The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Marketing

Despite this month’s new budget and the tax changes announced by the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, global economic and business conditions continue to be difficult for most organisations.

For businesses, it’s an ongoing battle to find ways to differentiate, innovate and stay ahead of the competition whilst at the same time managing costs, streamlining operations and maximising efficiencies.

One traditional approach to cost savings when facing sales pressures is to cut back on discretionary expenditure, so areas such as training, travel, capital investment and marketing tend to be the first to come under the microscope.

Yet while most business analysts agree that cutting back the marketing budget may be short-sighted and ultimately, damaging to competitive positioning, there is an alternative.

The most common casualties of marketing budget cutbacks

The following measures can result in short-term savings in marketing budgets, though may also have long-term consequences on brand growth and market visibility.

Yet, it’s surprising how many businesses do opt for cutting back on marketing before weighing up the potential consequences.

Reducing Brand Advertising Spend

Companies often first look to cut back on advertising expenses, especially display advertising by reducing the budget allocated to these channels or pausing under-performing campaigns. Instead they may decide to favour more targeted forms of advertising, such as PPC (pay per click).

Reducing Event Marketing and Sponsorships

Costs associated with event marketing, trade shows and sponsorship can be significant. Companies might opt to reduce their presence at industry events, switch to virtual events, or cut back on sponsorship deals to save on marketing costs.

Reducing Creative and Production Costs

There might be a focus on reducing costs associated with more expensive types of creative work, such as video production in favour of sourcing content from libraries or using more still photography and graphics.

Reducing Marketing Headcount

As a more drastic measure, companies may reduce their marketing team size through redundancies or by not filling vacant positions. This can lead to immediate cost savings but may also impact the company’s marketing effectiveness in the long term.

The solution to marketing budget woes: outsourcing to expert providers

If you, as a director of a small-to-medium sized business or, as marketing director coming under budget pressure from your board, are facing any of the issues outlined here, then a practical way to achieve the best of both worlds may well be the ‘outsourced marketing’ route.

In this next section, we’ll look at some of the practical benefits to outsourced marketing.

Access to Specialised Expertise

Outsourcing your marketing to an agency gives you direct access to a broad range of multidisciplined experts who live and breathe marketing.

As well as having specific creative and design skills, a good quality integrated marketing agency will have experts who think with a marketing mindset, and are well-versed in key techniques such as SEO, PPC advertising, social media management, email marketing and content marketing.

Overall, marketing agencies bring a level of expertise that is hard to match in-house without significant investment in recruitment and training.

Cost Efficiency

Building and managing an in-house marketing team can be extremely beneficial, but it is also expensive. It involves salaries, benefits, training and – of course – time off for holidays and sick leave. New employees may also take months to get up to speed. Outsourcing, on the other hand, means you pay for a custom-selection of marketing services based on your precise needs, so any savings can be redirected to other critical areas of your business.

For more on this subject, you may find our dedicated article useful: How outsourcing marketing can save you money.

Lower management overhead

Managing a team can be time-sapping. By outsourcing your marketing, you will typically deal with one or two individuals who, in turn, will manage the entire delivery of your marketing operations, from your marketing strategy and plan, to your branded media creative and outbound or inbound marketing execution. Plus you won’t pay for sick days or annual leave!

Quick Scalability

As your marketing fluctuate seasonally or with the growth phases of your business, outsourcing provides the flexibility to scale your marketing efforts up or down based on current business requirements. This means there’s no need to recruit or layoff staff, giving you flexibility through the year to adapt to market demands.

New Ideas, Fresh Perspectives and Innovation

An external marketing team always brings fresh eyes and new ideas to your marketing strategies. Outsourcing can infuse your marketing efforts with creative, innovative approaches that you might not have considered internally. External teams work across various industries and bring a wealth of knowledge and perspectives that can differentiate your brand in a crowded market.

Faster Time to Market

Outsourcing your marketing can significantly reduce the time it takes to conceptualise, create and launch campaigns. External agencies have the resources, tools and expertise to execute quickly and efficiently, often allowing you to respond to market trends and opportunities more swiftly than could be achieved in-house by a sole marketing director or business director.

Access to Advanced Technologies

Marketing agencies often have access to superior marketing tools and analytics – plus the expertise to go with them – than many business owners or sole marketing directors might. By outsourcing the skills needed to manage your website, your email marketing, Socials, SEO, PPC or Google Analytics, you’ll benefit from these advanced technologies without the hefty investment or learning curve required to use them effectively. This can lead to more sophisticated marketing strategies and better ROI.

Conclusion

Outsourcing your marketing can offer a competitive edge, allowing you to leverage expert knowledge, save costs, and focus on your core business activities. It offers scalability, fresh perspectives, faster time to market and access to advanced technologies.

For businesses looking to optimise their marketing efforts while staying agile in a dynamic market environment, outsourcing presents a compelling strategy worth considering.

Speak to our team at C4B Media about one of our outsourced marketing packages. We’ll be pleased to help!