seager consulting

The benefits of outsourced communications

Outsourcing is not a new concept. It allows companies to focus on their core business. By employing me as your outsourced marketing consultant I can help save you time, money, and still raise the quality of all your communications. So how does it work?

Most small and medium businesses simply cannot afford the overheads to develop a full marketing team. So they rely on several agencies to provide disparate services as the need arises. The intention is to get the best specialist skills and knowledge that each provider can offer, when they most need it. The only drawback is that each agency will ’sell’ you the best possible specialised solution they provide.

‘Full service’ agencies have been around for some time. But that leaves you precious little objectivity and choice of best-in-class. For an in-house marketer - if you are lucky enough to have one - managing these agency relationships can be a messy and time consuming business.

A huge amount of time and resources is spent on sourcing agencies, comparing quotes, developing agency briefs, developing relationships and managing the various agencies through to delivery. In this situation, what happens to integration? Each channel should play a complementary role in generating new business, driving prospects thought the sales funnel, working together to save you valuable resources.

As you can well imagine, many campaigns developed and delivered in this traditional linear model veer dangerously close to becoming just another ‘creative expense.’ But now there is a new model evolving. Perhaps taking a cue from consumers themselves.

The new model shift to outsourcing reflects today’s collaborative society in which no one business can be expected to have all the in-house resources to respond to any one marketing and communications challenge.

Collaborative networks

Outsourced marketing begins with a strategic scope based on outcomes. This scope is developed in conjunction with the company business leaders and is driven by their business strategy.

Acting on behalf of these leaders, the engaged outsourced marketer (that would be me) then draws on collaborative networks to select and propose the right channel mix, messaging and specialist partner combination to deliver the desired outcomes to the desired budget and timeframe.

After approval, the outsourced marketer then manages the full strategic scope to completion, whether this be a single multi-level marketing campaign, or a series of individual campaigns.

During the full process, the outsourced marketer maintains full reporting and analysis communications with the business leaders and provides objective analysis and project management skills.

The risks

Of course, just as any new concept, outsourced marketing brings risk.

To be financially viable for both parties, an outsourcing contract must ensure that the service offers at least a medium term commitment to the outsourcing provider.

In addition, the scope and deliverables must still be developed thoroughly.

The benefits

One of the benefits of this approach are that small and medium sized businesses can cut down on agency selection processes. The the time spent on managing many disparate agencies is also drastically reduced. As are the overheads involved in hiring in-house teams. All in all, the benefits can be huge.

In summary, we know that the ability of small and medium sized businesses to maintain growth is based on the ability to predict, adapt and evolve. Outsourced marketing - or marketing on-demand - is new, but the future looks promising.

Here is a quick check list to see if you would benefit from outsourced marketing. Does any of the following apply to you?

- I don’t have a full understanding of the latest marketing channels available

- I simply don’t have the resources to employ new staff right now

- I need professional marketing skills to set up my marketing operation

- I spend too much time on managing my marketing service providers

- I need my senior marketers to focus more on strategic issues

- I need to optimise my use of my marketing budget

For more information about outsourced marketing contact me on +31 (0)6 411 892 03 or email me at info@seagerconsulting.com.