Business owners and managers know that delegating anything can be difficult.
When you account for workflow issues, task management, quality of work and all the challenges involved with execution, it’s no wonder we have a hard time letting go of the reigns.
When your business gets to a certain stage of development, it’s time to start handing off key tasks to professionals.
In a previous post on outsourcing your online presence, I talk about the why behind making this step in your business. In this post, we will cover the how.
For the purpose of this post, I will assume you already understand the importance of online (digital) marketing in today’s economy. Here is my advice on how to do it.
1) Get clear about your goals
Before you hand over the keys to your website, social media platforms, pay-per-click ad accounts and email marketing software, it is important to know what you are trying to accomplish.
Usually, business owners want more business. Which is fine, but how much? What are your revenue goals? What does success look like?
Know these things and write them down. Share them with the person or team who will be responsible for carrying out the orders. Get them in the conversation from the ground up.
2) Talk numbers
If you are not ready to talk specific, measurable numbers with your online marketing team, you’re not ready to hand off the work.
Unless you are certain about the tasks you are delegating to your team, they need to know the results of their efforts.
Online marketing is more than just “doing social media” or driving targeted leads to your website. It is about creating measurable differences to the bottom line of your business.
Your team needs to know if they are spending their time and resources wisely, and most importantly, if they are achieving the financial goals you are after.
3) Know what to measure
If astronauts did not measure their progress regularly, would they ever get into space and return safely?
It’s important to know what your key performance indicators are and to watch them with your team.
If your goals are website traffic, count pageviews. If your goals are leads, track phone calls, emails and contact form inquiries from the website. If your goals are customer satisfaction, get regular feedback from your customers.
The best metric is return on investment (ROI), which measures the difference between dollars spent and dollars earned. This is what we focus on relentlessly with our digital marketing services at KVNW Digital Marketing.
4) Share your company’s long-term vision
It is one thing to know what your goals are, but you cannot expect people to see your vision the way you do. And they will not be able to read your mind.
Express how you want your brand to be portrayed online. The tone of voice in your messaging. The aesthetics of your design. The specific things you love and hate. Everything you can think of.
It takes time, but write down the things you want and don’t want. And if you are not quite sure yet, that’s fine, but tell your team what you know. Let it evolve over time.
5) Review and give feedback often
Once you have clear goals, specific instructions and a mechanism to measure the important metrics, it is important to periodically review and give feedback to your team.
There is no perfect system in our complex world. The best we can hope for is to iterate on what works and apply the 80/20 principal.
Having a good team to work with means your feedback will be well received and taken earnestly.
Without feedback, your team will feel like mushroom farmers, working in the dark, unsure about the results of their labour.
If you can give real financial data to your team, it will only make them hungrier to improve them.
After all, return on investment is the ultimate metric for an online marketing manager worth his or her salt.
6) Stay organized with the right tools
There are a plethora of organizational tools out there today. From Help Desk software such as Zen Desk and Help Scout, to task management software like Basecamp, Asana, Trello and Podio.
Which you use is up to you. I like Help Scout, Trello and good ole’ fashioned email. But they all have their advantages and disadvantages.
For measurement purposes, you can use things like Raven Tools or Google Analytics.
For competitive research, you can use things like Follow or SEM Rush.
For social media, you can schedule out our content using tools like Buffer or Hootsuite.
For email marketing, you could use something like MailChimp or Constant Contact.
There are many, many more.
7) Know that it takes time to get it right
Online marketing takes time, lots of testing and ongoing iteration. Getting it right is a process. It takes time, effort, specialized knowledge and data analysis.
If your online marketing is not working for you after 2-3 months, revisit the steps above and try to figure out why. But be patient. Sometimes there is no immediate ROI, especially for things like social media and email marketing. Even advertising takes tons of data feedback and iterating to optimize the campaigns.
Are your goals clear? Are you measuring the right things? Are you instructions open and honest? Are you giving your feedback and listening to the market response to your efforts? Are you being organized with your communication?
8) Get the right team
If you need help with your online marketing efforts, you have come to the right place. At KVNW, we take pride in getting it done right and looking at the big picture. We believe consistency and quality over time leads to positive and measurable return on investments. Our clients rarely leave us, and we work hard to add to your bottom line.
Contact us for more information.