5 Sure Signs That You Should Outsource Your Marketing

For our digital marketing agency, StringCan Interactive, we specialize in B2B and and over the past few years, we have received many calls from companies asking why they should hire a digital marketing agency instead of keeping their marketing in house. Tom Gilluly, Sales Director of Profile Precision Extrusions and one of our current manufacturing clients, was one of these calls.

As you will learn in his testimonial, his company's marketing consisted of traditional tactics that weren't working, so he knew something needed to change. He told me he was thinking about hiring a marketing generalist to take care of the business marketing, but he was interested in agencies as well. I explained to him that if you only have one marketer on your business team, your marketer will have nobody else to consult or brainstorm with when they need help. Relying on one person will limit your marketing potential, but relying on an agency will maximize it.

However, that's only one reason why outsourcing your marketing is worth it. Realistically, there are several reasons why outsourcing can be the right decision for your business. If you aren't sure it's right for you, here are five ways to tell when it is:

Your marketing staff is overworked

If you have too few marketing employees and too much marketing work, it's time to outsource at least some of your marketing. When your marketing staff is overworked, the quality of work produced suffers because your overworked marketers don't have time to pay attention to detail.

This means that a majority of their marketing efforts will probably be flawed and a lot less effective. And trust me, bad marketing is worse than no marketing (it wastes money and deters customers!). By outsourcing your marketing instead, you know you have an entire team to lean on. Also, most agencies have professional tools for multi-tasking and time management so that they have the time to produce high-quality work.

Marketing has become a last priority

If you're so focused on business operations that you don't have time to overlook or assist your in-house marketing team, your marketing efforts will suffer. In-house marketing teams tend to need more guidance and approval than outside marketing agencies because there are often less team members to consult and less prior experience.

Also, your marketing team probably won't launch new campaigns or strategies if things are too hectic around the office. By hiring a marketing agency, you can focus on being the industry expert you already are instead of trying to be a marketing expert. Marketing agencies focus solely the status of your marketing so that no matter how busy it gets at your workplace, the agency won't get distracted.

Your marketing lacks strategy

Proper marketing requires time and thought, while poor marketing involves trying to do everything at once. If you're assigning your marketing tasks haphazardly, your marketing team will lack direction and purpose. It becomes difficult to see the bigger picture and generate consistent results if your marketing employees are assigned different tasks that achieve different goals every week.

When you hire an outside marketing agency, they will likely create a thorough strategy and decide how to best carry it out before taking action. This keeps team members aligned and their tasks effective and in sync so that eventually, the bigger picture becomes reality.

Your marketing capabilities are limited

If your in-house marketers only know how to use certain technology and/or tools, you could be missing out on valuable marketing opportunities. Professional marketing agencies usually have a wide variety of tools under their belt, which benefits their clients immensely.

Marketing teams are experts in various social media platforms, online tools, mobile apps, etc., and they know which ones are best for your company. They are also always on the lookout for new technology and better ways to generate results so that your marketing goals are always relevant and efficient.

You're trying to grow quickly

If your business is trying to rapidly expand, relying on a small in-house marketing team could stump your growth. And when your business is trying to grow, it's crucial to verify that your marketing efforts are paying off and not wasting you money. Marketing agencies measure their success in terms of ROI so that you can be certain whether or not you're getting the results you need. If you aren't, agencies are quick to change course to make sure you stay on the path toward success.

Outsourcing your marketing work isn't the right decision for every business, but for many companies, it can be. Take a minute today to evaluate your current marketing plan, and be willing to make a change if it isn't working. If you have any more questions about outsourcing, or if you're wondering if it's right for you, comment below or message me!