Choosing the right marketing strategy for your company can be key to its success. However, some companies do not see themselves as capable of leading a marketing strategy on their own and delegate responsibility to industry professionals.
If you are interested in this practice and want to know the keys and benefits of external marketing, keep reading this post.
what is external marketing?
Most medium and small companies do not have a consolidated marketing department, but that does not mean that they do not still need marketing actions to promote themselves and increase their sales.
As the saying goes: he who grasps too much, grasps too little, that is to say, perhaps because you want to control everything without having the necessary resources, you cannot achieve even one of your marketing objectives. This is the reason why many companies turn to external professionals to carry out their marketing campaigns when they see that they cannot do it on their own .
External marketing, therefore, is the process by which a company delegates responsibilities related to its marketing strategy to external professionals outside the company in question.
Some of the typical problems that cause a marketing team not to function as it should, such as lack of communication among its members or weaknesses in specific skills, can be solved by using an external agency that can help the brand with specific actions. This is a liberation for brands, which leave this work in the hands of professionals in the sector.
By hiring an external marketing department, you can carry out marketing campaigns without necessarily having a dedicated marketing department within your company.
what options do you have?
External marketing can save you from many problems, but before you start exploring this world, you should know what your options are.
The first thing to choose is whether you prefer to hire a freelancer or a specialised marketing agency. How do you decide between the two? Here are some tips that might help you.
> Hiring a freelancer is usually more cost-effective than hiring an agency. However, it is more difficult for one person to handle all the specific areas that your brand may need to develop a specific campaign. Therefore, it would be ideal to hire a freelancer for specific tasks, for example, the design of your website, but not for something bigger.
> Agencies, on the other hand, have marketing professionals specialising in various fields, so if your goal is to hire professionals to manage your overall strategy, it is advisable to use an agency .
Whether you opt for a freelancer or make the leap to a marketing agency, there are several things you should consider 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 adapt to 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.
what are the advantages of external marketing?
1. You face fewer risks and gain profitability
Outsourcing usually results in lower costs for your company, why is this the case? Because you are only paying for what you really need, so the investment is always more profitable.
The agencies or professionals we hire have probably done similar work for other brands and will know how to conduct the strategies, have experience in it and will face fewer risks.
In addition, you will save resources, such as labour costs generated by hiring (holidays, salaries...), or investment in materials for the development of specific actions, among others.
Let's say, for example, that you want to record a promotional video. If your company does it, it will have to spend money on buying the relevant material (cameras, lights, microphones...), something you don't have to worry about if you hire an external marketing team.
2. You will save time
By hiring professionals in the sector, you will save a precious commodity such as time. These 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 adversities.
3. Professionalism and innovation
The professionals you hire, as we have already mentioned, have an experience that is impossible to achieve if you are not specialised in the sector. They know how to act in certain circumstances and if something does not work as expected, they will be able to find alternatives quickly.
In addition, it is always interesting to have ideas from outside the company, as they have another perspective on the brand that you cannot aspire to if you work inside the company as part of the team. These are professionals who can analyse the brand from the outside to start working from the inside.
Hiring external professionals can solve the lack of knowledge in certain aspects related to marketing. For certain tasks it is necessary to have people who have the necessary experience in them. They will know how and where to focus the campaigns and it is a mistake to think that anyone can carry out this task.
Now that you know the benefits of external marketing and the options that are opening up, do not hesitate to resort to this option if you do not want to fail with a marketing action that you cannot cover with your own resources. Ensure the success of your campaigns with professionals who are up to your goals .
