Most businesses have traditionally kept their marketing activities in-house. That is slowly changing as they acclimate to an international workforce.
I have worked with businesses that have used social media consultants on the other side of the world. More businesses are starting to outsource their marketing practices to independent contractors or other marketing agencies.
Advances in digital communications are making marketing more important than ever. You may be competing in a global workforce and traditional marketing tactics may no longer be effective. You need to make sure the people managing your marketing know what they are doing. You may be lucky enough to have great marketing talent in your agency, but you may need to consider outsourcing if things aren’t working out with them.
There are a number of potential benefits to outsourcing your marketing activities. Here are some factors you may want to consider:
Increased Cost-efficiency
You can lower your overhead by outsourcing these responsibilities instead of paying someone in house. You would need to pay a salary to an employee, even if you didn’t need them for anything; however, you only have to pay an outside marketing team when you need them. You also won’t have to pay the payroll taxes, insurance, training and other costs associated with keeping an employee on staff.
Specialized Knowledge
A marketing consultant in your organization is going to have expertise in areas that an in-house marketing team won’t have. Your team’s knowledge will most likely be using traditional industrial marketing practices to promote your business. An outsourced marketing team will have experience promoting a number of different businesses in various industries. They will probably be familiar with different practices your own team may not understand. They also probably have more extensive data showing which practices work and which ones don’t.
Break Groupthink
Most organizations tend to have a homogeneous work culture. In other words, people within the organization tend to think and behave in a certain way. This process can be unconscious. Many people often assume the way their coworkers think is the only right approach to take. The process can also be deliberate, because many people feel uncomfortable speaking their mind and challenging their coworkers’ ideas. Outsourced marketing agencies have a fresh perspective. They will be able to introduce different ideas that can have different results.
Frees Your Employees
Most organizations struggle to balance the relationship between creating a specialized workplace and having all their employees wear multiple hats. There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong approach to this; however, you will need to acknowledge that your employees can’t be experts in everything. Your resources will be better spent if you pay people to do what they excel at. You can free up your own employees and get them to spend more time working on the tasks they are best at.
Less Infrastructural
Marketing is usually a very complex function in any organization. You are going to need to invest in:
- Training and hiring costs
- Office space to accommodate your employees
- Computers, software, printers and other equipment needed to create promotional materials and complete your research
This infrastructure can both be very expensive and cumbersome to manage. Third-party marketing agencies are usually better equipped to handle the management and can absorb many of these costs by using their infrastructure on a larger economy of scale.
Consider Outsourcing Your Marketing Division
There are a number of benefits to outsourcing your marketing that you may want to consider. Many organizations are equipped to handle your marketing needs. You may want to consider the benefits and leverage the advantages of an outside marketing agency. A significant change such as this can be overwhelming for many businesses, but you may find that it is worthwhile if you see a better return from the dollars you spend on marketing.
About the Author: Kalen is an entrepreneur and internet marketer.