A small business owner’s guide to outsourcing marketing to a BPO company
Key takeaways:
- Outsourcing marketing saves time and reduces costs.
- BPO companies can provide additional insights into your marketing campaigns.
- Offshore marketing professionals can do everything from developing marketing strategies to handling advertising tactics.
- Outsourcing marketing functions gives you access to professionals with expertise.
- BPO companies will help you identify bottlenecks and costs to make your marketing efforts as efficient as possible.
Business owners have to wear a lot of hats. They often juggle recruiting, sales, accounting, IT, administration, customer service, and countless other tasks, including marketing. Many entrepreneurs handle these needs on their own in the early days of running their businesses, but as operations expand and the business grows, they need to start delegating tasks.
Marketing is a key area that can be outsourced to a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company. Working with a BPO company allows you to reduce your overhead while simultaneously expanding your expertise. You’ll get to work with people who understand the nuances of running successful marketing campaigns and this frees up time to focus on core business activities.
BPO companies can augment your internal marketing team, handle specific tasks, or run all aspects of your campaigns. You get to decide exactly what you need for your business and you can scale up or down as your needs change. This guide to BPO services for marketing looks at the reasons you should outsource your marketing, the benefits of outsourcing or offshoring, and what to expect when you work with a BPO company.
Reasons to outsource marketing
Outsourcing critical business functions gives you more time to focus on all aspects of running your business. You can apply your expertise where it’s needed the most instead of running ragged trying to do everything yourself. Working with an external team also improves your perspective. They look at your business from different angles and can help you come up with ideas that you may not have thought of.
The benefits of using a BPO company for marketing
There are many benefits to using a BPO company for your marketing needs. Here are some of the top advantages:
- Outside insights on the marketing and branding process
- Access to innovative ideas from people who focus exclusively on marketing
- The ability to work with people who have niche marketing experience
- No need to worry about lulls when marketing staff take vacations or sick leave
- Reduced overhead related to employee expenses
- Improved efficiency
Outsourcing your marketing tasks allows you to shift your focus from tactics to strategy. Tactics are the steps you take while marketing your business while strategy refers to the overall plan. A BPO company will staff you with employees to handle strategy and tactics or you can devise the strategy and outsource the tasks.
The types of marketing you can outsource
A BPO marketing team can help you create a strategy, content plan, and calendar. They can also help you execute these plans or you can grab the reins once the plan has been created.
BPO companies can help you develop a new brand image or craft marketing campaigns around your existing image. You can hire an offshore team to work consistently on projects like content creation, social media management, and website maintenance, or you can outsource one-time projects like marketing the launch of a new product or service.
Outsourcing versus in-house marketing teams
In-house marketing teams come with a lot of costs. You need to recruit, interview, hire, and onboard professionals. You also have to pay for their office space, payroll taxes, and benefits. Internal teams are limited to their personal experience and expertise. They may understand the ins and outs of running a pay-per-click campaign but they may not know how to write web content that converts. They may be adept at buying ad spots but not know how to run an organic marketing campaign.
Outsourced marketing teams, in contrast, don’t come with a high price tag. You pay for the services you need and you don’t have to worry about employment-related costs. You also get to tap into the exact skills you want and you aren’t limited by the knowledge base of a handful of people.
Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to choose between an in-house and an outsourced marketing team – many businesses use a blend of both.
How to choose a BPO company for marketing
Look for a BPO company that can customize its offerings to meet your needs. You don’t just want someone to handle a large volume of repeatable tasks; you want a company that can lead your marketing and is a partner in your business’s growth.
Opt for a BPO company that offers a wide range of business processes. You don’t want to have to search for a new company every time you identify a new need. You should also choose a company with transparent pricing models that lets you interview prospective marketing professionals before you sign a contract.
What to expect when working with a BPO company for marketing
Working with a BPO company typically starts with a consultation. You tell the company’s representative about the services you need and they let you know how their company can help you. They find the talent you need to meet your business objectives and then you work with your offshore team to oversee their efforts.
The BPO company handles all aspects of human resources for your marketing team, including performance management, employee benefits, and processing payroll. They provide your team with the IT equipment and support they need to run your marketing campaigns.
You may have access to a dashboard so that you can track the success of your marketing efforts and they provide you with tips on how to optimize your marketing results. You meet with the team virtually as needed.
Contact DOXA for your marketing needs
We focus on providing small businesses with the support they need to expand their businesses and we provide high-quality bespoke services, such as marketing, for our clients. Improve the efficacy and efficiency of your marketing – contact us at DOXA today to set up a free consultation.
