Marketing and Advertising
Here’s a wake-up call: businesses need more than a successful product in order to earn the top spot among competitors. Without effective marketing and advertising, many businesses struggle to sell their products or services—even if they produce the best work in the industry. When it comes to succeeding in business, the question is not, “Should marketing be a priority?” but rather, “How can a company facilitate effective marketing?” Some businesses have internal marketing teams, but many others outsource these services to marketing and advertising agencies. This article will focus on highlighting the benefits of outsourcing by answering the following questions:
- Is outsourcing a popular strategy?
- What are the benefits of outsourced marketing and advertising?
Is Outsourcing a Popular Strategy?
The short answer to this question is yes. The textbook “Public Relations Strategies and Tactics” reports a growing trend for the outsourcing of several kinds of services—including those related to marketing and advertising (Wilcox & Cameron, 2010). For example, an article from the Bulldog Reporter (2011) cited a survey conducted by digitalArbor “indicating a strong shift to outsourcing in the digital production arena” (¶ 1). The same survey also revealed that “79 percent of survey respondents said that they had outsourced digital production projects” (for marketing or advertising) in the past year (Bulldog Reporter, 2011, ¶ 1). An article from Forbes also refers to the fact that outsourced marketing—in general—is a growing trend (Pozin, 2014).
To put the number of businesses that outsource into perspective, organizations in Utah that use marketing or advertising firms include UDOT, Larry H. Miller, the Utah Jazz, Auric Solar, Reams, Ford, Gunnies, and Robert J. DeBry & Associates (to name a few). Some companies choose to outsource to agencies for all of their marketing needs, while others outsource for specific services.
What are the Benefits of Outsourcing?
Provides a New Perspective
Outsourced marketing allows businesses to benefit from a new perspective. Marketing agencies are trained to understand the demographics and psychographics of specific audiences. If a company’s marketing is left solely to an in-house marketing team, it may be difficult for their professionals to see marketing campaigns from an outside perspective—a skill that is crucial to the success of a campaign. An outside marketing team can bring fresh ideas to a company and a greater understanding of the public’s perspective of the organization.
Offers a Team of Experts
In addition to the benefits described above, outsourcing allows businesses to benefit from a team of experts, often for the same price of hiring one in-house professional. In some cases, it can be even less expensive to hire a marketing firm than to bring on a new employee. In the article from Forbes, which was mentioned earlier in the text, the author quotes Erik Huberman (a marketing expert) as he explains the cost-effectiveness of outsourcing, “At much less than the cost of one full-time executive, you get an entire team of experts, and can expect cheaper ad costs and software purchase prednisone online costs, among others.” (Pozin, 2014, ¶ 4).
Empowers Business Owners and Employees to Focus on Their Jobs
Outsourcing for marketing services allows in-house employees to focus more on their own jobs and less on new business development. The most important part of having a successful business is having a successful product. Too much time spent on new business development can cause business owners—and their employees—to lose focus on maintaining the quality of their service or product. “…By outsourcing, an organization can free up valuable resources for other uses and can redirect its people and other resources to its core business activities that better serve the organization’s mission, purposes, and goals.” (Burden & Ming, 2005, ¶ 6).
Provides More Access to Technology at a Lower Cost
Marketing and advertising agencies have access to technology and connections that most businesses do not have. In order for businesses to have the same competitive edge that technology brings to marketing, they would need to invest time and money into acquiring their own equipment.
Saves Time on Hiring and Training New Employees
Another benefit of outsourcing is that it allows businesses to save time on hiring an in-house marketing team. This is especially important for startup companies and other small businesses. Hiring is quite an extensive process. Employers need to create and distribute job listings, wait for resumes to come in, evaluate each resume, and interview applicants before they can hire the best prospective employee. Once the hiring process is finished, the employer must begin the lengthy process of training the new employee. Outsourcing saves valuable time by eliminating much of the work it takes to hire a new employee. Because marketing agencies are trained to learn the goals and objectives of their clients quickly, they will be able to begin working immediately after being hired.
Conclusion
The examples given above explain only a few of the benefits of outsourced marketing. Ultimately the benefit of outsourcing depends on the company in need of the services. Some well-established companies have the money to hire an experienced in-house marketing team (however, this does not mean that large companies have no use for marketing agencies) Other companies (e.g., startups and small businesses) will gain more access to technology and experience by outsourcing to marketing and advertising agencies. Click here to schedule a free marketing consultation with The Walton Group.
References
Bulldog Reporter (2011, January, 26). Outsourcing Goes Mainstream for Marketers and Agencies in 2011: New Survey Reveals Key Drivers and Growth in Outsourced Digital Production, Identifies Key Partner Expectations and Top Concerns. Retrieved from https://www.bulldogreporter.com/outsourcing-goes-mainstream-marketers-and-agencies-2011-new-survey-reveals-key-driv/
Pozin, I. (2014, April 23). Leave It To The Experts: Should You Outsource Your Marketing? Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/ilyapozin/2014/04/23/leave-it-to-the-experts-should-you-outsource-your-marketing/#564b27482393
Burden, W. J., & Ming, L. (2005). Circumstantial Factors and Institutions’ Outsourcing Decisions on Marketing Operations. Sport Marketing Quarterly, 14(2), 125-131.
Wilcox, D. L., & Cameron, G. T. (2010). Public Relations Strategies and Tactics Ninth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Allyn & Bacon.