We all know about the problems of agreeing a fixed price online marketing plan over a period of time, say six months to a year. Who is to say that your competition will not up their game, two months into your campaign, requiring you to spend considerably more than you had intended.Of course price plans can change, but then you are not benefitting from any fixed price, you are using a fluid system of payment, dependant on unpredictable circumstances.
Anyone looking to really hit the internet hard, with an effective multi avenue SEO campaign, should probably not look to fix a price for their project over a period of six months or more. There is so much that can change, and marketing is all about analysis of a particular campaign, altering it to create success as you are going along. The advantages of a fixed price plan are as follows:
– Budgets can be managed as you know exactly what is being spent each month for a period of time.
– Many months work can be arranged, allowing for prices to be negotiated down as more work can be guaranteed.
– A website is consistently updated with content, back links and promotional activity on a weekly or monthly basis.
These benefits are more suited to smaller businesses who are not chasing incredibly competitive keyword searches, or who have very limited budgets. Negotiation at the beginning of any campaign should ensure variety and consistency are always able to be monitored as work is going on. Back links and general promotional work need to be varied consistent.
Against A Fixed Price
Larger companies who wish to really achieve a successful campaign really need to embrace the fluidity that that campaign will encompass. You could fix certain prices for certain tasks, for example blog posting or citation creation. The more creative marketing strategies will need to have more room to grow and alter. Advertising campaign using media buying or high traffic sites is an example of this. Sometimes campaigns will have to grow or they will fail. It is hard to hold a budget unless a very high figure is given to insure that future advancement is not threatened. Here are a few reasons why a fixed price monthly or weekly strategy might not work for larger campaigns.
– Variation can be sacrificed in order to stick within a fixed budget.
– There is no guarantee that you will need to spend your entire budget one month and hardly any of it the next. Working month by month, or job by job can avoid the need to over spend one minute and under the next.
– Fixing a price for a long period of time reduces the ability to be fluid and react to problems as they may arise. This means that you will have to change the budget anyway to attain success, and that breaks any fixed term agreement.
A Healthy Compromise.
The way that many companies are moving towards, is one where consultancy, ie, information and strategy creation, can be fixed at a number of hours per month. As part of this consultancy, products and strategies can be recommended, with price guidelines to clients. The benefits and purpose of them can be made clear as well. This means that there is a real transparency with regards to what is being done each month for the company.
Fixing the price of the seo or marketing agent’s time can help with price negotiation and means that you will have a regular online marketing plan being delivered to you and your company, highlighting fresh ideas to achieve your goals. You will also know exactly what you are spending your money on, and what the end goal of that action is intended to be. The amount of hours you utilise an agency for can be arranged for six month periods at a time, allowing you the security of knowing that each month your campaign will be varied and able to adapt to any changes with your competitors, or the marketplace.
Daniel Vassiliou is CEO of Endurance Seo