.svg)
Speed of digital innovation continues to separate successful businesses from those falling behind. Earlier this year we conducted a survey in conjunction with Insider Media, with a view to understanding where Yorkshire businesses are on their digital journey, how much of a priority digital innovation is, and intentions and key priorities over the coming year. From the results, we were able to pull out some interesting findings, including the impact of outsourcing digital resource.Read the full survey.
Of those surveyed, 54% handled their digital marketing in-house, with 46% using either a mix of outsourced and internal resource or fully outsourced. Where the business had a transactional website, digital was more likely to be outsourced.
Resource constraints and lack of digital expertise came out as the biggest barriers to company growth, accounting for only 18% of respondents rating the design of their website as excellent, and just 17% saying it met the needs of customers. Where digital was outsourced to a specialist agency, the picture improved, with 67% of respondents rating their website good or excellent at meeting customer and business needs.
Crucially, those companies using an external agency reported increased website traffic and better conversion rates. This would suggest there are advantages to using a specialist agency rather than hiring in-house, particularly for eCommerce.
Many heads are better than one
Recruitment costs can be considerable. Not only that, but finding the right skills and the right personality fit for your business is a big risk. A successful Marketing team requires a diverse range of skills - writing and editing, SEO, PPC, channel management, market research and analysis, design and production - and unless you are very lucky, it’s unlikely you’ll find one person who has experience across this breadth of roles. By outsourcing work to a specialist agency, you get access to a whole team of experts, tried and tested processes, industry experience, as well as the latest marketing technology and tools. A fresh perspective on your marketing efforts and help formulating an objective focused strategy, can be invaluable in future-proofing your business and optimising results. What’s more, it frees internal resource to focus on core business processes, so you can get on with doing what you do best.
9xb is an eCommerce specialist that exists to challenge the way online experiences are delivered, offering technical, practical and creative solutions that overcome barriers to growth. We design award winning eCommerce stores and marketing campaigns for some fantastic clients, including bathstore, EuroCarParts, Hi-Tec, Pizza Express, The Post Office, and many more.
