The Benefits of Outsourced Marketing

Benefiting from Outsourced Marketing. What is the engine that drives a company’s growth? Is it the sales, engineering, purchasing, production or shipping department? While every one of these play a role, none of them can make it work without marketing. Essentially, marketing is all these things and more. Marketing is the beginning and end of the entire process. It is a continuous feedback loop, an ever-changing entity that requires constant adjustments and refinements. No other function brings every department’s goals together as one cohesive business plan. It therefore stands to reason that a solid marketing approach should be the most important aspect of any business. Products don’t sell themselves. Your company’s image, reputation, sales goals, growth plans, and customer service requirements are all driven by marketing. So, why do companies pay such little attention to this essential function?

Marketing is a far more complex process than most businesses realize:

Most businesses believe marketing to be a simple and straightforward operation, such as coming up with a fancy brochure, website or a new catalog. After all, how hard can it be? Typically, companies see marketing as a one man operation. Perhaps to some it’s something that can easily be done in their spare time. Nothing could be further from the truth. Allowing anyone, regardless of experience or expertise, to lead a company’s marketing initiatives, is an exercise in futility. Because of the lack of understanding about the importance of marketing, it’s often the first department to suffer layoffs in difficult times. In fact, over time, most companies have done away with their marketing department altogether. Unfortunately, companies simply don’t understand the role of marketing, and are therefore unable to quantify the returns. What they don’t realize is the ultimate goal of marketing. If you’ve ever been unable to answer the following questions, then you lack the essential information that only marketing can provide.

• Why do our customers purchase from us?
• Why do they purchase from our competition?
• Why do we lose orders?
• Where is our competition going and why are they succeeding?
• What is our market doing?
• Why can’t we sell this new product?
• What is our market share and how do we increase it?
• What features and benefits matter most to our customers?
• What do our customers think of our competitor’s products and services?
• Are we price competitive in our market?
• Is our service and quality recognized within our market?
• Where are we going and how are we, as an organization, going to get there?

If you’ve ever been saddled with the untenable situation of not having a plan for growth, then you likely need the services that only a marketing expert can provide. However, without the money to support a full time department or position, how can you possibly benefit from the essential market information your company needs to achieve its goals? The answer is simple and straightforward. Outsourced marketing allows you to benefit from market experts who can provide the essential information to reach your full market potential. What are some of the benefits of outsourcing your marketing functions?

1. Time is money:

We are all familiar with the saying “time is money”. Having someone in your organization perform the essential functions of marketing, without the experience and expertise to make it work, is a complete waste of time and money. Simply put, this is too important to have just anyone do it. Outsourcing your marketing saves you precious time, and allows key personnel to concentrate on other essential functions.

2. Lower cost structure:

Perhaps the single biggest benefit of outsourced marketing is the fact that it represents a fraction of the cost of having a full time employee or department.

Without the overhead, you have the flexibility to pay for what you need, when you need it.

3. Market experts available with different perspectives and experiences:

As a business owner/manager, you’ve likely heard what people in your organization believed you wanted to hear. It’s not uncommon to be surrounded by employees who feel the need to agree with your ideas and approaches. However, everyone needs a different perspective. Call it a wake up call. It simply works. You need someone willing to point out your mistakes, and provide the right path to success. Using an outsourced marketing firm, such as GottaLotta Marketing, provides you with the insight and expertise that might otherwise be lacking in your organization.

4. The ability to measure real results:

By outsourcing your marketing, you now have the ability to quantify the results of marketing initiatives done by real marketing experts. Having real marketing professionals working for your company allows you to see for yourself what can truly be accomplished. Part of the problem has been that marketing to date has been done by someone without the background and experience to make it work. That’s no longer the case. Marketing professionals have the knowledge to develop solid plans, and the follow through capabilities to see them mature.

5. Ease of use:

Using outsourced marketing firms allows you the flexibility to use them when you need them. Do you have a special marketing initiative and need to see how it’s received before doing more? Have you tried approaches in the past that you thought would work, but didn’t produce the desired results? Well, with outsourced marketing, you have the flexibility to try new approaches without having to commit yourself long-term. You also benefit from being able to explore a number of different initiatives and approaches.

With today’s constantly changing business environment, companies must do everything to stay one step ahead of their competition. Marketing is a continually changing process that amalgamates every one of your company’s best attributes into one cohesive business message. It’s the ultimate plan in motion. It’s everything you need to answer your most pressing question: How do we grow and where are we going?