(Editor’s note: This is Part 1 in a two-part series about how a relationship with an inbound marketing consulting firm can fail. Don’t worry -- in Part 2 of this series we’ll lay out all the reasons your agency could be at fault.)

Dear Inbound Marketing Clients ...

There's a common misconception that hiring an agency to do your marketing is much more expensive than handling it internally.

The trick about marketing is that it's not one single job that you're paying someone to do. There are many tasks and responsibilities that require a variety of skill sets. The salary of an individual who can do all of those things effectively is much higher than a monthly agency retainer fee. Hands down.

"Marketing" is one word that encompasses a lot of components and gears and creative production. You may decide to outsource some of those pieces, while taking care of others in-house. So, the real question you want to ask yourself is: What parts of my inbound marketing strategy do I need to outsource, and which can I do internally?

For some of our clients, they can't do anything internally. Whether it's a matter of time, resources, or ability, they're simply unable to take care of their marketing strategies on their own.

Other clients have some experience with different aspects of marketing, plus a little extra time to churn those bits out. They take care of those pieces, and we handle the unfamiliar territory.

So, what are the different pieces that need work? How do you know if you can handle them yourself, or if you should hire an expert? Let's take a look.

As an executive, you work hard to put the pieces in place to achieve your goals. 

Sales and profitability are always items on your list of goals. That means successful inbound marketing should be one of the pieces on your radar. Let's take a look at the skill sets needed for inbound marketing success.

So you want to be a professional content writer. (Or maybe not, but your boss is making you do it anyway.) The only true way to become a decent writer is to practice, practice, practice. But you can't ask your boss, or team, or entire company to wait around while you do grammar exercises.

What can you do, starting now, to ensure your copy is up to snuff?

In order for your company to succeed, you have to be recognized. Creating brand awareness for your B2B company will help drive business and increase sales.

Is your B2B company the best-kept secret in the country? If so, I bet you would like to change that. Here's how.

In simple terms, an A/B test compares two versions of a web page to see which one performs better. (Let’s call them version A and version B.) The tester shows the experiment to users at random. The tester then uses statistical analysis to determine which version performed better. A/B testing can be incredibly helpful when improving your inbound marketing strategy.

How does inbound marketing work? When most manufacturers think of lead generation through their website, they think of RFQs, Contact Us, etc... It's not always clear to them at first, how a lead is generated with the inbound marketing process. 

If you work in digital marketing, you’ve heard of Databox. Maybe you’ve even used Databox. It’s a pretty neat online marketing analytics tool - convenient, timely, interactive, and groundbreaking in many ways. However, it’s not the best option for all businesses.

Analysis is the most overlooked part of sales and marketing strategies. Knowing what’s working -- and perhaps more importantly, why -- ensures you’re not throwing your money away on crappy campaigns. And what’s a better source of smug satisfaction than a chart showing how great your campaign is performing?