There are numerous options for companies looking to assemble the best possible team to develop and execute a marketing strategy:
- Opting to build their in-house marketing departments, initially staffing up in the areas they see as most crucial.
- Hiring an agency or contractors to handle all or most of their marketing, typically by startups, smaller businesses, or companies with robust recommendation funnels.
- Employing a combination of in-house workers and outside experts to get the job done.
In this post, we’ll discuss the most common reasons businesses choose to outsource, hire a team, or adopt a hybrid strategy, so you can determine which option is best for your organization.
What Is Outsourced Marketing?
When you outsource your marketing, you hire an outside company to handle all or part of your promotional efforts. Consequently, an outsourced marketing team can either completely replace the need for in-house staff or work with existing in-house personnel. On the other hand, in-house marketing encompasses all promotional efforts made in-house rather than by external agencies.
Forms of Marketing Tasks You Can Outsource
Whatever marketing tasks you’re handling in-house, you can outsource them if that’s more cost-effective. Below are some of the marketing services that you can outsource:
- Market Research
- Content Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Conversion Rate Optimization
- Campaign Development & Deployment
- Marketing Automation
- Marketing Analytics
- Social Media Management
Why You Might Want to Outsource Your Marketing
There are various factors to consider when deciding whether or not to outsource a company’s marketing department. The two most common arguments in favor of outsourcing are cost and efficiency.
A company’s brand, culture, and product are essential to any channel’s success, and an in-house team has this knowledge and may have even created it. Even so, there are situations where it makes more sense for your business to outsource specific tasks to an external marketing team.
Some of the most common situations a business might want to hire a marketing agency:
1. The Lack of Marketing Know-How in-House
Your company may need to experiment with new marketing mediums or strategies to see improved results from its current initiatives. If that’s the case, you should look elsewhere for the marketing expertise you’ll need to adopt these novel approaches. In most cases, it is more cost-effective to outsource a marketing team member’s duties than to hire a new employee.
2. You Don’t Need to Hire a Full-Time Marketer
There are various reasons why a company might not want to employ a marketer full-time. The company may be amid a volatile market, actively seeking funding, or concentrating on some other aspect of the business. Altering the size of a marketing department in-house is a tedious and expensive process. If you outsource your marketing, you can easily adjust your marketing efforts and budget up or down in response to market fluctuations.
3. You Can’t Possibly Do It All By Yourself
Many in-house marketers need more time and bandwidth to independently handle every facet of marketing. Outsourcing is a great option if this is the case. An outsourced marketing agency can take on the heavy lifting when you simply don’t have the time to do it in-house.
4. Accelerate Your Marketing Efforts
When looking to increase marketing efforts, hiring for a new marketing position in-house can be a time-consuming process. Consider all the steps involved in advertising a marketing position, sorting through applications, holding virtual interviews, and settling on a remote team. With the help of a marketing agency, you can make quick adjustments and benefit from their experience. If you need to make rapid changes to your marketing strategy, a marketing agency can help because they are already established, have experience managing campaigns, and can get to work immediately.
Reasons to Hire In-House
There are many situations in which outsourcing marketing teams is the most convenient and economical option. However, additional considerations are needed, as there are legitimate reasons for bringing marketing functions in-house.
1. You Would Rather Not Rely on an Outside Source
You want to put only some of your marketing eggs in one basket and rely on an outside agency to handle everything for you. A hybrid outsourcing strategy can help mitigate this problem. You should keep someone on staff to oversee the marketing department and hire an outside marketing firm to help fill in the gaps.
2. Your Organization Sees Radical Expansion in The Future
When your budget and projected growth rate allow it, it can be beneficial to staff up internally. If you have your in-house team, you get exclusive service. Large businesses typically have sizable marketing departments that handle everything from search engine optimization (SEO), social media management, website development, and advertising. On other occasions, a combined strategy is the most effective method. For example, you could supplement your in-house team with an outside agency specializing in a specific field.
Making the Choice That Best Serves Your Company
Deciding to outsource your marketing requires a lot of consideration. In the end, you’ll need to decide whether or not a team of employees, an outside agency, or a hybrid of the two best serves your marketing efforts. As you plan your marketing strategy for the year, consider your options to determine where your brand’s resources will yield the best results.
Still trying to decide if outsourcing your marketing will help you get more leads, close more deals, and expand your business? Get in touch with KSI Marketing Agency today, and we’ll help you develop integrated inbound and outbound marketing strategies. We have the track record to prove it!