4 Ways Outsourced Marketing Could be the Solution to Your Problems

Today’s marketing is complex, and that can be scary. Yesterday, marketing was a little simpler: You had a set of “marketers” who knew “marketing.” They tackled everything — because they could. In today’s world of marketing technology, paid media, remarkable content, and integrated campaigns, the marketing team is a group of specialists who know how to negotiate the new marketing landscape, recommend the most effective tactics, and make everything work together.

For those of you tasked with the success of the effort, the issues around how to get the “win” in today’s marketing are many and varied. How can your marketing team become successful today if you only have the budget to support “yesterday’s” team? How do you get something new into market if your busy staff is already stretched thin? How do you show ROI on all of the effort? How do you train your team to be crackerjack marketers? What happens when your crackerjack marketers jump ship? I could keep going, but you get the idea. Sometimes panic is the first reaction when these kinds of problems present themselves, but outsourcing may be a more reasonable option to address them. Here’s why outsourcing your marketing (or at least some of it) can be the answer for conquering today’s marketing challenges.

1. Multiple areas of expertise

As I said earlier, the days of one person being able to handle every aspect of marketing are gone. And most companies don’t have the budget to hire a full-time employee to meet every marketing need. Enter the outsourced agency. When you outsource, your business gets access to experts in precisely the areas where you need help, from content to technology and everywhere in between.

When your company implements something new, like a marketing automation platform, the answer might not be to hire a marketing technology genius to implement the platform and train staff. Because that could very well be too much expertise and experience (and salary) for your ongoing needs. But that person IS who you need to get moving out of the gate. Outsourcing gives you access to that expert for as long as you need him or her, so you can choose (and change) your priorities based on your needs and goals

2. Experience and insight

Similarly, with an expert from an established marketing agency, you are actually getting both “specialist” knowledge and a depth of industry knowledge that you don’t get in a single full-time employee. Beyond just the specific expertise of that outsourced expert, you get the agency’s full understanding of your market. Your agency has worked with lots of clients — often, businesses that are in the same category as yours. That means you get a depth of expertise around what kinds of tactics and messaging resonate with your audience — and what doesn’t.

And because outsourced marketing agencies work with so many clients, they’re required to come up with efficient processes that drive success at every step of the engagement. That means they can bring established processes for planning, reporting, execution, and communication — which can quickly put your company on a path to success.

3. Stability of resources

Many companies hire internally because leadership wants access — whenever they need it — to the team doing the work. And this is a great solution until someone gets sick or decides to leave the company. When your marketing technology specialist calls in sick, you likely don’t have a backup who can perform the exact same function at the same level of expertise. So, you just have to put things on hold until he or she returns to work. And it’s even worse if that person resigns; between hiring and onboarding, you’re probably looking at about two to three months until you have a replacement on board. Marketing agencies, on the other hand, have multiple layers of staff, so no matter what comes up, you have someone to address your needs.

4. Scalability and speed to market

Your team is busy getting the day-to-day marketing out the door, so when it’s time to launch a new product or service, you either put some stuff on hold, make them all work a LOT more, or you get some outside help. Outsourced marketing teams are designed (and hired) to be quick and nimble. That means they’re staffed and incentivized to get your strategies into market quickly, while an internal team may not have the resources or bandwidth to commit to that goal in the same timeframe.

Along the same lines, if your strategy shifts or marketing needs suddenly increase, an agency has the resources and specialists to accommodate that change — whereas with an internal team, you’d have to spend valuable time hiring additional resources.

The list of why today’s marketers should outsource and how it can lead to success is probably as long as my arm. But remember, outsourcing is not an all-or-nothing thing. You can use it just when you need it, outsource it all and stay lean internally, or supplement your team in one particular area for the short- or long-term. Learn more about whether outsourced marketing is right for you and how best to use it in our eBook, “Insource, Outsource, or Hybrid: How to Build the Most Effective Marketing Team.”

About Yvonne Lyons:

Yvonne Lyons is Right Source’s vice president of creative services, overseeing content and design for all of our clients. She ensures that all creative produced at Right Source is of the highest quality and is aligned with our clients’ business strategy and goals. Yvonne received a bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in writing and literature and has more than 20 years of experience in marketing, branding, and communications.