Reasons for using external marketing

External marketing is the process by which a company delegates responsibilities related to its marketing strategy to external professionals outside the company in question. To do this, you must choose whether you prefer to hire an independent professional (freelance) or a specialised marketing agency.

which professional to choose?

Freelancers are cheaper than agencies or marketing companies. They are usually people specialised in very specific fields, but their disadvantage is that it is very difficult to find people who control all areas of marketing. On the other hand, marketingagencies are professionals with better characteristics if your objective is to manage your marketing strategies in a global way and with a 360º vision.

In any case, whether you opt for a freelancer or a marketing agency, there are several aspects that you should take into account when making your decision.

-The previous experience of the professional or agency: Explore their previous work, the brands they have worked with and the type of campaigns they have developed to check that they fit your brand's objectives. Ask for information about the marketing applications and tools they use, and make sure they are appropriate.

-Check that the agency or professional has obtained good results: Investigate which have been the successful cases among the campaigns carried out and how the others have gone. In addition, the professionals you hire should show you without problems what have been the results of the work they develop with your brand. In this sense, transparency is a highly valued quality, as it will allow you to get an idea of whether the actions are working or not.

-Check if they apply a good strategy: Before choosing one possibility or another, check that the agency itself (or the freelancer) is capable of applying a good marketing strategy. Take a look at their website, their social networks, their campaigns... and check that they can carry out what they are selling.

-Compare budgets: Negotiate with the agency or freelancer to find a plan that suits your objectives without going over your budget. Sometimes it's not about investing a lot, but about knowing how to get a return on your investment.

why should you use external marketing?

1. you face less risk and gain profitability. You only pay for what you really need, so the investment is always more profitable. Also, the agencies or professionals you hire will probably have done similar work for other brands and will know how to conduct the strategies and face less risk.
2. saving resources: Normally, when outsourcing marketing tasks, you work with a fixed budget, an option that is almost always very advantageous financially, as you know in advance how much the service is going to cost and you save a lot on extra costs.
3. you save time: By hiring professionals in the sector, you will save time, a precious commodity. They are professionals focused exclusively on marketing, who work quickly and efficiently. They know the market in which they operate and the competition, and they will know how to react to possible adversity.
4. professionalism and innovation: if something doesn't work as expected, they will be able to find alternatives quickly, and as they are not part of the brand, they can analyse the company from the outside and start working from the inside.
5. flexibility: External marketing agencies can be more flexible and adapt to changes more easily, without increasing costs.
6. greater competitiveness for your company. You delegate to be more competitive, as dividing up tasks to focus on specific actions is essential if you want your company's marketing to work well. External marketing helps the rest of the company's employees to really focus on their work and finish the tasks they have to carry out and to have a free mind to act on other problems.
7. you grow without increasing your team. A group of professionals working to see their work done and improve the business. All this without the entrepreneur having to coordinate or hire a group of people within his team.

Possible disadvantages of external marketing

• Lack of commitment: The hired agency must be committed to the values of your company, so it is necessary to choose a professional and specialised company in order to achieve the optimum level of commitment.
• Lack of communication: fluid communication must be maintained, that is, communication channels and flows must be established so that there are no communication problems and misunderstandings do not lead to a decrease in the quality of the service.
• Lack of attention: the external company you hire is sure to have more clients. So that this does not mean a problem of loss of attention in your company, establish a plan from the beginning, detailing the hours and resources dedicated, as well as the frequency and content of the monitoring reports necessary to evaluate the correct evolution of the objectives.

External marketing is a very profitable option for you, you just need to evaluate your needs to decide if you need to hire an external agency for your Inbound marketing strategy.