When launching a startup, time is always in short supply. It makes sense that you’d consider delegating marketing tasks to someone else while you focus on core business tasks. However, branding and marketing are two crucially important elements of your business. This guide will help you source the best freelancers for your next launch.
Determining Your Budget
Setting a solid marketing budget starts with understanding your brand’s unique needs. Begin by evaluating your brand’s specific marketing requirements, considering factors including your business’s target audience, industry trends, and competitive landscape.
Assessing Needs
To evaluate your brand’s marketing needs, start by defining your objectives. Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or enhance customer engagement? Conduct market research to find out where your audience is and how to reach them. You should absolutely use analytics tools to gain insights into the preferences and opinions of your consumers – if you run a marketing campaign without keeping track of the results, it doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Budget Allocation
Once you’ve assessed your needs, allocate your budget strategically across key areas such as advertising, page development, and influencer marketing. Focus your funds on channels that offer the greatest impact based on your target audience’s behavior. Keep in mind that allocating funds too thinly across multiple channels may dilute your efforts, so prioritize based on where you can achieve the greatest impact.
Outsourcing
Decide which marketing tasks to outsource based on your team’s expertise and capacity. Consider outsourcing content creation, social media management, or SEO to specialized freelancers or agencies. Balance in-house capabilities with external expertise for optimal results.
Review and Adjust
Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and adjust your approach as needed to maximize return on investment (ROI). Be flexible and responsive to changes in the market landscape.
Hiring a Freelancer VS an Agency
Freelancers and agencies both offer valuable skills for your launch, but each has its pros and cons.
Freelancers
Freelancers are generally more cost-effective than agencies due to lower overhead costs. They can provide personalized attention and specialized expertise, making them ideal for specific tasks like adding a new marketing channel.
Agencies
Agencies bring a full team of creatives and resources, which can be beneficial for building your brand from the ground up. However, they come with higher costs and potentially slower communication due to more oversight.
Top Platforms and Must-Ask Questions for Vetting Freelancers
When it comes to finding the perfect freelancers for your marketing team, it’s important to know where to look and what to ask. We’ve created a list of the top four platforms to find freelancers and the crucial questions to ask to ensure you’re hiring only the best.
Top Platforms to Find Freelancers
- Upwork: A popular platform with a wide range of freelancers specializing in various fields.
- Freelancer.com: Another extensive platform for finding skilled freelancers across multiple industries.
- MediaBistro: Great for finding freelancers with expertise in media, advertising, and content creation.
- Toptal: Known for connecting businesses with the top 3% of freelance talent worldwide.
By leveraging these platforms and asking these key questions, you’ll be well-equipped to find the best freelance talent to support your marketing efforts. Consider the added advantage of hiring platform experts like KickoffLabs for an even greater chance of success.
Must-Ask Questions for Vetting Marketing Freelancers
- What is your experience with ad campaigns in my industry?
- How they plan and execute campaigns in relevant markets.
- What advertising platforms do you specialize in? Experience in Lead generation
or growth hacking? Email marketing?
- Organic reach, influencers, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, etc., and why they choose these platforms.
- How do you measure ad performance and optimize campaigns?
- KPIs and metrics they track, and how they adjust campaigns based on performance.
- Can you provide case studies or examples of successful campaigns?
- Their track record of successful campaigns, showcasing their skills.
- What is your approach to designing high converting campaigns? Mobile
optimized?
- How they optimize pages for conversion
- What strategies do you use for conversion rate optimization (CRO)?
- How they test and implement changes to increase leads or sales.
- What platforms do you have experience with?
- Platforms they’ve built successful campaigns in before (like KickoffLabs)
Hiring the KickoffLabs Team for Your Launch
Some lead generation platforms even offer in house campaign development services as an add on for their users. One significant advantage of hiring the team behind the platform you’re using for your launch campaign is for their unique experience and expertise. Not only are they involved with building and maintaining the platform, but they’ve assisted with thousands of successful campaigns. Their knowledge of the platform’s capabilities and best practices can give your launch a substansial edge, ensuring smooth execution and optimized results.
When you choose KickoffLabs’ Done For You service, you’re tapping into our team’s deep expertise and extensive experience. We are dedicated to ensuring your goals are met efficiently and precisely. With our professional team, we can fast-track your launch, saving you valuable time and maximizing the impact of your campaign. Our proven track record with thousands of successful campaigns means you can trust us to deliver exceptional results, tailored specifically to your needs. Learn more about our Done For You services here.
The DIY Route: Step-by-Step Guides
If you prefer to go the DIY route instead of hiring and outsourcing, KickoffLabs has you covered. We offer comprehensive step-by-step guides designed to help you navigate every aspect of your marketing campaign. These guides provide detailed instructions and expert tips to ensure your DIY efforts are successful. Whether you’re looking to create high-converting landing pages, set up effective ad campaigns, or optimize your marketing strategies, our guides are an invaluable resource. Get started with our guides here.
Conclusion
Whether you ultimately choose a freelancer or a marketing agency, asking the right questions should help you find the right situation for your business. Consider your business’s size and situation when you are searching, and be sure to find a well-rounded individual or team for the greatest chance of success. Carefully vet any prospective freelance marketers before you entrust your branding or marketing to them.
If you want some help sending up a launch that converts, check out KickoffLabs Done For You services to help you launch in as little as a week!