Being on a tight budget usually makes it difficult to try something new.
even if your team is very intelligent, trying to do every marketing strategy yourself in order to save money is not possible It’s not just that you don’t have the time to keep up with marketing trends–the industry is moving too fast for anyone to have all the requisite skills. If you want to implement a certain strategy, you need to have a team that is experts in that area. If your team does not have that expertise, then you need to find it from another source.
We will be looking at different marketing channels and the type of role/expert they need, as well as the average cost of hiring that role internally so you can figure out which option is best for your budget.
What is outsourced marketing?
When we talk about outsourcing, we’re referring to the process of delegating a business process to an external service provider. This can include everything from customer service to manufacturing. In this case, partnering with a team outside of your agency or company to complete various marketing initiatives is referred to as outsourced marketing.
This approach is based on the idea that not everyone is an expert in everything and that it can sometimes be more cost-effective to pay an external partner than to add another member to an in-house team. When companies want to explore a specific marketing approach or strategy, but they don’t have the internal resources to do so, they start the process of vetting agencies that do have those resources.
You shouldn’t wait until the last minute to start your outsourcing process because it’s not wise given today’s competitive landscape. It’s not always easy to figure out when to expand your marketing strategy to include an outside partner. It’s best to start outsourcing the minute you see any one or more of these key indicators:
- The number of closed deals is waning month over month.
- Your sales pipeline is drying up.
- Your social campaigns aren’t generating as many new leads as you hoped.
- You’re not getting any new email subscribers.
- You need to establish a brand identity.
- You need creative designs and content, like infographics, white papers, and images for social, etc.
- You’re making marketing choices that aren’t driven by strategy or data.
- Your website needs an update.
- You don’t have an SEO or linking strategy.
- Your business is growing, and your budget is expanding.
- Your marketing team’s capacity is limited.
- Your audience and/or industry has shifted.
These are just a few instances. You will usually know when it is time to outsource. It is important to take time to research different agencies before selecting one to work with.
Advantages of outsourcing marketing
Expertise
If you want to have a team that understands digital marketing, you should hire an in-house team. However, it is more difficult to compete with an experienced marketing agency that already has a lot of expertise. Experience working with multiple clients from different industries has made marketing agencies experts at what they do. The skills and experience they have will help them create a successful marketing campaign for you that you wouldn’t be able to do on your own.
Specialization
Marketing agencies are usually highly specialized in multiple areas and strategies, in addition to having a deep understanding of general marketing practices. Many agencies are made up of big teams with various types of marketing experts. In small teams, each marketer is typically responsible for multiple tasks. In contrast, large teams can divide different marketing strategies among different people.
There could be one group that focuses on paid advertising, and another group that only focuses on social media. This company specializes in making sure that each business tactic is carried out by people who are experts in that field, so that the results are the best they can be.
More flexible costs
Hiring in-house marketers comes with several fixed costs, the most notable being salary and benefits. No matter how big or small your budget is, or how successful your marketing is, you always have to spend money on your employees. When you outsource your marketing, it becomes more flexible in terms of cost. The amount you spend on your campaign can be altered to fit the particular plan you have selected as well as the strategies you plan to employ.
Better time management
One of the most prominent outsourcing benefits is time. If you manage your marketing in-house, it can take away from time you need to spend on other projects. When you hire an outside company to do your marketing, you can hand over all your marketing tasks to them. While an agency does your marketing for you, you can use your time to focus on other parts of your business.
How to know if outsourcing your marketing is right for you
- You’re anticipating growth. Outsourcing your marketing offers flexibility and scalability for a growing business that may not be possible with an internal team.
- You’re lacking the specialized expertise. Many small to mid-size businesses don’t have the data-driven expertise that is needed for effective marketing. If your business doesn’t have internal staff with the time or experience to manage your marketing efforts, then outsourcing could be a cost-effective alternative to recruiting.
- You want measurable ROI. When marketing is run on an ad-hoc basis, it can be hard to keep track of spending and return on investment. Outsourcing makes it much easier to manage costs and the return on your marketing investment.
- You need help with specific aspects of marketing. Outsourcing doesn’t need to be all or nothing. You may already have some internal resources but believe that there are other elements – such as design – that it would be more effective to outsource.
- You’re not getting the results you expected. Maybe you’re not getting the results you want from your current marketing efforts? With a marketing agency, you’ll get a full team of experts at your disposal, meaning greater access to a broader skill set and a fresh perspective.
7 marketing strategies you should outsource
We will now look at seven marketing tasks which you might want to outsource, and explore the different methods which would produce the best results.
PPC
PPC stands for “pay-per-click”. Paid advertising is a digital marketing strategy that involves paying for ads that are relevant to your website. Each time one of your ads is clicked on, you will pay a fee.
PPC advertising that is based on search engine results is the most popular method. If someone searches a term related to your industry or business, your site could appear as a top result. PPC is a way to pay for ad space on a website so that your company becomes an option when someone searches for a related term.
Bidding on terms that are related to your business will help you to be successful when using this approach. It is beneficial for your company to be relevant to what people are searching for because it increases the chance that the visitors to your website are interested in your company’s products or services.
A successful PPC strategy requires a few key components. You’ll want to include terms and phrases that your audience searches when looking for solutions in your keyword list.
Social media
Many businesses do not know how to utilize social media to its full potential. This text is saying that social media is often the last thing that people pay attention to, which can make it difficult to have a regular posting schedule. By employing a sound social media strategy, you can reap many benefits. Instead of waiting around for something to happen that you can post about, think proactively about the story you want your social media profiles to tell about your business.
An effective social media strategy is one that has an consistent presence and schedule. It’s okay if your posting schedule changes, but it’s important to be consistent and organized in your postings, and to have a plan so you can make the most of the content you’re creating and get it to your networks.
Content marketing
Exceptional content marketing is built on consistency. If you want to keep your content consistent, you’ll need a few key things, like a documented content strategy, an editorial calendar, a social media and distribution plan, and a dependable content creation process.
You need some key players to help you get the job done. Some traditional content marketing team members include:
- Project manager
- Writer
- Editor
- SEO specialist
- Designer
- Social media manager
If you cannot support all these roles with your internal resources, you may have to look for outside help. This is why most content teams have a small number of people on them, and individuals end up having to do more than one job. Some businesses choose to outsource their efforts so they can get more help for a lower price.
Email marketing
Many businesses believe that their email marketing strategy only needs to include occasional newsletters. Failing to put effort into your email communications is a missed opportunity to improve your sales and profitability.
An effective email marketing strategy requires more than just a few sporadic newsletters. You need to track your leads with a CRM that tells you where prospects are in the buyer’s journey and what interactions they’re having with your website. You can use the information you have to divide your leads into groups and send each group customized content that meets their needs.
An email marketing automation tool is necessary to create and maintain regular email nurture, or drip campaigns. This tool takes on a lot of the work so you don’t have to.
Web design
Many companies do not need to hire an in-house designer. Although it may be difficult to obtain, it is very useful to have. Your audience likes to consume content in various ways. Your marketing strategy will determine what sort of visual components, like infographics or videos, you will use as part of your interactive marketing campaign.
It’s also a good idea to have a web designer help you improve your website so it is easier to use and more functional. The user’s experience is a major factor in whether or not a potential customer will consider your company as a possible solution to their needs.
Lead generation
Generating leads is essential for the success of your business. A continuous supply of leads guarantees that you will always have a pool of potential customers to nurture and move through the funnel. If you’re regularly moving potential customers through your sales process, you should have a good number of opportunities to turn prospects into paying customers.
To generate leads, there are two broad strategies that encompass many of the other channels we’re covering in this article:
- Inbound marketing strategy: Using owned or earned media, like content marketing, webinars and social media, to drive organic traffic to your site to capture and further nurture through your sales pipeline.
- Outbound marketing strategy: This typically involves traditional outbound sales methods like cold-calling, networking, or vetting potential accounts that could be interested in what your company offers. It also includes using digital marketing tactics, like paid advertising, PPC and press mentions.
SEO
There is a lot of competition online, and if you’re not actively promoting your website, it’s unlikely that new customers will ever find it. To be effective with your SEO strategy and get your content to rank in search results over time, you have to do a few things:
- Create a keyword list based on words and phrases your audience uses in searches online
- Designate or create pillar pages. A pillar page is a page on your site that covers everything regarding a specific area of focus. They are also crucial in your linking strategy, as you’ll want to link other, more in-depth articles that touch on various aspects within that particular area of focus back to the corresponding pillar page.
- Optimize past content and create an internal linking strategy using those keywords to link to your pillar pages
- Facilitate earned media efforts, like a guest column in a reputable online publication where you can link back to your website and absorb some of that publication’s SEO juice
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