If you’re just starting out and don’t have a lot of capital, the notion of DIY marketing is probably pretty appealing. And maybe you just need to get the ball rolling. Makes sense. Particularly if your product or service is of a very specified niche. (Think wealth management consulting in Appalachia or pork rinds for the Israeli market.)
You may have already decided that the dabble in DYI is only temporary until you have the resources to go the professional route. That’s great. The only caveat is, will you eventually make the shift?
It can seem like DIY saves you a lot of money on your marketing efforts.
And you may not be eager to opt in for professional services down the road. But you have to ask yourself - what’s the true cost of DIY?
There are a slew of reasons to consider hiring professional marketers, all of which will save you money in the long term.
First of all, consumers are getting pickier.
That’s because people have a bunch of choices and they’re getting easily overwhelmed. Faced with the vast array of cushioned toilet seats, for example, they can become nearly paralyzed with indecision.
So only those brands that are able to anticipate consumer needs and then deliver real-time solutions are going to get noticed. And once you’re noticed, you’ll want to monitor and deliver customer experiences through advanced marketing technology like marketing automation, PPC advertising and display retargeting.
Unless you’re a whiz who can get a freakishly effective grasp on this technology over lunch, you’ll want to put this in the hands of marketing professionals.
Messaging is the thing these days.
Professional marketers will help you to:
- articulate the value that your business brings to the marketplace.
- discover the key benefits you offer.
- differentiate you from your competition.
- establish proof points and net takeaways.
The professionals are keenly aware of changes in the marketplace and know the best ways to apply your marketing in response to them. Even if your core messaging doesn’t change, how you communicate it might.
See, it’s tough to be objective about all of this without some outsider perspective. A professional marketer will see the larger picture and help you whittle it down to the most important messages you need to build your marketing foundation.
So maybe you’re starting to see the value of bringing in the pros. Yet, there’s still some hesitation. So in an attempt to cut a few more corners, you arrive at this conclusion:
Well, I can do at least go DIY on my website and logo. Right?
Of course you can!
With today’s dazzling technology, you can build a site with zero experience using an interface. Mind you, it’s an easy sort of non-technical interface by which you’ll be limited, thus making it tough to make customizations that you may need to best represent your business and serve your customers. But who cares?
What’s more, it’s easy to use a basic template to implement your business content. And with the money you save using this template, it’s nearly guaranteed to deliver an amateurish result once executed. (Go ahead and incorporate that brightly colored bubble font to really pack a punch.
People love the 1970s.)
Plus, DIY web builders are difficult to optimize.
This is a HUGE benefit if you’re a member of the teeny tiny renegade counter-culture that thinks optimization is overrated.
As for logo design, you could outsource it to a design competition website instead of a professional. This is a great option for the adventurous type that wants the most popular - though not the BEST - logo design provided by amateur designers who may or may not have plagiarized it. So go for it, risk takers!
Okay. Obviously, we’re being sarcastic.
Yeah, a website build and logo design are going to require some upfront cost. But the heavy payback comes with the positive first impression they’ll make on potential customers. People can usually tell when a website and logo are the product of a DIY venture.
And here’s another thing to consider. When you use an online DIY system, whom do you call when something goes wrong, you need additional help, or you need information about best practices?
Yourself. That’s who.
So it turns out that affordable DIY marketing is actually… expensive.
When you run a do-it-yourself marketing program, you’ve given yourself another job. Instead of filling your calendar with meetings with decision makers that could be hugely beneficial, you’re busy pulling your hair out while managing and executing an editorial calendar. It will save you time, money and STRESS to entrust a marketing professional to manage and execute that editorial calendar.
Think about it.
If a tree on your property needed to be removed, would you grab a saw and do it? Well, maybe. If you’re a tree-cutting service. In which case you would know better than to use just a saw.
The point is, you started your business because it’s your passion, it’s in your wheel house and it’s where you excel. So why not get back to doing it? With a skilled marketing team to back you up, the possibility of growth is endless.
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