Before engaging in a comprehensive online-marketing campaign, it’s important to take stock of your resources. Do you have the time and skills required to implement an online strategy yourself? If not, how much money can you invest toward outsourcing?
“You can bootstrap it yourself, but there will be a big commitment of time,” says Marc Sabin, executive vice president of Marketing Workss in Cold Spring, N.Y.
The DIY approach cost Kevin Woodhurst, general manager at Dolphin Pools & Spas in Phoenix, about 20 hours a week when he first began his online marketing efforts. A year later, he now spends closer to 10 hours each week creating and distributing content. However, a background in marketing has made the process less time-consuming for him than it might be for other business types.
“Starting all of this could be totally overwhelming and frustrating for the average Joe in the pool industry,” Woodhurt says. If so, he recommends outsourcing the set-up phase and then paying someone to train you on how to maintain the system.
