Every company is different when it comes to outsourcing their marketing needs. Timing is a crucial factor in knowing when it is right or not. Many businesses have in-house marketing teams to handle the daily activities that come along with marketing, while others don’t have the space, capital or skills to have an in-house marketing team. No matter the size of your company, outsourcing can be a great solution for marketing needs.
#1: Keep Your Overhead Low and Reduce Risk
The first reason – outsourcing helps keep your overhead low. A lot of companies start out small and it is common for employees to have more than one job description. A standard mistake that many companies make is they hire too many people too quickly and do not have enough income being generated to cover all the overhead costs that come along with more employees. Basically, they expand too quickly.
For example, there are many local businesses in my home town that do this exact thing. Being a tourist town, you need to keep your overhead low so you can sustain the winter (non-tourist season) months. So many hire too many people, too quickly and as soon as the season changes or they lose a big client, they don’t have enough income coming in to last.
To avoid this common pitfall reduce your risk; outsource those things you aren’t an expert on.
#2: For Specialized Needs, Skills or Expertise
A common reason to outsource a task is when looking for a specialized skill set. For example, content creation is a common skill that is outsourced by many companies. Creating content is a key marketing strategy for all business sizes. It can come in the form of videos, blogs, photos, Facebook posts, tweets and much more. Most start-up or small businesses do not have the employees in-house that can write content for all of these types of mediums, nor do they have the time or money to do so.
There are an abundance of companies to use for outsourcing content and other skills as well. Select the companies that you trust and know your industry well. Typically, you want to use the same companies for outsourcing, especially for content creation. This way they can start to develop a constant voice for your content and truly learn the ins and outs of your business needs. Ideally, finding one company that does all your outsourcing needs is beneficial – though having a backup plan in place is also important. Shopping your work around can help you keep an eye on prices as well, to ensure you aren’t being taken advantage of by your preferred providers.
Common Marketing Skills & Tasks to Outsource:
- Content Marketing
- Website Creation
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Reputation Management
- Social Media Marketing
- Information Technology
#3: Increase Efficiency
Companies who do everything themselves have higher costs in these key areas:
- Research
- Development
- Marketing
- Distribution Expenses
If their costs are higher in these areas, it means more costs have to be passed on to the customer. An outsourced cost structure can ultimately give your company a competitive advantage. Of course, the right tasks do need to be chosen, you can’t simply draw from a hat to decide. You don’t want to simply outsource something because you don’t want to do it. It should be something you can’t afford to do, don’t have the skills for or do not have the time to do in-house.
Outsourcing can give your company an overall increase in structural efficiency. The smaller a company is, the more hats each individual wears. Because of this, it is hard for each employee to be an expert in all areas. I mean really no one can be good at everything. Each employee needs to focus on what they are good at and outsource the things they aren’t. By doing so, you can keep your overhead low and increase your efficiencies.
Final Thoughts
I know there is a fear when you look to outsource work for your business. However, outsourcing has come a long ways in the last few years and because of the demand there are many quality companies to choose from. If you are looking for a particular expertise, project management or searching for efficiency and faster growth; outsourcing is for you. Do your research before jumping in with both feet and you will be fine. I’ll leave you with one final thought:
“YOU CAN DO ANYTHING, BUT NOT EVERYTHING.” – David Allen