When it comes to digital marketing, small businesses have two key decisions to make. Is bringing marketing in-house our best approach to outsource it? As digital-first becomes the norm and tools continue to evolve, the need for marketing that’s effective becomes more apparent than ever. But maintaining campaigns, content, and analytics can be a time-consuming and expensive task for many companies.
This blog will unravel whether to outsource digital marketing is the right decision for your business. We’ll break down the pros, the cons, and what to consider to make a well-informed decision that’s best for you.
What Does Outsourced Marketing Services Mean?
Digital marketing outsourcing is when you hire an outside company, individual, or team to take care of jobs like:
- Social media management
- SEO
- Email outreach
- Paid advertising strategies
- Occasionally content production
Rather than having your business create its own in-house team, it partners with experts who are experts at delivering results by different tailor-made strategies.
This has become a standard approach in many fields. According to a 2023 Clutch report, 37 percent of small businesses had outsourced some aspect of their digital marketing, with expertise and cost savings being the primary reasons for doing so.
The Advantages of Subcontracting Digital Marketing
1. Expertise and Tools at Your Fingertips
Marketers of all types with their own specialized knowledge of strategy and the platforms and software used to implement marketing strategies that are hard (or just time-consuming) to master without experience. From SEO audits to strengthening PPC campaigns, agencies usually have professionals on staff with a wealth of experience for growing businesses.
Outsourcing also gets you high-end tools such as SEMrush, HubSpot, or Canva Pro at no cost, these are usually bundled up by the agency and provided to their clients. For SMBs, they have access to this, which more so equals the playing field without a huge investment.
2. Saves Time and Effort
It is no small task to manage end-to-end digital marketing campaigns. Outsourcing takes the pressure off of managing various channels and helps internal team members concentrate on more important stuff such as product development and customer support.
One example is research by Statista that shows it can take up to 4 hours to create high quality blog content per post.
The second outsourcing: Outsourcing things like content writing and reporting saves time – and to a certain extent, quality.
3. Cost-Effective Solutions
When considering hiring, training, and retaining an in-house team, there is a long-term cost associated with it that can drain scarce resources. Outsourcing is a flexible solution. Most utilize flexible pricing models so that you have the flexibility of buying only what you need, without some of the costly commitments of employee benefits, salaries, and infrastructure.
If you want explosive growth on a small budget, hiring an agency or consultant is often a much more cost-effective approach than trying to develop an entire department internally.
4. Scalability and Flexibility
Whether you’re a startup or a business, marketing requirements can vary. You can scale without hiccups thanks to outsourcing. External teams can scale up quickly to manage a product launch or other seasonal spike in demand. And you can just as easily cut back when you’re not doing major campaigns. This high degree of flexibility is useful for businesses in competitive or evolving markets.
5. Assessment and Industry-Independent Perspective
In some cases, in-house marketers may be too close to the brand, which can inhibit creativity or lead to subjectivity. An outside view for a more effective and holistic approach to campaigns.
The third reason is that outsourcing brings diverse sectoral knowledge to the table as well. A lot of these agencies work with a variety of clients inside of many industries, which means they have some valuable data to go off of when you’re developing your strategy.
The Problems with Hiring Someone Else to Do Your Digital Marketing
To be sure, outsourcing isn’t free of its own challenges. For you to be successful, you need to be clear on the risks and to weigh them against your business needs.
1. Lack of Direct Control
It can be scary to surrender control to a third party, especially if your brand is newish or has high quality standards. Though you can lay out some guidelines and goals, much of the day-to-day will be left up to the agency.
2. Potential for Misaligned Expectations
Not only could inconsistent messaging and underperformance be the result, but there’s also the possibility of the agency not being entirely in line with your brand values or goals. Early miscommunication can lead to fighting over performance metrics, deadlines, or creative direction.
3. Budget Issues
A company might be cheaper, but with hidden fees or a confusing contract, you could end up spending a little more than you bargained for. Cost can be higher than expected when hidden costs for consultancy, premium add-ons, or even changes to language revisions are taken into account.
4. Security Concerns
Trusting a third-party agency with sensitive company information like audience analytics and proprietary campaigns takes trust. It’s risky if such security measures are not robust, the risk of data breaches or unauthorized use of information.
For businesses operating within regulated industries (such as finance or healthcare) compliance with the law also becomes a major issue.
5. Not All Agencies Are Equal
A good digital marketing partner is hard to find. It’s not easy to find a good digital marketing partner. As the number of agencies has boomed in recent years, some may not have the skills or systems in place to deliver quality services. The wrong agency can result in budget loss and missed opportunities.
When Does It Make Sense to Outsource?
There are cases where outsourcing digital marketing is great. Here’s when to consider making the move:
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Scarce Resources: If you lack the time, staff, or resources to generate campaigns that achieve results in-house, outsourcing helps fill the void.
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Growth Difficulty: Whether you want to grow your company, enter new markets, or release a new product, you need some advice and manpower that your existing team lacks.
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Bad Results: If whatever you’re doing now is not working, having outside professionals come in and tell you bluntly it’s not working and how to fix it is a benefit.
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Short-Term Projects: Outsourcing is an excellent option for short-term campaigns when it’s not cost-effective to hire an in-house team.
Picking the Best Digital Marketing Company
Here we show you how to get the maximum return via outsourcing your digital marketing needs.
1. Define Clear Goals
Before you make your approach to agencies, be certain about what you want. A clearly defined goal can help potential partners create targeted plans, whether to boost conversion rates, increase web traffic, or generate leads.
2. Research and Vet Agencies
Read reviews, review portfolios, and request client references. Choose an agency that specializes in your niche so that they know your audience.
3. Talk About What’s Due and Budget
Explain what is actually covered by the service agreement. Be honest with your budget and don’t be afraid to hash out some terms that you are happy with.
4. Test the Partnership
There are many agencies with short-term, trial projects. Begin with a short campaign to assess what they can do and how they do it, how creative they are, and if they can deliver on time.
5. Monitor and Communicate
Keep in touch with them and check in often. Define measurable KPIs and monitor performance diligently to keep the partnership on course.
How to Build a More Intelligent Digital Marketing Plan
Hiring out digital marketing can change the game for maxed-out or fast-growth businesses. With the help of experts, you can get that edge, and with it the peace of mind of not having to manage complex campaigns in-house.
With that being said, it is important to select your partner strategically, set clear goals, and remain closely involved through the journey. With the help of the right strategy, outsourcing will be the key to the next big victory.
