marketing to a marketing agency, but this could save you time and money. A marketing agency like Viviscape can boost your website’s ranking, keep your company current, provide quality content, and more. Remember, DIY marketing could end up costing you thousands in lost revenue and wasted time due to poor PPC management and neglect.

Next Steps

If your looking for an agency that cares about your brand, let's get started with a free consultation.

Get Started