Outsourcing Your Marketing: Why and How?

Why should you outsource?

Unlike other business operations that have been?traditionally outsourced, marketing is something that??has remained a very well-protected domain. However, now that everything is being outsourced (and quite literally), marketing can be no exception. In fact, it actually makes a lot of sense for businesses to outsource marketing, and the smart ones have already made their move.

Here are some of the plenty of reasons, why marketing can be, and should be, outsourced -

1. You can get started immediately. When you let the experts do it for you, that too at a fragment of the cost you bear for an in-house marketing team, you are bound to get good results in no time.
2. Outsourcing marketing operations helps people focus on their core activities. You can spend your time on developing your business and consolidating your operations by hiring offshore teams to take care of your marketing and other office work.
3. Businesses can save as much as 70% on marketing costs, when outsourced to offshore teams.

The Current Scenario

Various corporate functions have been outsourced for many years now. But marketing, especially when it goes beyond advertising, is relatively new. In a recent poll conducted by the Harvard Business School, marketing executives were interviewed, and as many as 53% revealed that they were planning to outsource the majority of their marketing functions in near future.

Also, one-to-one marketing has become more vital to businesses than ever. Such a situation often calls for outside expertise which most medium and small businesses lack. With widespread media fragmentation and mass marketing becoming redundant, communicating with your prospective customers has become highly complicated. In such times, outsourcing seems like the only way to reach out to your target customer base.

Which parts of marketing can be outsourced?

If a company lacks in-house skills for a particular operation, for example?analytic functions or online marketing, they stand to benefit considerably by?outsourcing. You can hire an offshore team to conduct your surveys, take care of your CRM activities, and so on. However, there are a few aspects which directly affect your marketing strategies. These parts are better retained by the company, especially when there is a risk of your competitors using that sensitive information.

Another thing which should not be overlooked is the importance of marketing personnel. Even though computer aided analysis is pivotal in driving your marketing operations, the marketing managers (and even the CEO) need to meet with customers and strengthen their relationship with them. Companies will always need their marketing officers to keep the marketing intact and handle major accounts.

How can one successfully manage outsourced tasks?

The key to having healthy relationships with your associates is to see them as partnerships and nurture them. Regarding your vendors or suppliers as mere contractors is unhealthy because it removes all scope for growth and a long-term and?on-going relationship.

It is the responsibility of the marketing managers to ensure that they share a fruitful relationship with their service providers. This requires patience, good communication skills, an ability to negotiate, and above all, being able to motivate people to perform and deliver their best.

How can you outsource?

As businesses all over the world are becoming increasingly open to all kinds of outsourcing, marketing is also undergoing a similar shift. Numerous marketing companies are offering their services and skills at affordable prices.

WorkMonk.com can help you connect with the right company you can outsource your marketing operations too, that too completely free of cost!

Source: http://blog.workmonk.com/outsourcing-your-marketing-why-and-how/

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