The internet, in our modern understanding of it, has been around for 25 years, and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere. Digital automotive spend is slated to increase significantly over the next few years. We get it – digital advertising is the future and if you haven’t dipped your toe in the online waters, you could fall behind. It’s no longer a question. The real question now is, in-house or agency?
Here are four reasons why you should send your digital media and online marketing out of house and to the experts:
- It’s cheaper and allows for smaller buys
Media costs and/or network partnerships often require minimum buys that can be up to $30K per month. If a dealership isn’t in the position to front that kind of cash, digital media agencies can step in as a middleman. Digital media agencies have established partnerships with media networks and allow for much smaller buys than if a dealer wanted to go at it themselves. This allows for more flexibility, less risk, and more diversity in advertising platforms.
- We’re experts
“Because client work is so digital, having people on the team that know digital is necessary.” Digital media agencies have done this – a lot. We know the digital media business just like you know your own business. You wouldn’t ask your doctor to sell you a car, and you wouldn’t ask your car dealer to take out your appendix.
- Ability to innovate
“Fully 88% of US digital strategists said their firms were undergoing a formal digital marketing transformation effort.”
When a new technology comes out, which can happen at any moment, we have the time, experience, and knowledge to try it out and gain some understanding and insight before we roll it out to our users. That puts the risk and the cost of innovation in the agency’s hands.
- A one-stop-shop saves time
Maintaining an online presence and managing a robust digital advertising campaign requires a lot of touch points; communicating with and understanding the relationships with the search, display, and video networks, call tracking, analytics software, and reporting is a full time job in and of itself. Literally.
Digital media agencies can handle all of this communication, organization, and analysis and package it up in whatever way you’re comfortable with.
Just remember, Michelangelo may have been a Renaissance Man, but the Medici’s handled the banking.