Inbound marketing has experienced strong development in recent years and is gaining notoriety in particular among companies operating in a B2B sector. This strategy appeals to all the companies that have implemented it with its very attractive return on investment. Having gained popularity in recent years, we are now witnessing an increase in the number of service providers that can help businesses, i.e. inbound marketing agencies. In this context, you are entitled to ask yourself questions about the implementation of such a strategy, which is fairly recent and which still few companies use. Among other things, should you outsource the implementation of this strategy in order to benefit from the expertise of an agency or internalize it to limit costs? This choice is largely based on the budget as well as the skills of your company.
The skills needed to internalize an inbound marketing strategy
In the first case, you can decide to internalize your inbound marketing strategy. But this is not within the reach of all companies. The internalization of such a strategy is more likely to be carried out in large companies which already have large marketing teams. Why Simply because the number of skills needed to internalize an inbound marketing strategy is quite large. In large marketing teams, we will therefore be more likely to have the required skills internally.
An inbound marketing strategy requires the following professionals:
A project manager who supervises the various actions;A content manager who develops content for your site and your blog;An inbound marketing specialist who can guide actions;A community manager to promote your content and animate your social networks;A web developer responsible for creating your website;A web designer to improve your web interface to make it more attractive;An SEO expert in charge of orchestrating and optimizing your SEO.Why outsource your inbound marketing strategy?
The second scenario is the outsourcing of its inbound marketing strategy to a web marketing agency specializing in this field. It is an alternative which is faster than internalization and which therefore requires less effort on the part of the company's marketing teams. Outsourcing its inbound marketing strategy is possible for VSEs, SMEs or even large companies that do not have sufficient resources.
What are the reasons that could push you to outsource your inbound marketing strategy?
None of your current employees have previous experience in B2B inbound marketing. Experience in this area is essential. We do not learn inbound marketing "on the job" but over time. Inbound has become a full-fledged marketing strategy where experience for its successful implementation takes precedence.By working in collaboration with an inbound marketing agency, you will be able to benefit from an outside perspective and therefore a step back on your inbound actions. We often lack objectivity when we do things on our own. Outsourcing will allow you to challenge yourself when necessary.Inbound professionals can provide you with their expertise as well as their most valuable advice so that the implementation of your inbound marketing strategy is perfect. Their past experiences have allowed them to acquire many skills and knowledge that they know how to put to good use.Experts will allow you to gain in efficiency but also and above all in speed. Indeed, accustomed to performing these actions, inbound professionals will know how to go faster than if you decide to implement this strategy alone.You do not have all the necessary skills internally. Having recourse to recruitments will make you waste a considerable time but also money. Better then to outsource your inbound project.You are running out of time to implement this marketing strategy. It is a strategy that takes a lot of time and patience in order to be effective. If you don't have the time to take care of it, then it will be more beneficial for you to hire an inbound marketing agency.The alternative: get support to acquire skills
The last possible scenario is a mix of the internalization and the externalization of your inbound marketing strategy . It consists of getting support at the start of the implementation of your inbound strategy in order to acquire the skills necessary for its successful implementation, to build your teams in skills thanks to the experts with whom you will collaborate to, ultimately, partly internalize or the entire function.
This last solution could thus give the envy to the companies which do not have a huge budget but which do not have the necessary skills either, to set up their inbound strategy. Admittedly, at the outset, the budget to be devoted to this strategy will be substantial, but subsequently, internalizing part of the actions could be a means of reducing this budget while having acquired the skills necessary for the success of such a strategy.
Internalize, outsource or be supported: these are the three solutions available to you in order to set up your inbound marketing strategy. This choice should not be taken at random since it is based on a real strategic choice on the part of the managers of the company in order to opt for the most suitable solution for it. Today, inbound marketing agencies are there to support you. It is not uncommon for companies wishing to implement an inbound strategy to opt for the last case presented in the article. It is always more reassuring, at the beginning, to be accompanied to be sure of the direction you are taking. OnlineMediaTrend, inbound marketing agency, will know how to be a collaborator at your disposal and available to support you in the implementation of your inbound strategy. Do not hesitate to contact us !