When is the right time to outsource your marketing?
To outsource, or not to outsource? This is the dilemma many stakeholders face at one time or another. Whether you have an in-house team that is overstretched or are considering starting a new department from scratch, there is certainly a time and a place for an external helping hand. But how do you know the time is right?
Supporting an in-house team
Having an in-house marketing team is a blessing and a curse. What happens when your workload outgrows your current staffing levels?
Deciding whether to add another employed staff member is not one to be undertaken lightly, especially in the current job market. Salary expectations are particularly high with the candidate shortage, and you might find yourself bringing on an expensive hire that isn’t really the right fit. Plus, if the work starts to slow down again, you’re now stuck with a costly member of staff with too little to do. Quite the conundrum!
This is where outsourcing some tasks or roles can be very helpful. It is significantly less costly than bringing on an employed staff member and can allow you access to a range of experts across multiple disciplines. You can test the water and see how much excess work your team has, and whether it would be enough to justify another body in-house. However, if you find the work is variable, it might help confirm that having a spare pair of hands externally is a better use of resources.
Start-ups and SMEs
Most business-minded people don’t start a new enterprise because they want to wear a dozen different “hats”, they do it because they have a passion and want to make a successful career of it. So, naturally, sometimes marketing causes something of a dilemma, particularly for small, or new, businesses. If those heading up the business have limited practical knowledge of the breadth and depth of marketing, is it reasonable to try and hire in-house talent, or is outsourcing the only feasible option?
In the short term, getting seasoned experts to handle your marketing externally is often more time (and cost) effective. Not only will you be able to pool the skills and knowledge of numerous people without having to hire a single employee, you will be able to leave your marketing in proven hands. Rather than the paperwork and expense of hiring a marketing manager or a whole marketing team, you can get the ball rolling on your promotion and advertising without a single hire.
Outsourcing may seem like a big leap, but when you have seasoned professionals acting as an extension of your existing people power, it seems like a bit of a no-brainer.
