Everyone likes to save money, and there is nothing thing wrong with that. While, running a business is one place where you might think “Doing It Yourself” might be beneficial. More often those DIY projects could be done better and faster when it’s done by a professional. For a small business, you have to weigh in your time and emotional well-being. Some projects are never as simple as they seem, and when you are trying to create revenue, DIY projects can make you lose focus and leave you frustrated.
Marketing has become the DIY project for many business owners. There is a reason that certain people make it their jobs to understand marketing and offer that knowledge to others. Marketing has a few basic principles, but some are hard to understand. Couple that with digital marketing where the rules can change every 5 minutes. You’re not going to hit your revenue goals by attempting to be a pro at your business and marketing.
A good example is AdWords, a great way to get your business’s message out to the masses. Think of running an AdWords campaign as taking the perfect photograph. Many things should be going through your mind if are capturing the perfect photo. Photographers think of the subject, lighting and composition.
Now think of your marketing. You have to use your imagination and knowledge to guess what the desired effect will have. You don’t get a retake without costing more money or worse turning people away from your brand. With AdWords, do you know what a CTR is? How about CPM or CPA? Everyone thinks a high CTR (Click Through Rate) is great, but if those clicks don’t lead to conversions, you’re just throwing away your money. Do you have a plan for your keywords? Do you know why negative keywords are important? Do you have a landing page? Is it setup with a call to action?
Digital ads are just one method to market your business and it assumes you have a properly setup website. If you are DIYing your digital advertising, including your website, I’m telling you that you’re losing money. Hire a professional that will drive quality prospects to your business and you focus on delivering the best experience to those customers. You will make more money and make things easier for yourself. DIY belongs in the home…most of the time.
Justin Harmon is a manager and branding strategist for Known In 60 Media