I like both approaches. I personally enjoy everything that goes into building and nurturing a successful advertising campaign. Each and every step in the process is fulfilling in different ways. It enables the simultaneous activation of both my creative and analytical sides, and I’m highly engaged with everything I’m doing. I even find reading and listening to these topics interesting and exciting.
So, if you’re like me – and you find it interesting, then give it a go. It will never hurt to have some hands on experience, even if you do outsource it in the future. But, if you find spending hours behind a computer mind-numbingly boring, then you might want to just jump ahead and outsource it all.
If you lack the expertise, though, you may also want to just skip ahead and hire an agency to help. While you might find the topic interesting and engaging, that doesn’t mean you’re any good at it. And when it comes to managing your marketing dollars wisely, you can’t over prioritize your return on investment. So keep that in mind, as well.
I know some contractors who are phenomenal marketers and salesman and dedicate all of their efforts to those tasks, yet sub out the actual contracting work. They know what they’re good at, and they focus on that. I know other contractors that are great at their craft, but terrible with technology. They know what they’re good at, and they focus on that.
Lastly, do you have the time to do this? If you’re good at both, but already working 50-60 hour weeks just to get the work done, when are you going to have time to build, deploy, and track advertising campaigns?
So, if you don’t have the time, interest, or expertise to do it on your own, then consider hiring an agency.
You’re Certain You’re Doing It Yourself
If you do have some combination of the time, interest, and expertise to do it yourself, then you have plenty of resources at your fingertips. There are a ton of channels on YouTube, plenty of online resources (including actual university courses and blogs), and quick and easy access to books. If you don’t have time to sit and watch or read, audiobooks and podcasts are available and easy to find, too.
I’m not going to list out all of the things you should learn – it varies from person to person, industry to industry, region to region, etc.,… but the best thing to do is dive in. Read what you find here on my website and or listen to my podcast and use that as a springboard to learn more. Or, if you think I’m a jabroni (even though I invented the no-jabrone zone), then here are a few other resources to get you started:
As of July 25th 2020, Boston University provides a free online course titled “Introduction to Marketing.” It’s a self-paced course you can complete on your own time, but they recommend you dedicate three to five hours to it each week for six weeks.
WordStream offers a rock-solid foundation to Pay Per Click ads with their PPC-101 course (click the image below to go to their university page)
I’ll warn you, now, this is a little advanced and only for the more tech-savvy of you out there. If you don’t at least have some of the fundamentals of building a website this may be out of your league. If that’s the case, then you may want to start with this resource:
What if you’ve Never Made a Website Before?
Neil Patel (an online marketing guru, among other things) put together “From 0 to Launch: 6 Steps to Building Your First Website.” It’s a bit old, but it does talk about the limitations of free platforms and point you in the right direction for building your very first website from the ground up.
What I really like about this resource is that he states, right up front, that this comprehensive guide is dedicated to readers who are new to all of this. He walks you through a ton of different platforms, their pro’s and con’s, strengths and weaknesses, and all of that. I couldn’t even begin to put together a guide as comprehensive as this, and even if I would, I don’t see the point in reinventing the wheel.
The best part about all of these resources is that they’re great launching pads to take you on to the next steps of doing it yourself. But if you’re looking at all of this and thinking “This is crazy. Who would ever have time to do all this boring stuff? I just want more work.” Then consider hiring an agency to help you put together a plan and move in the right direction. Again, I am a big fan of either path, because the best customer is an educated customer.