It can be cost-prohibitive for smaller companies to create a crack team of marketing professionals to propel them to the next level. That’s why they often turn to outsourced partners - they get access to a variety of experts without having the expense of hiring an entire team.
However, if not done thoughtfully and strategically, an outsourced marketing experience can leave business leaders wondering why growth is stagnant and return on investment is non-existent.
Here are three common mistakes to avoid when outsourcing marketing services.
1. Disjointed Outsourced Resources
You might hire an SEO person over here, a web designer over there, and a copywriter from somewhere else, but none of them work together or communicate with each other. When everyone is working in a silo, it’s almost impossible to see the big picture, and key strategies and tactics that can improve ROI are missed. This disjointed approach undermines everyone’s hard work and inhibits potential results.
2. Only Focusing on One Tactic
For example, you might think that social media is the way to get in front of a new audience, so you hire a "social media" company or person. However, social media is just one small part of a holistic business growth plan. If you’re not incorporating things like content marketing or blogging so that you have relevant messages that drive followers back to your website, you severely limit the potential to get leads and sales from your efforts.
In a case like this, the business is wasting money because social media by itself isn’t effective.
3. Not Having a Strategic Marketing Leader
We’ve often seen companies start outsourcing to a variety of vendors, but they don’t have a qualified marketing leader to pull everything together. It’s critical to have a knowledgeable expert to develop strategies that get the best return on investment before you start outsourcing. They can ensure that the right tactics are deployed at the right time and that everyone is communicating and working from the same plan.
The person you choose as your strategic marketing leader can be either an internal hire or your point of contact at an outsourced marketing firm. Whichever way you opt to go, with the right person at your side, you should be able to develop and execute a marketing strategy that will launch business growth.
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