75% of Marketing Agencies Outsource - Here's Why

Imagine if you could clone yourself to get all your work done faster and cheaper. Sounds too good to be true? Well, according to a survey by Verblio, about 3 in 4 marketing agencies have found a way to do just that—minus the sci-fi technology. We’re talking about outsourcing here, and while the mere mention of that word can evoke a variety of strong reactions, that doesn’t change the fact of the matter.

This fact is that marketing agencies are outsourcing more often than ever before. But why exactly is that the case? Are these agencies just lazy? Do they lack the skills necessary to develop a marketing strategy? Or is there something deeper at play here? As it turns out, there are quite a few advantages to outsourcing digital marketing services, so strap in while we tell you all you need to know!

   

What Does Outsourced Marketing Mean?

When you hear the term “outsourcing”, your mind might conjure up images of rows of people hunched over a computer monitor, palms cupped around their microphones as they sweat in the tropical heat. While that’s certainly how one segment of the outsourcing industry can be described, it by no means represents the whole.

The outsourcing of business processes is estimated to grow by 9% every year until 2030, and low quality services like the ones you might be thinking of wouldn’t generate this much growth. The truth is, outsourcing in marketing can mean anything from hiring a freelancer to create some content for a campaign or hiring an entire agency to handle all of the work you don’t have time for.

But why would a digital marketing agency do this? Wouldn’t they want to handle as much of the work as possible? And what do the clients think about all of this? Well, to answer all of those questions, let’s dive into some key reasons behind this trend.

Key Reasons Agencies Are Outsourcing

Cost-Efficiency

It might sound counterproductive, but hiring a third party to manage some of your digital marketing processes can actually save you money. That’s because you’ll still be handling core responsibilities, which are what you charge a premium for anyway, while your outsourced agency will take care of certain tasks on your behalf. Some digital marketing agencies are able to reduce their costs by a whopping 87% this way!

Access to Specialized Expertise

As a digital marketer, your specialities might lie in SEO research, developing a content strategy, or any other aspect of the marketing process. But what if, for example, you’re part of the 58% of marketers who struggle with audience segmentation? Outsourcing to a company with specialized expertise in this field can take the burden off your shoulders and deliver better results in the bargain!

Scalability and Flexibility

The key to scaling up your marketing agency is to increase capacity, which means offering new services, improving the quality of existing services, and ensuring optimal turnaround time throughout your growth stage. Outsourcing helps with that, because you can scale up output with a disproportionately low increase in cost. It also gives you much more flexibility, because you can simply hire an agency for a specific project or task instead of having those specialists on your payroll.

Focus on Core Activities

When a digital marketing agency first opens its doors, it has a few key areas that it specializes in. As you expand, you’ll try to cover multiple new niches and marketing types, but your core strengths will stay the same. These activities can also include roles that require face time with the clients, such as account management. Prioritizing these essential services and outsourcing others can make your agency leaner and meaner in the long run.

Potential Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Clearly there are a lot of advantages to outsourcing some of your digital marketing to third parties, but you can’t ignore the potential pitfalls. Granted, many of these challenges can be avoided simply by hiring the right agency, but it’s important to know what to look out for.

Communication Issues

They’re bound to pop up when you’re hiring someone for a job, but there are ways to prevent them. Firstly, set clear guidelines and expectations and host regular meetings to make sure everyone’s on the same page. Consider using project management tools to take human error completely out of the equation. Also, having a single point of contact is always a good idea, since this streamlines communication and helps you avoid misunderstandings.

Quality Control

61.4% of marketers are using AI in their marketing activities, and while there’s nothing wrong with that, you don’t want to receive boilerplate, assembly line work, now do you? That’s why you should set clear standards, regularly review work, and partner with experienced agencies with a proven track record of delivering exceptional results.

Data Security and Privacy

Any agency you outsource to will inevitably end up handling sensitive data. Ensuring data security and privacy starts with signing strict Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs), but it also requires the use of encrypted communication channels and regular compliance audits. Not every digital marketing agency ticks this particular box, so make sure you hire one that treats it seriously.

Experience Hassle-Free Outsourcing with Our Team

We’ve been in the digital marketing business for 15 years now, and in that time, we’ve developed an intuitive understanding of how to handle the needs of our clients. That’s why we offer ironclad NDAs and secure communication channels to every client, and we keep you posted every step of the way to ensure quality.

Our past work speaks for itself, as do the glowing testimonials we’ve received from clients around the world. Whether it’s content marketing, SEO, social media management, or any other aspect of the marketing process, we’ve got you covered.