Marketing is an essential part of running a successful business.
Every business needs a way to reach out and gain more sales prospects. But, what should a business do when their current marketing team isn’t getting results? One option is an outsourced CMO.
For smaller businesses that are looking into marketing options, outsourcing is a great solution. Though, if you already have a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), you’ll need to evaluate the marketing department.
You’ll need to consider the benefits of outsourcing compared to the pros and cons of keeping an internal marketing team.
This is not a new concept. 61 percent of companies already outsource their content marketing.
Marketing can make or break a business. So, don’t stand around and wait for your marketing department to improve their skills. Take a look at 5 surprising advantages of outsourcing your CMO.
#1 – An Outsourced CMO Reduces Overall Marketing Costs
Businesses generally spend less when they outsource their marketing.
First, look at the costs of paying full-time employees. There’s the hourly pay, along with benefits and taxes. The business also needs to deal with occasional call-offs and other employee issues.
The payroll costs increase if you have a CMO position or another executive in charge of the marketing department.
Along with payroll, there are the software costs. An internal marketing team will need access to specific software, which often comes with a steep monthly service fee.
There are CMS (custom management systems) solutions that cost upwards of $1000 or more per month.
Even if there isn’t a monthly fee, the business may need to pay for software updates. Then there’s the delay that occurs during these updates.
Instead of having to pay for full-time employees, along with OEM software, software updates, and expensive sales ads, the business can get an outside team of marketing experts.
You know exactly what you’re paying for when you hire them. Some marketing firms use flat rates for specific services while others bill hourly. But, in either case, you’ll find a major reduction in overall marketing costs.
#2 – Outsourcing Can Help Save Time
Outsourcing also helps to save the time it takes to find a CMO or other marketing professionals. Why spend valuable time and resources to recruit marketing experts when you could simply outsource the entire operation?
Time saving is also a factor for small businesses. Small business owners tend to want to do everything on their own. This can be helpful at times. But, more often, it’s a disadvantage.
A small business owner should learn his or her limitations and realize when it’s beneficial to receive help. Instead of wasting energy on marketing, the business owner could be devoting their attention to another aspect of their business.
These same time-saving benefits can also help an existing marketing department. When a business puts too much demand on their marketing department, they may struggle to get everything accomplished.
During those situations, outsourcing can help give the internal marketing department a little leeway. They get a helping hand.
So, in multiple situations, outsourcing marketing can provide time-saving advantages. It benefits small business owners trying to do everything on their own, businesses that struggle to recruit marketing experts, and internal teams that need a break.
#3 – Marketing Firms Can Handle Major Campaigns
One of the reasons that some businesses avoid outsourcing their marketing needs is that they assume the marketing firm can’t handle their needs. Honestly, a marketing firm can generally handle anything that an internal marketing department could handle.
Outsourcing your marketing is not just for basic graphic design or a quick ad campaign. They can take care of detailed marketing strategies that take months to implement.
You can hire a marketing firm to take care of your complete marketing and advertising strategy. Many of these firms also offer SEO services, allowing you to combine all of your online marketing needs into a single service.
#4 – Marketing Firms Can Offer a Long-term Solution
Outsourcing doesn’t need to be a one-time deal. You can establish a positive working relationship with a marketing firm for their continued support over the years.
This is another reason that some businesses are hesitant to work with a marketing firm. They worry that once the job is done, the firm moves on they’ll be left hanging. This generally isn’t the case.
Like businesses, marketing companies rely heavily on repeat business. A marketing firm benefits from continuing to work with the same company for a longer period.
At the same time, this simplifies your marketing solutions.
When you continue working with the same team, they’ll start to learn more about your specific goals. They’ll know the style you like to use in your marketing and how best to reflect your business in marketing materials.
#5 – Outsourcing Brings Marketing Expertise
The final advantage of outsourcing a CMO is the expertise that a marketing firm will bring to the table. An internal marketing department has only one person to answer to – their boss.
A marketing firm will have a wide range of clients, often covering multiple industries. This helps increase their overall effectiveness and ability to get results. They bring a vast amount of expertise that you would take years to develop and nurture internally.
Every business uses marketing, but not all businesses have a marketing department. If you feel that your marketing team isn’t meeting your needs, it could be time to consider another solution.
Outsourcing your CMO position can give you more flexibility to achieve your goals. You can trim payroll costs and eliminate one of the biggest challenges that most businesses face – attracting more customers or clients.
This also applies to small businesses that are just starting out and need a cost-effective marketing solution.
Whether you need to get rid of your existing marketing team, don’t have a marketing team, or want to give them a little breathing room, outsourcing is available.
As with any service, it’s important to define your goals before contacting a marketing company. You should know exactly what you want to get out of their services.
In the end, outsourcing doesn’t need to be a negative word. It can dramatically change the way that a business operates – while helping drum up new business.
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