It is probably inevitable that in the long run you will gain substantial expertise with Digital. It is also perfectly feasible to develop a team to match any digital team anywhere. Many of the top digital businesses like Amazon and Facebook are already leading the way and teaching us what works as they use their greater clout and investment power to test and learn.
Some things remain fairly constant because they are rooted in human nature, but many aspects of Digital change without notice and we find out later. This is a stark reality driven but the dominance of Google and other top level Digital businesses who govern who finds our stuff and when.
For this reason it will always be wise to retain a strategic level whether in house or at a consulting firm whose role it is to stay abreast for these changes, learn for the community and retain the ability to react quickly.
Our experience is that more and more of our clients are partnering with us to provide strategic planning, some of the more expensive and specialised tools and some of the capabilities they don’t have in house, while they do the remainder themselves.
This can be a very sound approach for many growing businesses. Others, however achieve tremendous value through outsourcing the entire thing including site, hosting content and all promotion allowing them to focus entirely on what they are good at. This also a very good proposition for many small businesses in particular
It is a matter of deciding where your strengths are and focusing on what you do best