You don't need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to assemble an excellent internal digital marketing team.
You can assemble an outstanding marketing team for a fraction of the cost of what many people believe is possible.
This article will compare the costs of hiring digital marketing employees in the USA against the cost of hiring part-time or full-time digital marketing staff in the Philippines and show you exactly how you can build a digital marketing team with a small business budget.
You will learn the following from reading this article:
- The cost of hiring digital marketers in the Philippines.
- The types of digital marketing virtual assistants.
- How to outsource to the Philippines and build your marketing team
How much does it cost to hire digital marketing staff in the Philippines?
You have three tiers of staff quality when you outsource to the Philippines. The first is the junior or entry-level staff, the second is intermediate, and the third would be senior or expert.
Entry-level is self-explanatory. Intermediate is usually someone with under five years of experience, and expert or senior is generally somebody with at least five years of work experience or somebody with exceptional skills.
Of course, which type of staff and the experience level you need ultimately determine how much you'll likely need to budget. As a general rule of thumb, I'd suggest you pay around 50% to 80% less than what the equivalent employee would cost you in the USA.
For example, a digital marketing manager would cost you $30.00 per hour in the USA, or $60,000 per year. Then I'd strongly suggest you budget between $500-$1000 per month to hire a digital marketing manager in the Philippines of the equivalent quality.
I use that rule of thumb because the key to successfully outsourcing to the Philippines is to replace expensive local employees, with remote staff in the Philippines, without compromising quality.
Yes, you want to save a lot of money. That's a given. However, if you push too hard and skimp too much, then you'll risk ending up hiring staff who are not of the quality that you need.
Like anything in life, there is a balancing act.
Thankfully, you can see thousands of Filipino workers on VirtualStaff.ph and see the exact salary rates.
In addition to that, I've listed below some ball-park figures for the various digital marketing staff that you might be looking to hire.
Why Outsource SEO from the Philippines?
- Cost effective: Many businesses today choose to outsource SEO services to the Philippines. Outsourcing SEO Philippines is a cost-effective way for companies to improve their online presence while keeping their expenses low. With a lower cost of living, companies can hire highly skilled SEO professionals in the Philippines without breaking the bank.
- Skilled workforce: One of the significant advantages of outsourcing SEO to the Philippines is the country's proficient workforce. There are many Filipino SEO professionals who are experts in their field, and they stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques. They have undergone various training programs and courses that focus on SEO, giving them the skills and knowledge to help businesses achieve their online goals.
- English proficiency: Another advantage of outsourcing SEO Philippines is the English proficiency of its workforce. Many Filipinos have a high level of English proficiency, making communication between businesses and outsourced SEO professionals smooth and hassle-free. This results in high-quality work that meets the clients' needs and requirements.
- Time zone: The time zone in the Philippines is another benefit for businesses outsourcing SEO services. The country is in a similar time zone to many Western countries, so communication and collaboration can happen in real-time without significant delays.
- Cultural similarities: Finally, the cultural similarities between the Philippines and Western countries are another advantage of outsourcing SEO to the Philippines. Filipino SEO professionals are often familiar with Western business practices and customs, which makes it easier for businesses to work with them.
Digital marketing virtual assistant
What is a digital marketing virtual assistant?
A digital marketing virtual assistant is a remote assistant who works on and manages your social media and online presence. Tasks they might do could include content creation, SEO, link building, outreach, social media management, and other related digital marketing activities.
I use the term digital marketing virtual assistant because many people attach the word virtual assistant to various positions when outsourcing to the Philippines.
The truth is, if you hire a digital marketing virtual assistant, they can probably do a variety of essential digital marketing tasks; however, don't expect them to be of the same ability as a digital marketing manager.
If you require a digital marketing manager, hire a digital marketing manager and not a digital marketing virtual assistant.
How much does hiring a digital marketing virtual assistant in the Philippines cost?
Entry-level: You're looking at perhaps $360-$600 per month.
Intermediate: I'd suggest paying a salary of between $500-$1300 per month.
Senior or Expert: I'd recommend budgeting between $700-$1600 per month to hire the best digital marketing virtual assistants.
Of course, these are my suggestions. If you use the Virtual Staff Platform, you can ultimately pay whatever you and the digital marketing virtual assistant agree.
Social media virtual assistant
What is a social media virtual assistant?
A social media virtual assistant is a virtual staff who will assist your company with social media tasks. You can hire a social media virtual assistant for between $360 - $1000 per month.
I'd recommend you read the article "how to work with a virtual assistant to manage your social media" to understand better how a small business owner can benefit from hiring a social media virtual assistant.
Please note: if you want to hire somebody to do PPC, I'd advise you to hire a PPC specialist, or PPC manager, or Google Ads manager, and advertise the job with a job title/job position matching one of those suggestions.
Generally, hire a virtual assistant for social media management. They will handle your social media branding, outreach, and community monitoring, but they may not be an expert when it comes to paid search advertising.
Suppose you require somebody who is a specialist in paid advertising. You can hire a Google Ads manager, Facebook ads manager, or PPC expert on VirtualStaff.ph for between $640 and $1300 per month.
How much does hiring a social media virtual assistant in the Philippines cost?
Entry-level: You're looking at perhaps $240 to $400 per month.
Intermediate: I'd suggest paying a salary of at least $400 to $1200 per month.
Senior or Expert: I'd suggest paying no less than $700 per month and setting a flexible budget of between $700 to $1500 to attract the best social media VAs.
Please remember the social media virtual assistant rates above are based on my opinion and our data from the thousands of virtual assistants registered on our platform.
Keep in mind that a junior is like a fresh graduate or someone new to the field, whereas a senior is somebody with a lot of experience and knowledge; however, a senior might well go under the job title of social media manager.
An experienced social media manager in the Philippines is in high demand and can often command a salary of at least $700. What you decide to offer your social media manager is ultimately up to you.
However, I find that generally, you should look to pay 1/4 to 1/3 of what a social media manager would cost you in the USA. That's the best rule of thumb to guarantee you hire Virtual Staff that will be as good, if not sometimes better, than the equivalent local employee you'd have ordinarily hired in your home country.
SEO virtual assistant
What is an SEO virtual assistant?
An SEO virtual assistant is a remote staff specializing in search engine optimization. You can hire and outsource SEO virtual assistant in the Philippines from $700 per month and upwards, depending on the experience level you need. The SEO VA will work on google optimization and other such tasks.
Again, as mentioned earlier, if you need an expert, I suggest you hire somebody under the job role of an SEO specialist. I'd also remind you that SEO involves both on-page and off-page optimization.
Your SEO virtual assistant should be able to do off-page SEO such as link building, content creation, keyword research, and advice on the overall SEO.
However, they may not be able to do all of the on-page SEO as that may involve the help of a web developer.
You can also hire an SEO expert if you need somebody who is 100% focused and skilled in search engine optimization. This might be a better hire than an SEO virtual assistant.
How much does hiring an SEO virtual assistant in the Philippines cost?
Entry-level: You're looking at perhaps $300 to $450 per month.
Intermediate: I'd suggest paying a salary of between $500 - $900 per month.
Senior: I'd suggest paying $700-$1200 per month.
Facebook virtual assistant
What is a Facebook virtual assistant?
Facebook virtual assistants are remote workers usually in the Philippines who will work on your Facebook page to create social content, message customers, and create engaging posts for your brand.
Usually, a Facebook virtual assistant will be hired under the social media virtual assistant title, as most businesses require their virtual assistant to engage across various social platforms.
How much does hiring a Facebook virtual assistant in the Philippines cost?
Entry-level: You're looking at perhaps $360-$500 per month.
Intermediate: I'd suggest paying a salary of between $500 - $800 per month.
Senior: $700-$1300 per month and above is what I'd recommend that you pay.
You can go to Virtual Staff and hire Facebook virtual assistants and what the actual asking salary rates are.
How to build an outsourced marketing team in the Philippines
I'll break this down into three sections, addressing a different type of business that would benefit from building a digital marketing team in the Philippines.
Small business owner: How can you benefit from outsourcing to the Philippines?
I suggest hiring a part-time or full-time digital marketing virtual assistant or digital marketing manager, depending on your budget. Their job will be to handle most of your digital marketing needs.
The "jack of all trades" is not the best hire for a larger business or an agency, but as a small business with under five staff, it's going to be the best value for your money.
If you can afford to, I always suggest hiring somebody full-time, as it means they are 100% dedicated to your business, and they see you as the employer instead of as a client.
If you can't afford to hire somebody full-time, then you'll still benefit by hiring somebody part-time.
Key things to do:
- Hire a digital marketing manager or digital marketing virtual assistant in the Philippines. Aim to hire an intermediate or senior level candidate, especially if you are not knowledgable about SEM and SEO etc.
- Set KPI's and discuss with your digital marketing virtual assistant the goals for your business. You must be both on the same page and provide you with ongoing reports on progress.
Digital marketing agency: How can you benefit from outsourcing to the Philippines?
I know a lot about this because, in our enterprise solution, we have digital marketing agencies in the USA, Canada, and Australia that we work with to help them build a professional outsourced team in the Philippines.
In most cases, I don't recommend hiring a single digital marketing virtual assistant!
Whether you are a one-person band with a handful of clients or an established digital marketing agency, I don't suggest you hire a one-person jack of all trades kind of virtual staff.
Instead, I suggest you hire people for specific positions and roles, and you gradually build your team as you grow your agency.
For example, we have a client in the States who has a small but fast-growing digital agency, and he hires four staff through us. He hired one graphic designer and subsequently added a second graphic designer before hiring an SEO specialist and a WordPress developer.
He started with one staff, then over about six months, he grew his team to 4. Previously, he was a one-person agency that relied on "freelancers," which proved costly and unreliable because they treated him as a client, not an employer.
Job positions to outsource to the Philippines (if you're an agency)
- Graphic designer
- Video editor
- Digital marketing manager (not digital marketing virtual assistant)
- Facebook ads manager (not a Facebook virtual assistant)
- SEO specialist or SEO manager (not SEO virtual assistant)
- PPC specialist
- Google Ads manager
I did not mention all the digital marketing job positions that you would benefit from outsourcing to the Philippines; however, I did list the key ones to illustrate my point.
My point is, as an agency, you want to hire specific staff, as opposed to virtual assistants.
How to build your digital marketing team in the Philippines?
Virtual Staff PH: The Philippines Outsourcing Platform
Choose from thousands of virtual staff in the Philippines by simply creating an account on VirtualStaff.ph, posting a job, and having the best applicants apply.
You can see how it works and create your free account within seconds!
Virtual Staff PH: The Enterprise Solution
If you'd like my team to handle everything and help you professionally build an outsourced team in the Philippines, you can check out our Enterprise solution.
If it's something you think you'd benefit from, getting started is incredibly easy, you schedule a call with one of our client success managers.
The enterprise solution costs more than if you do it yourself, and it's not for everyone; however, depending on your business and what you need, it is worth considering.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the benefits of outsourcing SEO to the Philippines?
Outsourcing SEO to the Philippines allows businesses to access highly skilled professionals at a fraction of the cost of hiring locally. With a strong pool of experts, Filipinos are well-versed in the latest SEO strategies and offer excellent English proficiency, ensuring effective communication and quality results.
2. How much does it cost to outsource SEO in the Philippines?
The cost of outsourcing SEO in the Philippines varies based on experience. Entry-level SEO virtual assistants may cost around $300–$450 per month, while intermediate professionals range from $500–$900. Senior SEO experts can command $700–$1200 per month, offering more advanced skills and expertise.
3. Why should I outsource SEO Philippines instead of hiring locally?
Outsourcing SEO to the Philippines can significantly reduce costs while maintaining high-quality services. The Philippines offers a large talent pool of SEO professionals who stay updated with the latest trends and techniques, and the country's favorable time zone makes collaboration easier with Western businesses.
4. What tasks can an SEO virtual assistant handle when I outsource SEO to the Philippines?
An SEO virtual assistant from the Philippines can handle a variety of tasks such as keyword research, link building, content creation, and off-page SEO activities. However, for more specialized on-page optimization, you may need an SEO specialist or web developer.
5. Can outsourcing SEO to the Philippines improve my website’s ranking?
Yes, outsourcing SEO to the Philippines can help improve your website’s ranking. Filipino SEO professionals are skilled in optimizing websites for search engines and can implement strategies that drive more organic traffic, enhance visibility, and boost search engine rankings.
6. How do I find the right SEO virtual assistant in the Philippines?
You can find the right SEO virtual assistant in the Philippines by using platforms like VirtualStaff.ph, where you can post job listings and review applicants' profiles. Look for candidates with relevant experience in SEO, positive reviews, and a strong understanding of search engine algorithms.
7. Is it safe to outsource SEO to the Philippines for my business?
Outsourcing SEO to the Philippines is generally safe, as long as you work with reputable platforms and professionals. VirtualStaff.ph, for example, provides a secure platform where you can hire trusted, vetted SEO experts who can help you achieve your business goals efficiently.
