Numerous businesses are struggling to fill full-time marketing positions as a result of The Great Resignation. There are several job openings, from CMOs to junior marketers, and it appears that this trend will continue beyond 2023.
Many businesses that previously did not need to outsource their marketing are now considering doing so as a result of these developments. In this article, we’ll explain the benefits of outsourced marketing and how to make it effective for your business.
Outsourced marketing services: advantages and disadvantages
Keeping a company’s work entirely internal has benefits, particularly in terms of administration and structure. There are, however, some circumstances in which outsourcing marketing is the best choice.
The marketing function can be entirely internal, completely outsourced, or a hybrid of the two. After all, compared to internal teams, marketing firms typically offer a wider range of services, have a team with more varied specialties, and are able to work more quickly.
It could be time to outsource your marketing if your in-house team is overworked and behind schedule.
When Should Marketing Be outsourced?
Listed below are a few situations in which your business would profit from outsourcing its marketing:
- The economy is booming. Through web marketing, your business wants to keep up the momentum.
- You desire to hasten growth.
- You and your staff are strapped for time and lack the bandwidth to carry out effective campaigns.
- As opposed to operations, you should concentrate on insights.
- You want professionals handling your marketing.
- A cohesive marketing approach is what you want.
- Get in front of the curve is what you want.
Where Should You Outsource Your Marketing?
Once more, not all of your marketing needs to be outsourced. You could contract out:
- Content Promotion
- Email Promotion
- Marketing Strategy for Social Media Marketing and Influencer Marketing
- Analytical Marketing Digital PR
And any other component of your PR or marketing.
To summarise: When determining whether aspects of your marketing could and should be outsourced, take into account your in-house workload, skill levels, timescales, and other criteria.
Are you curious about the benefits of outsourcing certain marketing-related tasks? Here is a brief explanation:
Delegate Your Content Marketing
- Positioning your company as a knowledgeable thought leader
- More pertinent and captivating information for your ideal client
- Boost the calibre and output of your material.
- Streamline the production of content
- Allow for fresh perspectives, platforms, and skill sets to keep your material relevant.
Contracting Out Email Marketing
- Boost personalization and automation based on user behavior
- Streamline the timing and distribution of email marketing
- Ensures you are not violating any laws pertaining to spam, unsolicited emails, or unsubscribe
- Helps with a thoughtful “drip campaign
Using Outside Influencers For Marketing
- Establishes your company’s reputation as a reliable and credible industry leader.
- Establishes long-lasting connections with key figures in the public and/or your sector.
- Increases the ROI and SEO of your website by reaching out to more people.
- Use social media to create a community around your company.
Marketing via social media is outsourced
- Increasing brand awareness
- Concentrate on one or more social media channels
- Posting automatically
- Make use of social media specialists to keep your marketing current and reachable, spark interest, and follow trends.
Here is your 6-step approach to outsourcing marketing, without further ado.
1. Choose between working for an agency or as a freelancer.
How can you tell which option is best for you: an agency or a freelancer?
Here is a contrast between the two:
FREELANCERS:
- Usually, they bill by the hour or by the job.
- Availability outside of regular business hours
- You normally speak with one person as a client.
- Probably juggling other tasks in addition to yours
- May be an expert in something
AGENCIES:
- Normally, bills are paid each month.
- Comparable accessibility to regular business hours
- You typically only have one point of contact as a client.
- Most likely juggling many projects and clients
- Can offer both breadth and depth
2. Create A Budget
Setting your budget might make it clearer whether your business should hire a freelancer or a marketing outsourcing agency.
Take into account factors such as:
- How much it costs you in terms of time and money to keep things in-house. A rough estimate of the resources you’ll (theoretically) be freed up can be obtained by starting with the salaries of your workers and figuring out how much time they spend on the tasks you’ll be outsourcing.
- How long you intend to work with the agency or freelancer. Do you plan to outsource a single campaign that will last a month? Or are you seeking a committed relationship?
- Any possible savings from equipment, contractors, or other services that you won’t require after starting to work with the independent contractor/agency.
3. Specify Your Marketing Needs In Detail
You should establish the marketing needs and priorities for your company before beginning the search phase.
Which marketing initiatives are currently most important to you? Is the webpage being updated? establishing a presence on social media? updating your SEO plan?
If you already have an internal marketing staff, think about their advantages and disadvantages. What do they do well manage? What are they having trouble with? How can marketing outsourcing support your in-house team rather than replace it?
4. Begin your hunt
TAKING A LOOK AT MARKETING AGENCIES
LinkedIn is a great resource for researching marketing agencies. You might do a straight search for agencies or ask your connections who they hire for marketing outsourcing. These kinds of recommendations might be quite helpful during the screening process. Look at current marketing initiatives that you find appealing and that would work well for your project. What companies were behind the campaigns?
Once you have the names of agencies, get in touch with them directly, via their website, or via a social media site like LinkedIn to start a dialogue.
WHAT ARE THE KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF A MARKETING AGENCY?
When looking for companies for outsourcing marketing services, keep the following in mind:
- Are they well-known, making a difference, and having influence in their field?
- Multifaceted: Has this company worked with a range of clients in your sector before?
- Reputation: Do you have any outside opinions about this organisation? What opinions do others have about it?
- Response period How long did it take this organisation to respond to you? They either responded quickly or slowly.
- Partnership: In general, do you feel that this agency is a good fit for your needs? Can you picture productive teamwork and clear communication? Take note of the way they speak to prospective clients in their blog posts, website text, and other materials. They appear approachable. Knowledgeable? Interested in working together as opposed to just controlling?
SEARCHING FOR FREELANCERS
Here’s how to look for independent contractors with experience in outsourced marketing:
- Create a job posting on LinkedIn and other business websites.
- Post to online forums and communities for professionals.
- By examining the writers of the blog posts and articles you enjoy, you may do research on the existing bloggers in your field.
WHAT QUALIFICATIONS SHOULD A FREELANCER HAVE?
Consider the following while evaluating a freelancer:
- Do they have experience in your industry?
- Do they possess the abilities you’re seeking for?
- Reliability: Are they prepared to provide references or do they have any independent reviews?
- How do they set up engagements in terms of contracts and payments? Are the payment terms and platform something you can deal with?
In the end, you want a freelancer or agency that works well with your business. Once more, think about how the collaboration might support your marketing strategy and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your campaign.
5. Provide detailed instructions
Once you’ve chosen your company or freelancer, go to work!
Give incredibly explicit instructions to get things going in the proper direction. Please be as detailed as you can. You might even provide examples of what you have in mind.
Include a thorough explanation of your target audience as well. Time and energy will be concentrated on going in the right direction by providing specifics, clarifying expectations, and providing clear information for all channels of the marketing campaign. Consider letting your agency or freelancer develop the resource they need by working with you if they ask for something you don’t have, such buyer personas.
Starting strong and sticking with it is so much more beneficial than encountering numerous roadblocks and miscommunications. If the basic notions are unclear, it may be challenging to get back on track.
6. Work Together With Your Team And Think Creatively
Collaboration with your team is crucial, but so is defining expectations and being clear about what you are looking for. You are outsourcing because you want your brand to develop and grow, and you can’t accomplish so if you ignore the suggestions of your marketing staff.
As your campaign progresses, be sure to keep an open mind to the suggestions made by your team. The best outcomes come from listening intently and experimenting. Consult your publicist and/or marketers on the best ways to raise brand awareness and return on investment. Do they believe that your campaign should prioritise earned media? Or do they advocate a mixed marketing model (this is actually our preferred tactic)?
Try setting up a brainstorming session where you and your team may think outside the box if a specific campaign plan is not working. Since the world of B2B marketing is complicated, having an open mind is essential to resolving issues and advancing your business.
7. Continuously Assess Progress, But Avoid Micromanaging.
Be prepared to track the agency’s or freelancer’s advancement in the early phases of your cooperation, but refrain from micromanaging. Open communication is essential, but allowing your skilled marketing agency or freelancer the creative space they need is exactly why you engaged them in the first place. Allow them to do their best work by paying close attention to the process without putting too much pressure or oversight on them.
Still not certain if outsourcing your marketing is the best move for you? For further advice, get in touch with Zen Media right away. We eagerly await your feedback.
