As mentioned in 5 Mistakes Made By Businesses Who DIY Their Marketing, I will always be a huge advocate for outsourcing your marketing, or anything else in your business for that matter. There are several ways in which outsourcing can be hugely beneficial for a business.
Here are 4 reasons I believe you should consider engaging with a professional for certain areas of your business (please note, I make references to marketing because that is my primary area of expertise, but these principles apply to any area of your business that could benefit from being outsourced):
1. It can save time and resources
Running a business is time-consuming, I think we’ll all be on the same page about that!
And resources, especially in those early days of business, can be relatively sparse.
Outsourcing the parts of your business that don’t necessarily fall into your area of expertise means that you don’t have to spend time learning how to do, before it can get done.
Having someone else take care of your marketing or your sales, for example, frees you up to work on the areas of your business where your skills can have the biggest impact, such as product development or operations.
It is so hard juggling all of those plates by yourself, so much so that you are more likely to drop a few without even noticing, not to mention that the quickest way to burnout is to keep doing everything on your own. (I say this with confidence because I know burnout all too well.)
2. It can provide access to specialised expertise.
Marketing agencies and consultants often have specialized knowledge and experience that a business may not have in-house. This can help to ensure that marketing efforts are effective and efficient.
Personally speaking, I have been in the marketing industry for almost 15 years and in that time I have had exposure to many different marketing techniques, worked across the full spectrum of the Digital Marketing channels, I have ran hundreds of marketing campaigns, ran even more tests across many different brands in a variety of verticals … when you outsource to someone whose entire career has been dedicated to learning a particular craft, you get access to years of trying and perfecting new ways of doing things, years of learning from mistakes … you don’t have to start at the beginning, because they have already been there!
3. It can provide a fresh perspective
An outside agency or consultant can bring a fresh perspective to a business’s marketing efforts, which can be particularly useful if a business has been struggling to generate results.
Our business is our baby, we put our blood, sweat and tears into it, so it’s fair to say that we are emotionally invested. Sometimes, that emotion can blur our vision however, so having an additional set of eyes or two can really help.
When we are so emotionally invested in the outcome of something, anything, it can lead to poor decision making – decision making backed by feelings rather than data.
Sometimes, that may not be a bad thing, but if you find yourself making less than optimal decisions on a frequent basis, it may be that an external force keeps you on track, rather than you going rogue and losing progress in the process.
If you want to know what you should be asking when you are choosing who to outsource your marketing to, here are 5 important questions to ask to get you started
4. It can improve efficiency and ROI
Outsourcing the parts of your business that don’t fall under your specific set of skills (yes, a Taken reference!), can help maximise the efficiency with which they are run.
In the context of marketing, it may be that by outsourcing to an expert, you ensure that efforts are focused on the most effective channels and tactics, which can improve the return on investment for marketing efforts.
If things aren’t running as optimally as possible, you run the risk of losing money, not just whilst things aren’t happening as they should, but also during the process of trying to fix any issues. The quicker these “leaks”, if you like, are spotted, the quicker they can be fixed.
But if you’re spinning a hundred plates at once, you can’t expect to see all the cracks before they turn into sinkholes. An expert will be able to spot issues quicker and apply their expertise in turning the situation around before they become unsalvageable..
Overall, outsourcing marketing, or any other area of your business, can be a cost-effective and efficient way for a business to improve your output and generate better results.
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