Should your business outsource its marketing?

It’s a common question, and a lot of factors will influence whether you outsource your marketing or keep your marketing in-house. That’s why we’ve compiled seven reasons companies often outsource, as well as four signs that it’s time to outsource your marketing.

Keep reading to get started! Or, if you’ve already decided to outsource your marketing, but don’t know where to begin, check out our resource for how to find and hire the best digital marketing agency!

7 reasons to outsource your marketing this year

Why should you outsource your marketing this year? Some of the most compelling reasons include:

1. Save yourself time
2. Get industry experts to work on your strategies
3. Access advanced marketing tools and analytics software
4. Improve your marketing ROI
5. Scale your marketing plan
6. Get a fresh perspective on your marketing strategy
7. Minimize your overhead

Keep reading to learn more about these benefits:

1. Save yourself time

Everything takes time, and marketing is no exception.

Whether you’re brainstorming new content, managing an existing ad campaign, or responding to a social media comment, marketing is a full-time job. That’s why many companies decide to outsource their marketing — their team just doesn’t have the time to do it all and to do it well.

If you’re struggling to find the time to manage your marketing, you should think about outsourcing.

2. Get industry experts to work on your strategies

Partnering with a marketing agency provides your business access to a slew of marketing experts. If you hire a full-service marketing agency like WebFX, for instance, you can access marketers, developers, copywriters, and designers in one place.

Besides the convenience, you also get the expertise that comes from full-time marketers with diverse industry experience. For example, you could work with a dedicated account manager familiar with your sector of the business-to-business (B2B) industry and your top strategy, like content marketing.

The result? A smart strategy that uses best practices and the latest tactics to deliver results.

3. Access advanced marketing tools and analytics software

While your in-house marketing team likely uses web analytics tools like Google Analytics, you don’t have access to the software that marketing agencies leverage. For instance, programs like MarketingCloudFX allow clients to sync their strategies and review their return on investment (ROI) in one place.

With these marketing tools and software applications, your business can:

• Review your marketing performance, from leads generated to revenue created
• Convey ROI to company decision-makers easier
• Determine which strategies perform best faster
• Uncover opportunities for scaling or improving your campaigns
• And more

As you scale your marketing strategy, platforms like MarketingCloudFX will become invaluable. That’s why some companies, like those at the enterprise-level, will outsource their marketing because agencies can provide them with a more synchronized strategy and a clearer picture of their performance.

4. Improve your marketing ROI

The decision to outsource marketing can also lead to a higher ROI. With a team of industry experts behind your campaign, as well as artificial intelligence technology like MarketingCloudFX, your business can drive more traffic, sales, and leads.

When you accomplish that goal, you earn the praise of company decision-makers, plus increased investment in your marketing initiatives. That investment can help you launch new strategies across different channels, leading to further gains for your business.

5. Scale your marketing plan

Scaling is one of the biggest marketing challenges.

It’s often difficult to scale your marketing plan with in-house marketing because you need to find, hire, and train new people. That takes time. Not to mention, bringing more people in-house increases your marketing costs, which can limit your ability to scale your marketing strategy.

For perspective, the average marketing staff member costs $70,000 each year.

When you opt to outsource your marketing, however, you can scale your strategy instantly. Full-service agencies like WebFX, for instance, include all the skillsets you need to market your business across channels, from search to social to email.

6. Get a fresh perspective on your marketing strategy

Expanding your in-house marketing team to include a third-party provides you with a competitive edge. That’s because account managers offer a fresh perspective on your marketing strategy, tactics, and goals.

With their insight, you can discover a variety of ways to improve your marketing campaign. Those improvements often lead to positive gains, like increased conversion rates, improved search result rankings, and more.

7. Minimize your overhead

Cost is a critical factor when looking to outsource marketing.

When you compare the costs of in-house marketing teams vs. full-service agencies, you’ll find that agencies offer the more cost-effective option. Compared to in-house marketing teams, which cost around $250,000 per year, marketing agencies typically cost $20,000 to $200,000 per year.

Besides offering a lower price point, your marketing agency will provide all the advantages of outsourcing your marketing. You’ll work with experts, get access to multiple marketing strategies, and receive advanced software to monitor your strategy and track your ROI.

So, are you ready to outsource your marketing?

3+ signs it’s time to outsource your marketing

It might be time to outsource your company’s marketing if you find yourself struggling to balance your company’s marketing strategy with your normal workload.

No matter your industry, a strong marketing strategy is essential for your company’s success. Even the best business in the world can’t operate without customers. Attracting new ones is the only way to grow your scope and revenue.

That being said, it can be highly stressful for small business owners and understaffed marketing departments. Spending hours coming up with and implementing new ways to attract clients can be frustrating, especially if you aren’t seeing results.

So how can you tell if it’s time to outsource your company’s marketing? Here are four signs that hiring an outside agency would be a better use of your resources.

1. Are struggling to keep up with your normal workload?

The biggest indicator that it’s time to outsource is that the time you spend on marketing is taking away from your ability to do your job. If you’re a business owner, think about why you started your business. Was it so that you could learn and use marketing skills? Probably not.

Running your business should be your top priority. If you notice that the quality of your products or services is slipping, it’s time to outsource. Although a marketing strategy is important for growth, it can’t make up for a poorly-run business.

If you’re a part of your company’s marketing department, outsourcing can be an even more difficult decision to make. As someone who works to market a company, you may think that outsourcing means that you aren’t skilled at your job.

The truth is, even the best marketing departments have trouble keeping up with the constantly-changing landscape of Internet marketing. Outsource some of the work to an agency that specializes in keeping up with those changes and developing new strategies around them. You will be able to focus on your job and be confident that your marketing is sound.

2. Hire an agency if your marketing strategy isn’t producing results (or you aren’t sure if it is)

The Internet can be one of the most cost-effective ways to attract customers. Your company’s success with it depends on your strategy. If you aren’t sure whether or not your online efforts are producing results, it’s time to make a change.

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to outsource. If you’re willing to spend time learning about Google Analytics and monitoring your site, that could be all it takes to figure out which parts of your strategy are working.

That being said, if learning to analyze and adjust your strategy isn’t something you’re willing to do, it’s time to outsource. Even the best plans need to be adapted on a regular basis in order to keep up with new developments. If you simply continue to do what you’ve always done (regardless of the site traffic, leads, and conversions you’re seeing), you are wasting your business’ time and money.

3. Outsource to keep up with new Internet marketing strategies.

In addition, it’s critical for your business to stay on top of the changes taking place in other forms of digital marketing. As algorithms change, search engines release updates, new marketing platforms emerge, and the ways in which consumers interact with businesses online evolve, simply understanding what is going on can be a challenge in itself.

If you struggle with this, my first recommendation is that you sign up for Feedly, or another RSS reader. Add sites and blogs about SEO, marketing, and social media to your feed, and check it daily. If you outsource your Internet marketing, knowledge of current marketing trends is never a bad thing to have.

As you learn about new practices and techniques, it’s important to test out at least a few of them. Not every social platform or PPC campaign will be right for your business. Avoiding them completely could mean missing out on substantial revenue. If you have a decent-sized internal marketing team, it could be possible to delegate these new tasks as they develop.

If you don’t have a team to work with, however, outsourcing may be your best option. Working with marketing professionals who make it their job to keep up with the industry can be a lot easier and cost-effective for your company.

4. You aren’t able to put your ideas into action

The idea of telling people about your company is probably pretty exciting. You likely have many ideas that you want to share, and some may even have the potential for campaigns.

If you aren’t able to get these messages out to potential clients, outsourcing might be the right decision. If you aren’t able to put your ideas into action yourself, a dedicated marketing agency will be able to use them for blog posts, free resources, or campaigns.

It can be intimidating to hand the marketing reins over to someone outside of your company. Especially if you are the type of business owner or marketer who likes to have complete control of your professional image. However, an agency that will work with the existing vision you have can be just the right tool to help you get your ideas out.

I’m ready to outsource my marketing. Now what?

Is outsourcing is the right decision for your business? If so don’t fall into the trap of choosing the first agency you find. Although improving your marketing effectiveness (and attracting new clients) is an exciting concept, it’s important to choose a team that you trust with your company’s reputation.

Take the time to research your options, and be sure to discuss your own marketing goals with the agencies you consider before making the final decision. There are many capable Internet marketing teams out there, but ultimately, the one that is right for your business depends on what you hope to accomplish.

Are you looking for monthly assistance with your digital advertising? Does your company need entirely new branding? Are you focused on specific KPIs? These are all things you should discuss before signing a contract.

If you’re considering outsourcing your company’s marketing but aren’t sure how to choose an agency, check out our more detailed page on outsourcing.