Wendy Covey
Why should you consider outsourcing your marketing?
There are many good reasons but most of them come down to dollars and expertise. Unlike sales, marketing is an expense -- not a money-maker. The sales team is usually the last department to be cut. Having too many marketers can potentially drain your profits, but too few can lead to an overworked team.
At times you may need outside opinions because you are too close to the situation, which can lead to tunnel vision. If you feel adding more staff will make your company unbalanced or you just need some clarity from an expert, it’s probably time to consider outsourcing some of your marketing.
1. Outsourcing Can Alleviate Bandwidth Issues
Most marketing executives have multiple job responsibilities, above and beyond keeping their focus on the marketing plan. It doesn’t matter if it’s a start up or a large corporation; marketing roles have many layers. We have multiple clients who handle marketing as well as other responsibilities within their organization. How can one be expected to execute an optimal marketing plan with so many moving parts?
Outsourcing some or all of your marketing to a B2B technical marketing agency can help you to extend your bandwidth by adding specialized members to your “team” who can help with marketing planning and strategy, content development, and more, while also giving you an outside perspective.
2. Outsourcing Reduces Overhead
It’s expensive to have an in-house marketing team. From HR and recruitment, to training and benefits, it is a long, tedious process to find good people. Your needs will also vary depending on your company’s situation.
For example, if you have a trade show coming up, you’ll need all hands on-deck. All other work is at a standstill as the entire team pitches in. This is a good time to outsource your inbound content marketing efforts, so your full-time employees can focus on running the show.
Another potential need variant is a product launch. A product launch requires a unique marketing plan all to itself. They can be very time-intensive and resource-draining. Employees may have to ignore important parts of the business to devote their time to launching the product.
When you outsource marketing to an agency you have the benefit of a complete and experienced marketing team to strategize with you and successfully execute your plan, without having to pay for overhead costs.
3. Outsourcing Allows You to Leverage Industry Expertise
Marketing agencies live and breathe marketing. They are on top of the most up-to-date tactics and trends. The key to any successful content marketing plan is to keep it fresh, and once you have great content, you will start to see some reflective data. An outsourced B2B marketing agency can provide quarterly results to track the success of marketing efforts and provide recommendations on how to maximize those results.
Working with an agency also gives you the opportunity to lean on their niche business area expertise. At TREW, we work exclusively with engineering and technical companies, so we are laser-focused on the best practices within our clients’ industries. With TREW you get marketing and technical experts all under one roof.
4. Outsourcing Helps You Augment Your Team
All team members have different strengths and depending on where your business is headed your needs will vary year to year. Some years require foundational work which will need to come from a strong strategy before laying down the key marketing elements. Not all people are strategists; yet some are great at strategy but terrible at execution. We at TREW pride ourselves on being able to fit in where we are needed the most. We become a key member of your team with your best interests in mind.
5. Outsourcing Ensures Consistency
Many engineering organizations offer their employees the opportunity for corporate growth. Their career path growth may include sales, R&D, product development, operations and/or marketing. At some companies, employees change jobs as frequently as every two years, which can be disruptive.
When it comes to marketing, if you find the right agency, they can remain the consistent voice in your marketing plan. This is a role that TREW holds for many of our clients: that of the consistent voice of their marketing activities. TREW can keep the marketing machine moving forward even when you have staff churn.
6. Outsourcing Give You Clarity on the Big Picture
Often you know your company so well you can’t see the bigger picture – the forest – for all the work you’re doing in the weeds. It can be eye opening to have an outside agency take a look at your marketing plans to find new and innovative ideas you haven't thought of.
You may feel like you but you can’t put yourself in their shoes. You may be too intimately involved with your product to separate your emotions in order to see it the way a customer will. Fresh eyes can truly bring clarity.
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TREW is a marketing agency dedicated to reaching engineering and technical audiences through a range of marketing initiatives. Contact us today to learn more about the services we offer.
Wendy Covey
Wendy Covey is a CEO, a technical marketing leader, author of Content Marketing, Engineered, one of The Wall Street Journal’s 10 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs in America, and she holds a Texas fishing record. She resides in a small Hill Country town southwest of Austin, Texas, where she enjoys outdoor adventures with her family.
About TREW Marketing
TREW Marketing is a strategy-first content marketing agency serving B2B companies that target highly technical buyers. With deep experience in the design, embedded, measurement and automation, and software industries, TREW Marketing provides branding, marketing strategy, content development, and digital marketing services to help customers efficiently and effectively achieve business goals.