Figuring out if your business is a good fit to outsource your marketing efforts requires you to first understand the capabilities of your business.

Are you doing a good job marketing your business? Do you have the internal resources required to market your business effectively and efficiently? Do you compromise on the quality of your marketing?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, perhaps outsourcing your marketing efforts could be the answer. Often thought as an expense center for most businesses, there are many benefits to having a team located outside of your building that goes way beyond saving money. Many small business owners are quickly learning that outsourcing marketing responsibilities can be a great idea.

Here are some points to consider;

When running a small business it’s important to use your time and resources wisely by focusing on what you are good at. Being mediocre in several functions v’s being great in just a couple is not a great strategy to adopt.

If you’re a great chef and know how to deliver killer dining experiences, then focus on that and leave the other stuff to people who are good at those, ie marketing, financials, human relations.

Hiring top notch staff is difficult at the best of times and if you are a small or new business owner, it can be even tougher. Finding a great marketing manager that has a good handle on all facets of marketing isn’t easy particularly when there are so many great opportunities in the marketplace. Finding good talent requires more than an investment in salary, it takes time, expertise and patience.

The decision to outsourcing staffing in the areas of accounting, customer service and sales is already quite common. How many business owners do you know that do their own taxes?

Outsourcing your marketing team is becoming a more common practice, particularly for small & medium businesses. The benefits in having an entire marketing team on your side that offer a wide and diverse range of solutions compared to hiring one full time person who’s skills are stronger in some areas more than others is obvious.

Consider this; in building your own marketing team, the following positions would be considered key components.  

• Marketing Manager – $60k to $100k
• Digital Media Specialist – $50k to $90k
• Social Media Specialist – $50k to $90k
• Graphic Designer –  $40k – $70k
• Web Developer – $50k – $70k

      $250,000 to $420,000 per year!

Because this structure and level of investment is not feasible for many businesses, it’s not uncommon for many to fall into the trap of using several freelance type operators on an ‘as needed’ basis. This structure often looks something like this;

• My son’s friend looks after our website
• My office manager looks after our graphic design needs & social media.
• We have a sign company doing our signage
• We use staples to print our business cards and flyers

While this may be an attractive solution, it can be DETRIMENTAL to your brand and your business. Your brand is your businesses personality, its important that the tone and messaging you present to the market is clear & consistent across all channels at all times.

Some other benefits of outsourcing include:

• Cost: At much less than the cost of one full-time executive, you get an entire team of experts.
• Time: You save on all of the time it takes finding someone — or trying to learn the entire marketing field yourself.
• Experience: Your team will benefit from the experience brought to the table by your partner, such as familiarity with your target market and the many marketing channels and opportunities available.

Find what works for you?

Outsourcing isn’t going to be the right for every business, it’s your job as the owner/manager of your business to know if it’s right for you. If you are a larger organization, it’s still important to have an internal marketing team. No one knows your company, product, or service better than you do! Outsourcing your marketing team can be a big decision. It can provide huge value by putting your business in the hands of an expert team. The key thing to consider in making this call is to do the research, understand and be honest about yours and your employee’s capabilities.