The digital marketing first wave left marketers breathless with anticipation. The engagement opportunities! The ability to interact one-on-one with consumers! The community-building potential!

However, as the hype has given way to hard-won experience, many marketing leads are wondering if the investment in digital marketing resources has paid off. Without strategic planning and tracking, it can seem that all of the money, time and effort put into digital marketing programs has disappeared into a black hole.

Sophisticated and effective digital marketing programs require specialized skill sets and dedicated resources. So the question is, how much investment do you really need to achieve the results you are looking for?

Our answer is, it depends.

Today, every business needs to have some level of digital footprint. However, building the team to support your outbound digital marketing efforts is an exercise in achieving the right balance – not too big and not too small. We have seen many businesses falter because their approach was to “do marketing stuff” without taking the time to create a strategic marketing plan with the right resources and targeted outcomes.

Here are some questions to get you started on the right track.

What Kind of Business Are You?

This fundamental question is the starting point for building out your digital marketing strategy. Are you a services business, consumer business, software business? Each of these types of businesses requires a different level of investment in digital marketing.

B2C businesses require a high level of commitment to marketing and digital marketing. To drive profits, you have to reach customers and this activity demands that you are actively and regularly engaging with your target customer base. In addition, a retail site adds a higher level of complexity and increases the demand to build a skilled, robust team.

B2B businesses must have an active digital presence to serve as the backup for their sales teams. No matter how persuasive your sales team is, prospects will have a hard time believing in your promises if you don’t look like a legitimate business in the online space. The level of investment in this case is significantly lower than for B2C companies, but should not be overlooked.

Startups are often heavily reliant on digital marketing as a stepping off point. Unfortunately, they often fall into the trap of trying to cut costs by hiring one person to fill all marketing needs. The position demands building digital assets, brand marketing, and demand generation programs from the ground floor, in addition to creating content and supporting sales efforts. The best approach is often to hire a talented individual to steer the ship, and also expect to invest in junior-level resources and contract services to keep pace.

Services businesses face a unique hurdle in that you are selling yourself, rather than a product or “thing,” as an asset. This approach means that the business will need to invest in content creation to showcase expertise and thought leadership.

Who Are Your Audiences?

It is fundamental to any digital marketing program to be intentional about who is being targeted. A marketing program will fail unless it is specifically designed to reach a designated audience. The tween demographic requires a different approach altogether than the CTO crowd, and you must ensure that your programming is appropriate to the individuals who will be receiving it.

Once the team has targeted the audiences you are aiming for, the digital marketing strategy can be tailored to appeal to the specific audience segments that make sense for the business.

Where do You Want To Be Seen?

What digital channels are important to your audiences? Not every brand benefits from being on Facebook or Pinterest. Just because a media channel is available to you, doesn’t mean that it is a good investment for your resources. Each of these channels requires skills and commitment to be done well, and digital marketing done poorly is worse than no effort at all.

Planning your digital footprint is closely tied to audience targeting. Is your target audience addicted to Twitter? Are they wonks who like long-form research articles? Understanding the behaviors of your audiences is key to determining where the business will achieve the highest rates of return from outreach efforts.

What is Your Customer Acquisition Strategy?

As a general rule, B2C businesses have a greater need for ongoing replenishment of content than B2B businesses. If your customer acquisition strategy is content and experience driven, you will need a much higher investment in content development. On the other hand, if your sales funnel is filled by trade shows and events, you may not need as great a focus on outbound digital marketing.

One of the keys to right-sizing your digital marketing is ensuring that it is tied to your holistic sales and marketing strategy. It is important that digital programs not exist in isolation, but work within the context of the business’ broader goals. Your digital marketing efforts should increase your customer acquisition muscle and support the full portfolio of outreach activities.

What Skill Sets do You Need?

Video editing is a highly specialized skill, as is web management, as is social community management. However, it is important to understand competing needs across your digital program before hiring.

If you need only a handful of videos, or if your website requires only minimal maintenance, it may make sense to outsource these projects, or purchase a set number of service hours to meet these demands. However, if your approach requires several new articles every day, hiring a full-time writer/editor is a necessary investment to run the content creation engine.

In creating a comprehensive strategic marketing plan, you are able to anticipate the skills you need as well as the frequency with which you need access to them. In addition, taking the time to understand the dynamics of your digital marketing cycle will enable you to time financial outlay so it aligns with the business cycle.

To Outsource or to Resource?

We generally recommend that, outside of hires to fill key roles, it makes sense to outsource until you see the clear need to add a dedicated resource. Outsourcing allows you to control spend in a particular area, secures assets with critical skills and gives you the flexibility to scale up as needed.

Initial investment in outsourcing can accelerate your program, as the business benefits from the experience of professionals who have done it before. Once you have grown your digital programs to the point that additional resources are needed, it will be easy to staff up and bring these activities in-house.

In the long run, it pays off to be deliberate about how you build a digital marketing team. The planning and strategy portion of the exercise is often just as important as hiring the right people. Your team will be more effective, and the business will see better results if you understand the dynamics of your space, the benchmarks you need to achieve and are disciplined in managing growth.

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