Table of Contents:
- How a Digital Marketing Specialist Can Help Your Company
- Specialist Vs. Agency
- How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Digital Marketer?
- Decide What Capabilities You Need
- How to Find Someone That Meets the Qualifications
- Find Your Perfect Fit
How Hiring a Digital Marketing Specialist Can Help Grow Your Company
When you have a problem, how do you solve it? Odds are, you probably turn to the internet to find a solution.
Many online users rely on search engines like Google to find goods and services to help them. With fast-growing technology that gives everyone an answer to their problems at a click of a button, it’s becoming increasingly important for businesses to have an online presence.
Getting your business online with a website is the first step toward getting more people to see what you do. However, a flooded market can make it hard for yours to stand out. In a bowl full of cherries, how will you be able to pick out the sweetest one? What you need is a digital marketing strategy to grow your online presence and get in front of the right people.
Between daily operations and running your business, you don’t have the time to write content, come up with email marketing strategies, post on social media or constantly look at data to improve your campaigns.
What you need is to hire an online marketing expert to do it for you.
A digital marketing specialist can increase your brand awareness online, drive engagement on multiple channels and generate client leads through digital marketing strategies that target a specific audience.
Hiring a marketing expert will not only grow your online presence, but give you someone that’s trained in all the best practices that turn online leads into actual customers.
Finding the right person for the job is crucial.
You need someone that is well-versed in content marketing, social media, search engine optimization (SEO) and more. Your company will flourish with a specialist that is knowledgeable and versatile.
Here are fundamentals to consider and steps to follow for finding and hiring an online marketing expert for your company:
Marketing Specialist Vs. Marketing Agency
When deciding to hire an online marketing expert, you have two options: hiring in-house or contracting the work to an outside party.
Many companies feel more comfortable hiring someone in-house to join their team. This person will work full-time with your staff and get an in-depth appreciation of your company. The problem lies in limitations.
A digital marketing expert needs to have a full range of skills, but it’s nearly impossible to find a jack-of-all-trades that has knowledge and experience in everything you need.
You may end up having to hire multiple people to get expert help in every field. Instead, you can partner with an agency in digital marketing and get access to specialists with different expertise and accreditations. Instead of adding more responsibilities to your plate, they will work with you to create a digital marketing strategy and then implement it without taking up your own time.
Ultimately though, your decision should come down to what your company requires and what will give you the best ROI.
How Much Does it Cost to Hire a Digital Marketer?
One of the biggest influences when deciding to hire a digital marketing specialist is how much it’s going to cost.
The national average for an online marketing expert is around $85,000 a year — $45,000 a year for an entry-level hire, and anywhere from $90,000 to $150,000 a year for a seasoned specialist. This doesn’t include onboarding costs, training, workspace setup or benefits.
Large enterprises may have no problem with paying for an in-house team of marketers, but for small businesses, hiring just one full-time employee can break the bank.
If you need a more affordable option, agencies tend to bill roughly $3,500 to $10,000 a month depending on the project and level of complication. For a small online presence maintenance plan, that’s only $42,000 a year — still pricey, but a better value with more experience and capabilities available.
When looking to hire a digital marketer, keep your budget in mind and figure out who can give you the best bang for your buck.
Decide What Capabilities You Need
Once you’ve established what type of digital specialist your company is going to hire, you need to figure out what capabilities they should have in order to best improve your online presence.
Every business is unique and has its own marketing demands, so when deciding on a new hire, make sure it’s a marketing professional who can figure out what will work best for your company and implement a strategy that properly showcases your brand and engages potential customers.
Your job listing should include qualifications and skills they need to grow your business. Here are some of the more popular requirements you’ll want to consider:
They Can Analyze Data
Part of being a digital marketing specialist involves looking at and interpreting data so they can see if your marketing strategy is working and how to make it better. This includes looking at lead generation, open click rates for emails, keyword research and domain links for SEO, behavior trends of users visiting the website and much more.
They Know SEO
Whether they’re a specialist or only know the basics, having knowledge on SEO tactics is a huge bonus for a digital marketer. If your new hire knows SEO, then they have the ability to optimize your website’s content to target specific audiences in specific locations while also making your site Google-friendly.
They Can Write Content
One of the main roles of an online marketing specialist is creating content on multiple platforms that will engage an audience. As such, the copy that gets put out should be written well and with a purpose. Your new hire should be able to write long-form, short-form, social media and blog content that is engaging and audience-specific.
They Understand Email Marketing
Anyone can write an email, but your marketer must be able to write an email that people will actually open. Email marketing is its own beast – it requires a lot of strategy and analytics to perform well. Make sure your new hire knows all the nuances of effective email strategy and can look at the metrics to improve future campaigns.
They Understand Social Media
Lastly, your new hire should know how to write for and use multiple platforms to get your company’s message out. Social media is huge in the digital age, and having a presence on several channels can boost your following and get more people to see what you do. It also provides direct access to communication with clients.
How to Find a Digital Marketing Specialist That Meets Your Qualifications
After you’ve decided what capabilities your digital marketing specialist must have to help grow your company, it’s time to see who meets those qualifications.
Your job listing should include a description of what they’ll be doing for their specific role and what accreditations they are required to have to get this done. For example, if you’re looking for someone with expansive SEO knowledge, you may want to include that they need 1 to 2+ years of experience to qualify for the position.
Make sure to establish your expectations for the role and what deliverables they will be working on so they have an idea of what you want.
Once you have a list of potential candidates, the rest of the application process should help you narrow down your options to find the best fit for your company.
- Conduct a Skills Test: Screening candidates with a quick skills test will show you exactly what they’re capable of and help you identify their best skill sets. You can include questions about SEO, grammar, mathematics – anything that involves an aspect of digital marketing.
- Ask for Results and Testimonials: These added requirements will give you an example of their work so you can see what they are capable of. You want someone with results because it shows they know how to create an effective marketing strategy. Testimonials from past employers can also show you what they are like to work with.
- Conduct an Interview: Lastly, having a conversation with a potential hire will give you an idea of their personality and if they fit well with the company culture.
Find Your Perfect Fit For Digital Marketing
After taking all of this information into consideration, it’s time to find your new online marketing expert. You need a professional in the industry who is knowledgeable in several marketing capabilities and can create a strategy that builds brand awareness and turns leads into customers.
If your small business doesn’t have the budget for a full-time hire, consider partnering with a marketing agency like Key Web.
Key Web is a digital marketing company that offers everything from web design, personal branding, SEO maintenance plans, copywriting and more. When you work with us, you’ll have access to our group of specialists that have experience in every facet of digital marketing. The best part? It’s cost-effective for smaller businesses.
Our Marketing on Demand Services (MOD) can tailor a plan specific to your company that creates deliverables to increase your business’s online visibility and improve your marketing results.
By MODifying your marketing, you can receive everything you need for an effective strategy and pay for those services without the overhead.
Set up a free consultation to see how our digital marketing specialists can help your business grow.
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