Checklist

1. Have a budget pre-determined
2. Have a list of service/feature needs
3. Have a Marketing Plan
4. Identify Measurements and Benchmarks

Oftentimes, it may be a challenge to determine a budget for your online presence management services. Defining your service needs, and knowing what to expect in terms of marketing services and costs. The pay scale range for the online marketing and managing industry, in the United States, can start as low as $20 per hour to as much as $175 per hour. With a cost spread as large as this, how can anyone make a decision?

Here is a general overview that illustrates the options available to the business market

Factors you must consider before hiring an online management agency.

1. The Service menu outline of service features should align with your company's objective and overall marketing plan.
2. The service hours proposed divided by the cost of the service (generally charged per month) should fall within the range of the provider type the agency or freelance artist claims to be.
3. The functionality amenities should offer added value. For example, graphics services, turn-key solutions, discounts to access or utilize commercial solutions or reporting and measure tools that otherwise would cost you double /triple are included in the service plan.
4. Turn around time. This normally varies by service level types for most agencies. You should receive in writing what type of turn around time to expect on task and hours of availability.
5. Project management tracking and/or status notification updates. There should be an easy to use process to keep you up to date on the progressive status of marketing strategies, site updates, and required deliverables.
6. Ongoing coaching options. The ability to get advice, support and participation from the person or agency you hire is critical to the overall growth pattern of your online presence. The technology changes rapidly and your manager should be ready to educate you and your team as needed and necessary for your company to maintain a competitive edge.
7. Size of the team varies from company to company. The factors to take into account are your turn-around time and your required number of marketing service hours. For example an agency that will provide 8 service hours a month needs to have at least 2 hours per week dedicated to focusing on your business. A single person, working 40 hours per week, can service about 10 - 20 clients per week. An agency with a team of 4 dedicated people can handle 20 - 80 clients.

Marketing planning

The primary topic here is online presence management, therefore the suggestions provided will pertain to online marketing planning. There are several approaches to marketing your business online. A good agency will provide some initial guidance upfront and at little to no cost to help you either build a plan or assist you with establishing a punch list of objectives and critical deliverables. Is LinkedIn right for your business, constant contact versus MailChimp for email marketing, how often should you post on social media channels, how many blog posts should you create, at what rate does your business need to convert to maintain an ROI or reach business objectives? Your marketing plan needs to address all these questions. Remember failure to plan is a plan to fail.

It would almost seem like a new social channel or new app pops up daily. It can be overwhelming. Your marketing plan must take into consideration where your target market resides. Chasing after every social channel, new mobile app or expensive pay per click ad platforms is a fast way to leave you very dissatisfied with online marketing. With a plan in place, you are sure to get a fast handle on what will work, what is working and what should be revisited.

Budgeting for your marketing plan

This is not as difficult as it may seem. Marketing requires some level of risk management skills, planning, and measuring. Identifying service requirements will help you with formulating the correct budget. If this still seems overwhelming establish this as your mission statement:

To be profitable I need to make x number of dollars from every x number I spend in advertising, marketing, optimizing and maintaining my online presence.

If you decide that your business needs to gain a return of 10 to 1 then this means that for every $1 you spend on advertising and marketing you need to see a return of $10. If this is still confusing then determine a percentage amount of gross sales you are willing to invest back into advertising and marketing on an annual basis. Once you have this figured out we recommend using the following equation:

Now that you have your rate of return factor use this equation:

If you determine you need a service plan of $280 per month and your calculated rate of return is 10 to 1 then your service plan needs to assist you with earning or retaining $2800 in revenue. Is it that simple? Well of course not. There are several factors to consider. For example, some small businesses have determined that they must market and advertise to stay relevant and compete. I have seen companies invest as much as 25% of gross annual sales due to the industry and market they are servicing in. If a business makes $250,000 in gross annual sales and invests 25% of their sales back into advertising and marketing is a 4 to 1 ratio (right?). Therefore a service plan of $280 per month would be expected to generate $1120 in sales.

Measurement is the key to success

Once you have your marketing and budget plan in place you will need measurement tools in place to determine if your marketing strategies are working. A large number of businesses have a one-dimensional method of measurement: did I get a sale today? We only wish marketing and advertising were so simple. It truly would be a great world if every person that visited your website purchased a product or service. The reality is, with today’s purchasing options available to consumers, it can take as much as 8 channels to reach a per person before a person converts into a sale.

Often at times where you have no online presence in one channel, you need to double and triple up in multiple channels. The key is measurement and review of the various metrics generated from the channels you opt-into utilizing in your businesses online marketing strategy.

If it could only be so easy to use revenue (income) versus expense (paid services and advertising) to measure success. Online presence management is traditionally measured by the reach, engagement and conversions the campaigns deployed generate.

All businesses need to run campaigns that keep the business relevant and visible in the markets the business targets. This means that the revenue attributed to awareness or brand recognition campaigns may come later in the marketing funnel and through other campaigns.

Conclusion

Your business, once online, will need an ongoing plan to achieve online success. The information provided in this blog post, we hope, helps your business get a better picture of what the essential factors you need to consider as you embark on your mission to achieve online presence greatness.