Entrepreneurs are, by heart, do-it yourselfers. After all, starting your own business isn’t something you can do without rolling up your selves. Unfortunately, this leads many to try and do everything, including their online marketing. While this might make seem like an easy task, it’s probably not the best use of a business owner’s time or energy. Most entrepreneurs do an extraordinary job at what they specialize in, but can’t possibly be experts in all of the aspects of running a business. They may be lacking the skills in accounting, marketing, or operations and focusing too heavily on these areas personally or even attempting to bring something in-house that should be outsourced could ultimately lead to the demise of their business.

The points that follow below are the ones that I address whenever I need to show them why in-house SEM is not a good idea for them:

• SEM is time consuming. SEM requires updates on an on-going basis to ensure that your marketing dollars are working hard for your business. Search Optimization involves technical updates and ongoing upkeep with engine algorithms and constantly changing search environments. Pay-Per-Click involves constant monitoring of campaigns which often include many keywords which require customized ad text and landing pages. Most in-house marketing people don’t have the time to dedicate to SEM which is required to have the most impact.
• SEM requires research skills, creativity, and dedication. A solid SEM campaign demands intensive research and creative thinking. You have to identify your most important and most aggressive competitors, take them as a benchmark and develop a clever campaign that can beat your closest competitors—what is your unique selling point (or USP)? PPC requires constant manipulation of campaigns on a daily level to deliver the most effective results and to maintain a certain budget, and the specific software in which to do so.
• SEM is very competitive. SEM is competitive and increasing competition drives costs up. Many in-house SEM campaigns fail because they are not able to maintain set budgets. A trained professional can see trends, predict spend, take measures to maintain consistent costs, and ensure that budget is spread out evenly over a given timeframe.
• Success demands accurate tracking. What makes SEM so appealing is that this type of marketing is results-driven. The best way to determine campaign success is through accurate and detailed reporting. Many in-house marketing teams lack the tools and the know-how for effective reporting. Once again you can bring up the point that it is expensive to license the needed software. SEM experts can not only tell you where/why the campaign is performing well, but they can tell you where/why there is room for improvement through analyzing data, creating benchmarks, and optimizing campaigns.
• In-house teams do not have all the skills necessary. Successful SEM requires knowledge and expertise not in only marketing, but also in web design, information architecture, coding, etc. No, your IT guy is not skilled in these areas either. Most in-house teams lack all the skills necessary to properly implement the technical aspects of SEM whereas agencies have experts in multiple fields collaborating on a campaign.
• Search engine policies change. Many companies face undesirable situations where they are either banned or penalized because they used practices that are forbidden by search engines’ policies–blackhatting. These policies can change from time to time. Are you even sure as to what is considered blackhatting and what is not? This can have very negative effects on a website and often lead to banning by Google and other top search engines. Outsourcing to trained and certified experts ensures that your website will not be a victim of unwanted practices or policy changes.
• In-house teams do not have support. Agencies have partnerships with search engines and are able to get direct support when needed. In-house teams mostly have no access to direct support from the search engines whenever they need help with their SEM campaigns. Many agencies have privileges such as recent upgrades or testing before the general publics. Who do you think Google will pay attention to first—your small business or an agency that manages hundreds of accounts?

In-house SEM is effective, at times, for larger companies that can afford to not only license the appropriate tools and software, but who can also hire the multiple staff members with different areas of expertise–and even these guys will pay outside consultants when they need further advice.

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