Should I Outsource?

When is it okay to outsource marketing activities for your company?  The simple answer is ALL THE TIME, but I’m a marketing agency… what did you expect me to say?

Seriously, the answer: is it depends.  Here are a few reasons why I chose to outsource when I was the Chief Marketing Officer for a division of a Fortune 500 company and top IMO.

3 Reasons to Outsource

Specific Skill Set

• I needed a specific skill set for a specific project. There really wasn’t a need to have a long term relationship with a person, take on the burden of paying employee taxes, benefits such as healthcare and vacation time.  I simply needed to add a competency to my existing team skill sets in an effort to receive maximum results on a project.  Sometimes this skill set was added for 30 days and other times it was added for a year.  Ultimately it provided me with an opportunity create better results while managing my budget.

Share the Workload

• I needed to share the workload so my employees didn’t get burned out. Sometimes when the getting is good, you better get help.  I can remember a time where there was a sales promotion in every department every week on top of our regular workload.  Now I understood that business may not have been where we wanted it to be and we needed to create a series of promotions to increase sales and I needed to be ready for the task at hand.  My creative team (writers and designers) on the other hand were on the verge of a breakdown.  Because I wanted to keep good people, I invested in assistance.  I contracted two – three designers to be on staff to assist with ad development and an additional admin for my VP to help with miniscule jobs that were getting in the way of her doing the job at hand.  These designers were just what my staff needed to take a deep breath and to continue to deliver marketing pieces that worked!  Ultimately it provided me with an opportunity to create better results while managing my budget.

Outside Perspective

• I needed to have an outside perspective so that my company’s brand could remain on the cutting-edge. For my boss it was important that we led the industry.  We wanted to have the best website with the latest technology and provide the tools and services that our competition wasn’t offering.  We wanted to be innovative.  Adding an advertising agency to our mix was the perfect solution.  Here was a team of people who worked in a variety of industries that could take what worked from one industry and help us to incorporate it into ours.  We were able to be innovative by taking something that was not seen in our marketplace and customizing it and making it our own.  Ultimately it provided me with an opportunity to create better results while managing my budget.

Is It Time For You to Outsource?

For a lot of people outsourcing can be scary because it’s unchartered waters and my response is I understand.  Think about it for a just a moment, the first time you do anything new it’s scary, or gives you a little uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach.  Whether it was the first time you rode your bike, purchased your first car or home to taking a new position at work or owning your own company… regardless of the activity there was a first time.

Still not sure if outsourcing is right for you?  Receive a no obligation consultation from thinkBIG.

About thinkBIG

thinkBIG is a leading resource for fully implemented marketing plans that include the use of blogs. By sitting down with them, you can develop a system for posting information to blogs and then using the blogs to guide visitors to websites, landing pages or even social networks if desired. Checkout moneyfall.uk for financial help and Visit us at www.thinkbig4me.com or contact owner, Angel Fields, at angelfields@thinkbig4me.com