Attitude Creativity
Every business owner or executive knows how important marketing is for getting the word out about your business and getting in front of the best potential customers. The process of building and implementing an effective marketing strategy is complicated enough, but the even greater challenge may be deciding whether to keep the efforts in-house or outsource to an experienced agency.
When Not to Outsource
You’re already getting results.
If your in-house marketing efforts are keeping the lead funnel full and producing sales, then you may not need outside marketing management. But it’s important to remember that the landscape can—and does—change rapidly, so forming a relationship with an agency that can provide periodic consulting and training for your team can be beneficial.
You have a full team in the marketing department.
If you are already fully staffed for marketing, then outsourcing isn’t a necessity. But if you’re lacking in any particular area, don’t think you can’t make use of an agency. Outsourcing to cover a gap or weak spot can bolster the quality of your own efforts—and results.
You’re a pro at both marketing and reporting.
If you have all the knowledge you need about marketing (and keep up with constant changes), and you have all the data and analysis you need to determine what works, what doesn’t, and the overall ROI, then outsourcing isn’t for you. But that probably means you sell marketing services—or perhaps should!
When to Outsource
You’re not getting results.
The internet is a crowded landscape, so it’s easy to chase results but not ever find them (and waste a lot of money in the process) due to inexperience. Your expertise is your business and the products or services you sell. You probably didn’t go to marketing school and don’t have years or experience in the field. So rather than struggling, outsourcing will give you an experienced and knowledgeable partner, and is an investment in future profit rather than an expense.
The job is too big.
Do you have a marketing team? A single overworked person? An employee tasked with adding marketing onto their “regular” work? It’s tough to get results when there’s more to be done than can be managed in-house. Get better results with an agency team that can be far more effective and efficient due to experience and immersion in the industry.
The impossible task of measurement.
It’s tempting to try tons of tactics in the effort that something brings in results. But if you try this broad approach but without strategic data gathering and reporting, you’ll never know what worked and what didn’t or how to optimize for the best ROI. Poor or nonexistent reporting, and therefore the inability to make business decisions from those results, can waste tons of money. An agency partner can plan and implement data collection and provide reporting based on the metrics that truly demonstrate business-goal-based success.
Tyranny of the urgent.
Having too small a marketing department or divided attention from staff also assigned to other responsibilities can keep your efforts of a treadmill of sorts: running in place from the tyranny of the urgent. Deadlines always seem too close. You’re checking items off the “to-do” list but there’s no solid strategy behind it. Instead, an agency can help develop a business-goal-focused multi-channel strategy where the actions on the to-do list have meaning and purpose—with attainable milestones and deadlines.
A full-service agency contract isn’t right for everyone. But agencies that you can outsource to offer an array of services that can benefit even companies that manage the majority of their own marketing. And for those companies that have been muddling through with too few resources, it may be time to take the leap to working with an agency that can help you meet not just the marketing goals but your business goals—and help you be even more profitable. Have questions, or are ready to get started developing a solution for your needs? Reach out and book a call!
