Outsourced marketing: pitfalls to avoid

Outsourced marketing: how to make it work
We believe that in order for an outsourced marketing relationship to be effective for our clients, it needs to be just that, a relationship. An outsourced marketing company needs to understand your business, get a clear understanding of your objectives, your values, ethos, business practices and how you like to work.

Without this understanding, an outsourced marketing company will never become a genuine extension of your team.

Below are 3 things to avoid if you do decide to outsource your marketing.

Potential pitfall number 1

When outsourcing your marketing, always be prepared to invest your time to properly communicate the information above to your marketing partner. Many businesses are looking for a magic bullet that will solve their marketing problems immediately and are keen to delegate responsibility for it immediately. It is important that you make the time to ensure your marketing company knows and understands your business, not just what you do. Without this understanding you might not get the results you want.

Potential pitfall number 2

Communication is key. When discussing the arrangements for reporting back progress, make sure you agree specific times and dates for communication and stick to them. Experience has shown us that without specific times scheduled into the diary, they tend to slip. It is vital that they don’t. They are important opportunities for you to be informed of what is happening, why and how it is going. Likewise, for the marketing company, these are important opportunities to get your feedback and ensure you are happy with what they are doing.

Potential pitfall number 3

Morale, motivation and enthusiasm. Most businesses recognise the importance of keeping their employees and teams motivated. It is important that they don’t forget about their outsourced marketing team. There is nothing more demoralising for a marketing company when they do their best for a client and start achieving success, only for the business they are working for to hamper progress. Not attending appointments generated, not supplying information that was promised, not signing-off artwork when requested, not answering relevant questions, the list is endless. Believe it or not, any good marketing company cares about doing a good job for their clients; they want their clients to be successful. When it appears like their client doesn’t care, they start to wonder why they should. The net result is an ineffective relationship that will end swiftly, with neither party happy.

Avoid making these mistakes and your business will benefit from a highly motivated, experienced and skilled team of marketers, devoted to helping you achieve your business objectives, leaving you and your team to focus on what you do best.