Outsourced marketing refers to using an outside marketing team, agency or individual with specific abilities needed for your business activities.
Outsourcing your marketing lightens the load from busy company owners or teams who are already wearing too many hats or don’t have the specific skills required.
For some businesses, hiring a full-service, outsourced marketing agency is not only the top choice, it’s the only choice to achieve desired results.
We review when you should consider this type of marketing service, with insights on whether Little Bird Communications is right for you.
Common outsourced marketing activities
As organizations are commonly asked to do more with fewer resources, outsource marketing has become a vital strategic alternative.
Specific marketing activities vary depending on organization need, agency specialities or freelancer skills. Commonly, they will include one or a combination of the following services:
- Marketing Strategy
- Branding
- Case Studies & Stories
- Copywriting and Content Development
- Design
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Social Media
- Web Design or Development
- Online Reputation Management
Benefits of an outsourced marketing firm
Having a dedicated marketing department or team means that you gain diverse, skilled workers who know your product, brand and audience, but without the full-time salary.
Outsourcing marketing often saves money and improves quality, and it’s starting to look like the future as more and more companies begin to benefit from outsourcing.
An important distinction to make here is the difference between utilizing an all-in-one versus marketing specialist.
For example, there are agencies that only do social media management, while others only search engine optimization (SEO).
For a business that must outsource but still needs a comprehensive marketing plan, using multiple specialists or freelancers is problematic. The big issue is that the separate firms aren’t set-up to work with the other vendors. This means that someone within the organization must coordinate campaigns, goals and insights to ensure everything works in tandem.
For businesses who may only need help with a particular skill or tactic, this may not be an issue. But for those needing support or leadership of their entire marketing effort, look for an agency with all-in-one services.
With single-source marketing firm, it ensures strategy speaks with “one voice” and has a unified look and feel. This also helps create marketing programs that help nurture prospective leads through the sales funnel, as opposed to tactics focused on more minute aims.
In sum, outsourced marketing has many pros and cons, and choosing the best company, strategy and tactics is key to staying within budget and achieving your goals.
All the perks. None of the pitfalls
Rather than hiring an in-house marketing department, which costs time, money, and resources, an outside marketing agency provides the whole package at a fraction of the cost. Little Bird’s skilled experts can work remotely or as a seamless part of your team to deliver a spectrum of marketing services. Minus the extra office space, onboarding, employee benefits, and salary.