11 Great Reasons to Outsource Your SMB Marketing

The top two challenges SMBs find the most difficult are attracting new customers and growing revenue, both of which are highly dependent on effective marketing. Unfortunately, solid SMB marketing is usually in short supply.

A recent article by Inc.com called 5 Things Your Marketing Team Will Thank You for Outsourcing, outlined some key challenges for companies of any size. While marketing isn’t easy at the best of times, SMBs in the early stages can find it a tough problem to solve.

The top two challenges SMBs and others find the most difficult are attracting new customers and growing revenue. Both of course are highly dependent on effective marketing. At a point in the evolution when a business needs it most, solid SMB marketing is usually in short supply.

In many companies these days, people wear many hats. However, having multiple roles is the norm in a smaller business because the resources simply aren’t there. Like most things, you can’t gain traction from marketing if you only dabble in it when the mood strikes.

SMBs know they need marketing to grow, but sometimes just getting started is a problem. For others, sustainability is the key issue. These companies start many activities that quickly fall off the rails as other priorities take over. Hence, frustration builds as marketing keeps getting pushed out.

Budget is the real culprit in most cases since hiring a marketing staff, or even the first full-time resource can be out of reach for a while. Also, the investments needed to effectively market frequently play second fiddle to other areas of the business. Finally, the impact of marketing takes time. You need to build a solid foundation and most business leaders at this stage don’t have that kind of patience.

Even companies with large marketing teams outsource at times because they need added bandwidth or specific skill-sets. But SMB marketing is when outsourcing can play a significant role in filling the gap until a company grows enough to justify bringing the work in-house. Here are some of the key advantages of working with an outside firm.

Most who work in marketing services or for an agency have been around the block. They bring extensive knowledge and get the big picture through years of experience, training, and continual improvement. As a result, you benefit from decades of someone else’s learning and wisdom.

Marketing is a multi-disciplined field that requires a variety of unique skill-sets. These talents can be difficult to find, nurture and retain internally. Whether it’s SEO, digital marketing, social media or graphic design – few small to mid-sized companies can do it all.

If a business owner, their receptionist and the HR manager share the marketing function, chances are they will always be distracted and pulled in other directions. As a result, consistent, high-quality marketing never happens. It takes on-going effort to plan and execute, and outsourced marketers do that all day, every day.

A related aspect of focus involves staying on top of current trends. Marketing changes so quickly that even a few months out of touch can have a noticeable impact. As examples, rules around SEO and social media change almost monthly, so what you’re doing today likely won’t work tomorrow. Serious marketers barely have time to keep up, so it’s nearly impossible for others.

Companies that market for a living see a broad spectrum of approaches and tactics across a variety of clients. Bringing these insights into your business will most often produce better results in less time. Some of the thinking that comes from this diversity can also help differentiate you from competitors stuck for years in the same rut.

The key to effective marketing is having a series of sound and proven processes. From strategic planning and metrics to frameworks to editorial calendars – building a solid foundation takes time, creativity and experience. Outsourcing just this part of the equation can jump-start a languishing marketing program.

Services firms only thrive and grow by knowing what works and how to repeat it. Agencies develop in-house best practices based on the collective knowledge of their teams, and also borrow concepts and tactics they see working well for others. Good firms develop a culture of constant analysis and learning so they can apply great ideas from all sources to help their clients.

Marketing tools come in all shapes and sizes. But most are pricey and come with long learning curves. For example, buying a marketing automation system that costs $2,400 a month is out of reach for most SMB companies. But leveraging one an agency owns can be affordable. When a marketing provider invests in a piece of software or an expensive subscription, it can usually share it across multiple clients. Therefore, smaller companies can take advantage of some powerful assets they can’t afford on their own.

If you have a decent sized marketing team in-house, they still need help once in a while. It may be temporary bandwidth, or missing internal skills. The ability to augment your team with services when and how you need them is a definite benefit. Outsourcing tends to fluctuate in the both the types of services required and scope. Sometimes you need a little, other times more. Maybe, you just need a specialized expert for a single project. In any scenario, a customized solution is easy to find. Also, if a partner you chose isn’t working out, it’s easy to change. Swapping out under-performing employees is time-consuming, costly, and emotionally draining. Finding a new service provider is a more detached decision and comes with far less commitment, depending on the situation.

To be fair, outsourcing SMB marketing can seem expensive if not looked at in context. However, in the beginning, it’s certainly more cost-effective than hiring people you can’t quite afford. Also, if you find a reliable and proven partner, the productivity for the dollar will almost always be higher than doing it yourself. Factor in what you can save by leveraging the vendor’s resources as discussed in point eight above and the cost-quality ratio looks even more attractive.

Some clients leverage Marketing-as-a-Service where the partner becomes their “virtual” marketing team. In this scenario and others that involve multiple external parties, the services company usually takes care of vendor management so they can control the process. An agency has the experience needed to coordinate 3rd-party activities such as trade show management, printing, paid advertising, etc. Good ones will work seamlessly with your internal resources as well. This added value saves clients tremendous amounts of time and aggravation.