Benefits of Outsourcing Digital Marketing

At some point in their journey, most businesses conclude that they need professional marketing assistance. There are two ways to acquire that expertise – hiring full-time employees or outsourcing to a consultant or agency. There are pros and cons to both approaches, and this article is written for the executive or manager who is considering outsourcing a part or all of their company’s marketing program.

Here are some questions to consider before engaging an agency:

Is marketing your core competency? Your company’s core competency might be innovating technology-based solutions, offering specialized services or unique products, finance, media or manufacturing. Although many businesses know they need “marketing,” they don’t always know exactly what that means. Your architects, engineers, coders, attorneys, healthcare workers or machinists know a lot about their jobs, but they might not be skilled in digital marketing, marketing automation, website solutions, e-commerce, graphic design or social media. Engaging a digital agency can help jump-start the marketing effort with experts who have “been there, done that.” The old saying is true, “If you think hiring a professional is expensive, just wait until you hire an amateur.”

What can you afford? Many managers believe that hiring a digital marketing agency is costly, something that only Fortune 500 companies can afford. In fact, engaging a digital agency focused on serving small to medium-sized business can actually cost less than a full-time marketing specialist. Plus, you get a team of people working on your behalf without incurring the additional costs of benefits, taxes, training and other hidden costs of competing for talented resources.

The old saying is true, “If you think hiring a professional is expensive, just wait until you hire an amateur.”

Do you need budget flexibility? Budgets are based on assumptions and expectations about the market. Market conditions, however, can change quickly and without advance notice, as the pandemic has shown. If your business plan is subject to uncertainty – maybe it’s a startup, you are launching a new product, or you have limited capital – it is easier to renegotiate services with an agency than firing a full-time employee or changing job responsibilities, both which can negatively impact morale.

What skills do you need? As we like to say at Prism Group, we don’t compete with your team, instead we complete it with the skills you need to strengthen and complement your internal resources. Many businesses have some kind of internal marketing or sales resource, but it is rare for one individual to possess all of the skills needed to develop, execute, manage and analyze a marketing program. Talented graphic designers are not always the best at strategy or copywriting, and data junkies who can slice and dice market segments may not be able to draw more than a stick figure. A partner marketing agency provides client companies with the critical “TTTP” of marketing: the Tactics, Techniques, Technologies and Procedures to either complement existing staff or establish a fully-outsourced marketing department at a cost lower than a company could otherwise do on their own.

Do you really have the time? Be honest with yourself, do you really have the time required to write content, design materials, update the website, run email campaigns, curate articles, manage social media, create ads, update SEO and analyze metrics? Marketing, as some business owners believe, is something they can do on their own in their free time, but that so-called “free” time quickly evaporates when higher priorities come calling, as they always do. The challenge with this approach is lack of consistency in developing marketing copy and content (they are different) and executing marketing campaigns. Inconsistent, intermittent communications rarely deliver results.

Does your team need an outside perspective? Even talented teams can suffer from groupthink or become tethered to the past. When markets change, the inability to adapt can be fatal. A digital agency can help in these critical situations by bringing in new ideas, skills and techniques faster than a company might be able to do on its own. Critically, during periods of transition, rapidly changing market conditions, new product launches or following a change in management or direction, an outside perspective can provide unique, creative, and executable ideas to shorten the timeline from planning to generating topline revenue.

Have you factored in the hidden costs? A common scenario that we see repeated time and again is when a company decides to bring marketing in house with the rationale that the new full-time marketing leader can assume many, if not all, of the responsibilities and tasks being performed by the digital agency. It makes sense in theory, but in practice it rarely works out that way. Going back to skill sets, it is exceedingly rare for one individual to have all the expertise required to run the entire marketing program. It is not unusual for management to be surprised when six months later the new marketing leader says he or she needs a budget to hire a designer, a marketing automation specialist, a digital content creator or strategy consultant. Wasn’t the new marketing hire supposed to replace the agency? Oh, and do not forget the hidden costs of employment taxes, insurance, benefits and training.

It is exceedingly rare for one individual to possess all of the skills needed to develop, execute, manage and analyze an ongoing marketing program.

Are you ready to provide access? Your marketing consultant needs access to your business and culture. Your agency needs to know what is working for your sales team, why deals are lost, what new offerings are on the product roadmap and your company’s strategic business objectives. The agency needs this information to determine which messages, channels and content will be most effective for building awareness and generating interest for your company’s brand and solutions with your target market. This collaborative approach ensures the digital marketing agency has all the information to know which of their full suite of expertise and capabilities to allocate to your initiatives.

Contact Prism Group today to get a free consultation on whether outsourcing is right for your organization. We have nothing to gain from working with a company who is not ready!

About Prism Group

Prism Group is a full-spectrum, multi-talented B2B agency focused on Energy Tech, Technology, Energy, Services and Media markets. Our work is telling stories that matter, because our clients are working to change the world for the better. What makes us different is that we put into action the strategies we recommend – we get it done, so you can get results and increase the value of your business.