Should you Outsource your Marketing?

As a small business owner or solo entrepreneur, the list of tasks, roles and to-do lists can be overwhelming. We initially start our business to follow our passion and share our skills, craft, and knowledge with our customers. While we start with gusto and enthusiasm that initially feels like it will carry us to the end of time.

Yet, with so many plates continually spinning, and the realisation, time, energy, and headspace that it takes us to be the boss, operations, sales, marketing and finance manager all the way through to receptionist and cleaner,  can also feel daunting, frustrating, and at times even disheartening.

I’ve heard a quote recently that summed up running your own business is the best personal growth tool on the market, yet, this alone doesn’t always give you the energy you need to keep the momentum to continually move forward and thrive in your business.

The growth phase of your business

Once you do get yourself started and business starts to flow in, it can become trickier to deal with the demand for your products/ services and time, soon you’ll be looking to outsource some of the work you are doing.

You may already have a virtual VA, and as our business grows you may also be looking to outsource other tasks too, and question whether you should outsource your marketing. Especially if you are planning to grow your business further.

Yet, like hiring a new employee/ agency or supplier you want to get it right. There is nothing worse than spending well-earned revenue on the wrong solution at the wrong time. In this blog, I’ll be offering some insight into the solutions available to you, and the questions to ask yourself when looking to outsource.

Why would you outsource your marketing?

Marketing is a whole different area of expertise, just like you wouldn’t dream of knowing all the various tax codes unless you are an accountant, or business law, unless you are a lawyer, marketing also has its own skill set and requirements. At a certain stage of your business’s growth, you will need more strategy and expertise than you may have now in-house.

Now, there are many out there who are under the impression that having a website or doing a few social media posts ticks all their marketing boxes. Yes, they are often a great starting point and an important part of the marketing mix, but they are not strong enough on their own to compete with a well-rounded marketing strategy.

Getting into the brand, vision, mission, target audience and best marketing mix to help you reach your business’s goals and aspirations is a completely different kettle of fish. Once you do have that strategy and plan in place, the next critical step is implementing it.

In all honesty, if you enjoy this, and have the time and energy to have already put this all together, hats off to you. If you are structured enough to have time put aside each week to do your marketing, and are happy with this, that’s fantastic! The rest of the article might not be of interest, however, if you are struggling with any of this, read on.

Options for upgrading your marketing

There are a few ways that you can upgrade your marketing, it really depends on what you feel more comfortable with, and what best suits the current season of your business:

1) Hiring a marketing manager.

If you have the budget and are planning to grow your business with a core team of employees this can be an ideal solution. It does take time to find the right person, and it may be a challenge to find a person that has the well-rounded skillset for your budget, at your initial stage of growth.

I point this out as there are a lot of job descriptions out there that expect a junior marketeer to be a strategist, content/copywriter, website developer, SEO expert, digital marketing guru, collateral designer, graphic designer, and product and social media manager. There is more but you get the gist. If you are going down the route for the first hire, do make sure you also have a budget for them to work with.  This way they can outsource areas of the job that might be outside of their expertise, it will allow them to learn more about the topic and stop them from getting overwhelmed.

This is the perfect solution if you are looking to expand your team and have a dedicated marketing employee.

2) Hiring an Advertising/ Marketing Agency

There are agencies of every size, from the exceptionally big budget to small agencies that have a team of 5-6 core people and freelancers they call in as and when needed. No matter what agency you choose to work with, be very clear on what you are looking for.

Meet with and get quotes from a few agencies. Make sure they have the capacity to think and work strategically, and that they have a mixed skillset in-house. For instance, if you speak to an SEO agency they are not going to be able to help with social, or vice versa. While an agency may cost more, the right agency, managed in the right way can bring in plenty of value that pays for itself.

3) Marketing Consultant/ Coach

This could be two separate options, or you might find one suitable person who can do both.

Depending on your budget or skillset outsourcing the strategic side to a consultant might be a suitable option. They’ll usually do a discovery session, create and advise on a strategy and often also create a yearly to 5-year plan. They can also assist and be a sounding board for the implementation phase or do the implementation for you. This is ideal if you aren’t ready to hire someone full-time, yet would like a solid strategic foundation to build upon.  Having the option to either implement the plan yourself or with your VA and have them coach or advise where needed is another option if your budget doesn’t extend to them rolling out the plan.

Consultants and coaches vary, make sure that you are confident and comfortable working with them, and that they are clear on your business, your aspirations and the remit for the part they’ll play.

4) Marketing Freelancer

Freelancing is big in the agency and creative world, it gives professionals the freedom to work on a variety of interesting projects and it gives companies hiring them the benefit of hiring an expert in a particular area without the commitment of a full-time employee.

Once you start working with a freelancer who has a wider collection of marketing skills they may become kin to a virtual marketing department, especially once they know and understand your business and products/services. They usually operate as an extension of your current team and have an in-house mindset. They can create or work with the marketing strategy you already have, and be available as needed, depending on their workload with other clients.

If you already have a clear plan, and time to manage various contacts, you can also hire a freelancer via sites like Upwork for each specialist marketing activity. This is probably the cheapest option, however finding the right person, briefing them in the correct way, and managing the output can be time-consuming, especially if you are using a different person per project ie. Content writer, AdWords specialist etc. However, if you take the time to find the right people, you can continually work with them to assure you get consistent results. My one piece of advice here is that you get what you pay for. Yes, you can get a blog post for only £10, however, it may read like it’s worth £10, and if it does it is not going to do a great service to your business or professional image.

Disclaimer: While the last two options fall within the services I offer, I am not biased towards which you choose to use – my goal is, to be honest, help and advise you to make the right choice for the current season of your business, whatever that might be.

The best place to find the right person whether you are looking to hire or outsource is by recommendation, google, networks and associations you may be a part of or even LinkedIn.

What questions to ask before outsourcing:

Like anything in life, finding the right hairdresser, mechanic, or accountant can take time and there might be a few exceptional and not-so-exceptional experiences. If it doesn’t work out, like the few incredibly bad haircuts I’ve had in my life, it’s best to consider it a lesson learned and move on.

There are a few things that you can do though to make sure the marketing solution you choose to go with is successful and a good fit. This goes both ways, service providers also want to do fantastic work for clients that are thrilled about the results that they deliver, just like you do for your customers. The better the match, the easier and more enjoyable the work will be too.

A few of the key things to evaluate when looking for a working relationship is the right:

• Budget:
  Make sure you are clear on the hourly rate/ retainer, what is included and what might be additional, for instance, third-party costs are often not included ie. media buy, Adwords.
• Personality click:
  They say we know whether we’d work with someone within 3 minutes of meeting them, this is true here too. You’ll be trusting, relying on and confiding in this person with your marketing, brand awareness and customer engagement in and around your business. It is critical that you are comfortable working with them.
• Values:
  If you have a set of values for your business or self, make sure you are aligned. There are unethical marketing practices out there that may not align with your values, hence you want to make sure whoever you choose to work with is aware of and has the same values or adheres to the values you have.
• Experience:
  There are times when outstanding ideas and creativity can mesmerise us to the practicalities, however, the best ideas are of no use if there isn’t the ability or drive to execute on them. Make sure whoever you choose to work with also has examples of their work, so you can be confident that they’ll deliver on what was agreed upon.

In Summary

Whenever you are ready to upgrade your marketing, there is bound to be a suitable solution for your business. The most important thing to remember is to be clear on your budget, your goals, your expectations, the time you have available and how much you want to outsource.

The clearer you can be on what you need, the better you can brief someone the more likely you’ll get the results that you are after.

When you do it right, having someone to take care of your marketing will bring you peace of mind. It also allows you to reclaim more of your own time and energy that can be better spent in other areas of your business. Along with this, with your strategic marketing plan and planned marketing in place, your business will also be flowing, growing and evolving into what you always dreamed it would be.

Note: If you ever have any questions, or would like advice on what solution might suit you best feel free to drop me an email hello(@)flowgrowevolve.com

Big thanks for the images to:

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
Photo by Campaign Creators on Unsplash