Advantages and disadvantages of marketing outsourcing.

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The first advantage of marketing outsourcing is specialization. As we mentioned above, the need for specialists in each specific area of ​​the marketing strategy is one of the most common reasons for deciding to outsource the management of a company's marketing strategy. And at this point I think it is appropriate to bring up a very common feedback from our meetings with new clients:

In these, when presenting the strategy to be developed and the value of our services, it is common for them to give us feedback such as "for that cost I can hire a full-time employee to handle my marketing."

We believe it is important to pause here to analyze it. First, is it correct to compare the work of one employee with that of dozens of specialists? Is it possible for a single person to achieve the quality of analysis and strategy execution that a team of specialists working together can achieve? How can a single person acquire the knowledge of a specialist in SEO, analytics, paid media, social media, etc.? Can one head think better than five, or ten?

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It is important to consider this when analyzing the price you are paying to a specialized agency. What you are paying for is not hours of work but the expertise of your specialists and access to the knowledge of each of them.

For this reason, one should not make the mistake of comparing quotes without first understanding the quality of service that each party will offer.

Another of the aforementioned advantages of marketing outsourcing has to do with reducing the internal workload. Outsourcing the analysis and execution of the strategy will allow the brand's internal department to focus on the task of managing the agency's services from a more global and total point of view, being able to gain time for other types of marketing actions that can only be done internally and, on the other hand, have a clearer view of the path being taken by not being involved in the day-to-day tasks.

Thirdly, a clear advantage of outsourcing marketing is being able to have a fresh vision of the brand and strategy.

An internal brand agent who has spent years promoting the same products and services, speaking to the same type of clients and solving the same problems, probably has to make a much greater effort to think of new and fresh ideas for the strategy. New channels, new communication concepts, new types of proposals, etc. This is where hiring an external agency can be very beneficial.

Agencies have experience with multiple brands, niches, channels and types of clients. This is a clear differential that every agency brings to a brand. Being able to test ideas and strategies from one niche in another, electrical contractors email lists knowing new channels to try or market trends that can be tested is a great contribution that every agency brings to a brand. And this is difficult to achieve with an internal marketing department.

Among the disadvantages of outsourcing marketing, one can think of a lower level of control by the brand over the direction of the marketing strategy. This is due to the fact that the analysis and execution will normally be carried out by the agency and the client will be able to have the results report and task planning, however, it will be more difficult to be able to be in the detail of all the actions carried out.

Another common disadvantage is lead times and communication. Without a well-functioning communication process, professionals from both parties who understand each other clearly and there are no obstacles in the processes, managing external suppliers of this type can require a lot of back and forth. It is important to have fluid and clear communication so that strategies can be implemented quickly and dynamically.

What to consider when outsourcing marketing
Given the advantages of marketing and SEO outsourcing, let's analyze what to consider when deciding to begin a marketing and SEO outsourcing process.

Specialization and experience: As we already explained in the previous point, the greatest value that an agency will offer is the expertise and experience of its professionals. Being able to evaluate this point is crucial to making a good decision. How to do it? By asking for analyses prior to the verification, consulting which clients they have worked with, in the case of Paid Media, what volume of budgets they have optimized, among several other points.

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Success stories: In every meeting with marketing and SEO agencies, ask them what their best success stories are (related to the services they are interested in hiring).

Reputation and credibility: If they provide you with clients to ask for references, this is always a good starting point. In addition to contacting current and past clients of the agency for references, you can ask them what recognition they have from the industry, such as awards.

Good communication: If it has been difficult to communicate with the agency from the start, it is a clear sign that it is not a good supplier. Communication, as we explained above, is a crucial point when choosing suppliers.

Adaptability and personalized approach: Check with all suppliers to see if the proposal, analysis and strategy presented was developed specifically for your brand and situation or if they are copying and pasting strategies. This is another important point, although it is more difficult to verify. It is true that there are many processes common to all brands that have more to do with the tools and platforms than with the context of the brands. But do not stop investigating this aspect.

Tools and technology: The level of tools that agencies usually work with is high-level. But it never hurts to ask what type of tools they use to perform analyses and executions. Also ask what level of experience they have with them.

Focus on results: What is the focus of the strategy presented by the agency? Is it focused on getting sales, leads, calls, results? Or is it focused on more generic and ambiguous metrics? The approach presented by the agency is crucial to knowing where it will take you.

Cost vs Value: Being able to understand the value that the agency is providing you and whether it is consistent with the value of its services is another key point to analyze when deciding on one agency or another.

Conclusion:
Outsourcing a marketing agency or an SEO agency is not an easy process and you will surely come across many of the points discussed above, both good and bad. That is why we have developed this article to help you make the best decision in a process that is often tedious and brings you face to face with areas in which you may have a low level of technical knowledge.

If you are still in the process of selecting agencies and none of them convince you completely, we invite you to schedule a meeting with a specialist from our agency and perhaps we will be the agency that can help you.