As a small business owner, you are constantly faced with choices.
With marketing, in particular, a common dilemma is:
“What’s the best way to market my business? Should I take some online courses and do it myself or hire someone to do it for me?”
To answer that question, we first need to understand the options available out there.
The 3 Options of Marketing Implementation in Business
When it comes to implementing your marketing, there are 3 main options that people think about:
- Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Marketing
- Done-With-You (DWY) Marketing
- Done-For-You (DFY) Marketing
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Marketing
Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Marketing is where you, the business owner or an in-house member of your team, takes care of all the marketing tasks.
This could mean creating and scheduling social media posts, designing email newsletters, writing blog articles, or anything else that’s needed to get the word out about your business. It also means in most cases as a solopreneur, that when you’re unsure of how to do something, you’ll get yourself educated, whether that’s through books, online courses, or working with a mentor/coach.
This is the most hands-on approach. You’re doing everything yourself with very little (if any) help from others.
Pros:
- You have complete control over your marketing and can change direction quickly if needed
- It’s usually the most cost-effective option since you’re not paying someone else to do the work.
- You build up a lot of knowledge and skills that can be useful in other areas of your business
Cons:
- It can be time-consuming since you’re doing everything yourself. This can lead to burnout if you’re not careful.
- If you’re not confident in your marketing skills, it can lead to subpar results.
- You might not have the time or bandwidth to do everything that’s needed to get the results you want.
Done-With-You (DWY) Marketing
Done-With-You (DWY) Marketing is where you work with a marketing partner to implement your marketing plan, but with you still being very involved in the process.
This could be working with a coach or consultant who helps you create your plan and provides guidance along the way, or working with an agency that provides a high level of support and feedback but still requires you to do some of the work yourself. This option is often a good fit for business owners who want more support than DIY marketing but don’t want to hand over all the responsibility (and control) to someone else.
This is where you’re working with a partner to implement your marketing, but you’re still very involved in the process.
Pros:
- You get the support and guidance you need to create and implement a successful marketing plan.
- You’re still involved in the process so you can be sure that your message and brand are being represented the way you want.
- You can get results more quickly than if you were doing everything yourself.
Cons:
- You’re still doing a lot of the work yourself, so it can be time-consuming.
- It can be expensive if you’re working with a high-end coach or consultant.
Done-For-You (DFY) Marketing
Done-For-You (DFY) Marketing is where you outsource all (or most) of your marketing tasks to someone else.
This generally means working with a marketing agency, a consultant, or a freelancer who will take care of everything for you while you focus on other areas of your business. This means the agency, consultant or freelancer takes care of the strategy as well as the execution from start to finish, without much of your input (if any at all).
This is the most hands-off approach where you’re outsourcing everything to someone else and they’re taking care of it all for you.
Pros:
- You don’t have to do any of the work yourself.
- You can get results quickly since you’re not doing the work yourself.
- It can be less expensive than DWY marketing (both in terms of time and money) since you’re not paying for someone to coach or guide you through the process.
Cons:
- You have very little control over your marketing since you’re not involved in the process.
- You might not get the results you want if you’re not working with a reputable and experienced agency, consultant, or freelancer.
- You might not learn anything about marketing since you’re not involved in the process.
It’s Not Either DIY, DWY or DFY: There’s a Spectrum to Marketing Providers
You can think of these 3 marketing options as being on a spectrum going from:
- more time, effort, and energy on the left (hands-on)
- to less time, effort and energy on the right (hands-off)
At Genuine Connection, we’re in between Done-With-You and Done-For-You. Not one or the other, but a hybrid of the best aspects of both. In other words, we integrate ourselves into your business, treat it like our own, strategize and implement holistic solutions into your business.
Everything we do keeps in mind the rest of your business – we think not just about marketing, but also your sales and customer success. And, on top of that, we regularly check in with you to make sure it’s reflective of what you’re looking for and educate you on why we’re doing things the way we are along the way.
In short, you play a big role in helping us form strategies around your marketing, and we take care of (pretty much all) the execution. You can think of it as us being your business partner – with all the benefits and none of the hassle.
Which Marketing Option Is Right For You?
Now that you know the types of marketing service providers, it’s time to decide which one is right for you.
If you’re not sure where to start, here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Time: “How much time do I have to devote to marketing?”
- Skills: “Do I have the skills and knowledge to do marketing myself?”
- Budget: “How much money can I afford to spend on marketing each month or year?”
- Goals: “What results am I looking for? More leads and sales with less effort?”
- Trust: “Am I comfortable outsourcing my marketing to someone else?”
- Return: “How is spending money to get help with marketing going to give me a return?”
Depending on your answers, you might lean more towards one option over the others.
For example, if you don’t have a lot of time to devote to marketing, or you’re not comfortable doing it yourself, you might lean more towards working with a marketing agency so someone else can take care of it all for you while you focus on what you do best in the business.
On the other hand, if you’re on a tight budget and you’re willing to put in the time to do it yourself, DIY marketing might be the way to go.
Here’s a comparison table that may make things a little easier:
The most important thing is to make sure you’re clear about what you want and need from a marketing service provider before making a decision. Once you know that, you’ll be able to choose the option that’s right for you.
If you’re not sure where to start, or if you have any questions, we’d be happy to chat with you and see if we’re a good fit for your needs.
Alan
