Some people reckon they can do everything themselves. A Canva account can help people who aren’t graphic designers create workable designs, yet usually without the same polish an agency delivers. ChatGPT can be incredibly useful for proposal writing, emails, and blogs, however, an agency can typically create unique and engaging content that is fresher, personalised and usually more engaging.
Company owners and managers know the business better than anyone. Yet most businesses can benefit a whole lot more when professionals are called upon to handle the marketing and advertising.
Imagine how prospects react when your website takes forever to load, your logo looks slightly different on each piece of collateral, and there are multiple spelling mistakes and grammatical errors on your website, brochures, social media, and pitch documents? Unfortunately, this would lead to an immediate bad impression that can cost you clients and money. Because few people trust an amateur.
It takes skill, drive, experience and hard work to achieve results in today’s hyper-competitive business environment. Now more than ever before, the sharper you are, the more you cut through. Indeed, a recent survey of 100 Australian small and medium sized business leaders revealed that 47% of SMEs were found to be looking to remove current in-house marketing roles and instead opt for outsourced alternatives, which are seen as more cost-effective.1
In addition to moving away from having in-house marketing capabilities, 56% of Australian small businesses in a 2022 survey plan to invest more in getting external advertising specialists to promote their digital platforms to strengthen their offers.2 And then there are other small firms that try to do it all themselves, as best they can, on the cheap. So let’s fact-check this myth. How does outsourcing all, or most, of your marketing stack up against a DiY approach?
Why marketing can get complicated for SME’s
Small & Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) often struggle to find their share of voice and face many economic challenges as well as resourcing issues to overcome – particularly in today’s challenging environment. According to LinkedIn, there are a number of reasons why marketing can get complicated for smaller businesses3 including:
- A lack of resources internally to be able to do it properly.
- Not having a plan, so little chance of achieving success.
- Difficulty in selecting the right media mix / digital channels.
- Confusion in choosing the right social media platforms.
- Inconsistencies in the execution of marketing activities.
- Inability to produce and deliver strong content (ads, brochures, websites, blogs etc).
- Difficulty in keeping up with trends and technology for digital, social, and Google algorithm.
- The risk of burnout if existing staff take on unfamiliar time-consuming marketing roles.
Can outsourcing marketing become an equaliser?
In short, yes. Business success depends on successful marketing, so you need it done well in order to compete against same-sized opposition and the big boys too. Size doesn’t matter – it’s about getting on an even playing field and attracting the right prospects, even if your competitors spend more.
SMEs succeed when they can identify the needs of particular market segments and then offer the products and services that address and satisfy those needs, with aligned offerings on the most relevant platforms.
Professional marketing management is vital to a business’s ability to generate revenue, create a brand, make a profit and better understand its customer base. Drawing on top marketing expertise ensures that a business is more likely to be profitable by gaining new customers, expanding a customer base, building a company’s reputation, and improving customer interactions.4
Doing the marketing yourself, without suitable internal resources, becomes more hit and miss as it’s very hard to dive deep enough and best utilise the channels and propositions delivering the best ROI.
Ten advantages of outsourcing your marketing needs include:
- You can remain focussed on running your business instead.
- Reduce overall costs compared to resourcing an inhouse operation.
- Harness experts who can deliver high-value insights.
- Stay ahead of competitors and be relevant to your industry.
- Benefit from fresh approaches and new ideas.
- It’s totally scalable – no constraints on your current team.
- Get measurable results with reporting across the KPIs you choose.
- They have the marketing tools and the know-how – it’s what they do.
- Take advantage of data-driven solutions with proven R.O.I.
- Receive compelling communication that aligns with prospect needs.
How much should be spent on marketing?
A Deloitte 2022 report concluded that B2C product companies spend an average of 15.9% of their revenue on marketing, and B2C service companies spend slightly less, at 12%. While B2B product companies tend to spend around 9.4% of their revenue on marketing, with B2B service companies spending 11.4%.5
Invest wisely in your future
Whether you’re a senior executive, manager, business owner or solopreneur, it’s of critical importance to ensure that the firm is set up for success. Just as people need to set budgets for themselves, businesses must allocate a marketing budget for the company to facilitate marketing efforts that in return support sales and growth goals – to make a profit, increase brand awareness and build the customer base.
Many SMEs are turning their backs on in-house marketing. Business owners and managers have to wear many hats, which can create work holdups, backlogs, and lead to burn-out. Often, outsourcing your key functions of marketing and perhaps accounting/bookkeeping ends up being a very wise investment. Why? It can save you time, help increase your income, add a new layer of expertise, reduce the need to employ and support full-time staff, and it helps you work more efficiently.6
Is outsourcing marketing really worth it?
So, will I save money by doing my own marketing? Not necessarily. And will I make more money as a result? Unfortunately, that is very unlikely, unless you invest heavily in acquiring and retaining talent, equipment, software and ongoing support for your own inhouse team of marketing experts.
It all comes down to how much you want to achieve, and by when. Put simply, if you need innovation immediately, you need results as soon as possible, and your budget is low, then it’s probably wise to outsource your marketing requirements.
Agency costs are often far lower than the salary of one or two full-time in-house marketing executives. And for that lower price, companies are often getting a whole experienced team of marketers, writers, designers, developers and social gurus into the bargain as well. Now, that’s value.
Interested in finding out more?
If the article above has sparked your interest, we’d be happy to chat with you. Contact our team for a confidential discussion on your marketing needs and goals, and how we can help you get there.
Sources:
1. https://www.cmo.com.au/article/683160/report-aussie-smes-shutting-down-outsourcing-marketing-due-cost/
2. https://sshare.media/en/blog/post/2022-marketing-tips-for-small-and-medium-enterprises-smes
3. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-do-small-businesses-struggle-marketing-richard-lehnerdt/?trk=organization-update-content_share-article
4. https://www.coursera.org/articles/marketing-management
5. https://www.synx.com.au/blog/what-percentage-of-revenue-should-you-spend-on-marketing
6. https://squareup.com/au/en/townsquare/outsourcing
