When your internal marketing team is stretched thin, deadlines slip and campaigns start to lose focus, outsourcing can offer relief. An outsourced marketing team gives you access to skilled professionals without the cost of hiring full-time employees.
In this blog, we will explore the pros and cons of outsourced marketing and show how to create a system that genuinely functions without sacrificing your brand identity.
What Is Outsourced Marketing?
When a brand assigns some or all of its marketing tasks such as digital advertising, social media management, SEO and content creation to an external agency or expert, this is known as outsourced marketing.
Outsourced marketing is becoming more popular particularly among startups and mid-sized brands looking to grow rapidly without having to deal with the headache of hiring a whole in-house staff.
Here are typical marketing tasks you can outsource:
- Content strategy and blog writing
- Paid advertisements on social media
- Automation and email marketing
- CRO and website design
- Creative development and branding
Pros and Cons of Outsourced Marketing
Like any business decision, outsourcing has its risks and rewards. When done strategically, outsourced marketing can boost efficiency, expand expertise and drive sustainable growth. Here are a few advantages and potential difficulties.
Pros of Outsourcing
Access To Specialized Skill Sets
Through outsourced marketing, you can work directly with experts in areas like analytics, content management and search engine optimization. It’s an efficient way to access specialized skills without hiring full-time staff.
Ability To Diversify Your Channels
Without the delays of recruiting and training an internal team, a marketing agency can assist you in breaking into new markets such as establishing a content marketing campaign.
Lower cost
Hiring an outsourced staff will cost you a set amount per project or hour. You’ll save the expenses of hiring full-time staff and merely pay for the services you request.
Flexibility
You can decide which task to assign with outsourced marketing such as labor-intensive tasks or areas requiring in-depth knowledge and retain the remainder in-house.
Cons Of Outsourcing
Difficulty With Communication
An outsourced team isn’t embedded in your day-to-day. Scheduling, onboarding and tool mismatches can make communication slower and require extra effort to align on brand fundamentals.
Finding the Right Partner Takes Time
Choosing and onboarding an outsourced marketing partner requires upfront effort. Your team may need to spend time evaluating agencies and aligning on project scope before any real work begins.
Difficulty Understanding Your Brand Voice
A thorough understanding of your brand voice is necessary to provide interesting content that represents your company’s viewpoint. An internal marketing colleague may have a better grasp of your brand voice than third-party partners.
Requires Relationship Management
External partners require in-house management to understand what needs to be done and to work successfully. A member of your staff will need to manage the relationship by setting expectations, briefing projects and reviewing deliverables.
6 Expert Tips to Make Outsourced Marketing Work
If you’ve decided outsourced marketing is right for your brand, execution is everything. The following tips are based on real-world experience to help you set the relationship up for success:
- Define the scope: List the marketing services you want to outsource and ensure they align with your overall strategy. A clear scope helps you find the right type and size of agency to partner with.
- Set a realistic budget: Outsourced marketing is often more cost-effective than managing an in-house team. Decide on a budget early and request proposals from multiple agencies. Eliminate options that exceed your financial range.
- Interview potential partners: Meet with agencies either virtually or in person to discuss your goals and assess compatibility. Prioritize agencies with proven results and experience working with brands like yours.
- Clarify expectations and timelines: Share your brand guidelines and project details upfront. Outline specific deliverables, deadlines and communication standards to ensure both sides are aligned before work begins.
- Assign an internal point of contact: Designate a team member to manage the relationship, provide feedback and oversee project progress. This ensures accountability and consistent brand alignment.
- Communicate consistently: Hold regular check-ins to discuss updates, address concerns and keep both teams working in sync.
Following these steps will help you create a seamless and effective outsourced marketing partnership. For additional insights, explore Shopify’s guide to outsourcing marketing.
Turn Outsourcing Into a Long-Term Growth Strategy
Outsourced marketing isn’t just a quick solution but it’s a scalable growth strategy when executed with intention.
The key is knowing when and why to outsource. Don’t decide out of urgency but do it when it supports your long-term goals. Treat your outsourced team as part of your own, fostering open communication and collaboration to ensure consistent and high-quality results.
Work with MAVRK Studio to build outsourced branding, content and digital marketing strategies tailored to your goals.
