In the era of abundance, the challenge is to figure out where to start. Outsourcing your online marketing is an opportunity many agencies encounter as they strive to scale their business. The market is ripe with possibilities for all sorts of jobs to be completed through agency collaboration.
When it comes to outsourcing your marketing, surely you want to make the best out of it. In that case, you need to set aside the time in order to do your homework and understand the entire process. Here we’ll help you do just that.
In this article we will cover:
- When should you outsource
- Analyzing the best type of collaboration
- Choosing the right partner
- Best practices when outsourcing
- The digital provider you need
When should you outsource?
You’ve already got a campaign strategy. If you need help with graphics, video production, web development, e-commerce, or SEO, you need a quality company to help your team take digital marketing from good to great.
When looking to improve your margins
Growing your agency from within can mean investments in infrastructure and overhead. Digital outsourcing presents a great option to reduce costs without losing efficiency. An external partner working alongside your in-house team can translate into higher productivity, and therefore more clients served for a far lower price tag.
When you want to stand out for your services
Whoever said you can’t have it all never explored outsourcing. Companies now require more and specialized services. Market demands are not satisfied with traditional advertising and brands know it.
Even if your team isn’t large enough or doesn’t have the necessary experience, your agency can provide the solution that your client desperately needs by outsourcing. Brands will not think twice about hiring your agency when they know you can expand into what they need at a particular point in time. Look into the services you can outsource to provide your clients with a wide-ranging digital campaign.
When you want to become more competitive
Outsourcing digital services allows your agency to specialize in strategy development, this will give you a competitive advantage in the industry. It also presents the opportunity to establish a more flexible structure, access efficient and advanced technologies, and adapt to market dynamics. In this way, the competitiveness gap with larger companies is significantly reduced.
Analyze the best type of collaboration
When deciding what outsourcing option to go with, you may wonder: How do I know if I’m making the right decision? There are many things to take into consideration when choosing a partner. Here is a list of the benefits of agency outsourcing and freelancing:
Management
Evaluate how much time you have available for onboarding and training. After you have completed this process, you will find that the management style for each type of collaboration will be different.
Outsourcing with an agency for instance, your part in management will be minimal since they will assign a team leader within the agency to manage the external team’s efforts. Whereas if you hire freelancers, you may need to be more hands on, taking care of the details.
Experience
Seasoned freelancers usually focus on an area of expertise. If you need collaboration in one specific area, you can expect an experienced freelancer to deliver. Also consider their tools will fit their specialty.
When your needs involve activities that span across multiple departments, a digital production agency can provide a team of multi skilled individuals to work on your campaigns.
Flexibility
Flexibility is especially crucial when there are different time zones involved. You should assess whether your outsourcing provider is flexible enough to meet any requirements or problems that may arise. A digital production agency will be able to assign a team to your project, while a freelancer handles multiple projects at once and may find it harder to remain flexible.
One thing to bear in mind is that as time goes by, your needs may evolve. Your agency may now be able to operate with the help of a freelancer, but over time you may need access to a broader range of skills and services from a digital agency.
Choose the right partner
If you settle on agency outsourcing, one of the biggest hurdles is finding the right fit for your team. Ultimately, the success of your outsourcing will depend on the provider you select.
It is important to evaluate what differentiating qualities a candidate has, and to what extent they can transfer their skills to boost your business and your clients’. After all, if you’re going to trust your strategy in the hands of a third party, you want to make sure it will be worth it.
To help you avoid costly mistakes, we give you a step-by-step on how to find an effective digital marketing partner.
Define your needs
Before reaching out to potential partners, you need to define the scope of your project and determine what services you are looking to outsource. When you have a clear understanding of your agency’s requirements, it will become easier to identify the best possible solution to meet those needs.
Look at the references
Make sure the external team you are hiring has the skills and experience your project requires. Take a hard look at their portfolio and ask lots of questions regarding their clients and past projects.
Research the reputation of your potential partners. A quick Google search can tell you a lot about the quality of your prospects' work.
Look at how they match your culture
Prioritize finding candidates who better match the organizational culture of your agency since you will be collaborating for a stretch of time and it’s important that their values fit with yours. In addition, by knowing their values, you know what to expect from them and you make sure that they respond optimally to the tasks you require of them.
Read the fine print
It is important that you know the details of the digital production partnership. Make sure you are clear about the costs for your company, and that the services and packages they offer are the right ones for your agency.
Feel free to request a quote with all the details of the service. Although it is an aspect of great interest, do not take this as the only variable to make your decision since there are other key factors that can benefit your processes.
Best practices when outsourcing
Outsourcing can be very beneficial for your agency and your clients. However, to avoid any hurdles along the way, here are some practices to follow in order to make the most of your partnership.
Start with a plan
Just as when choosing a partner, it is important that you have a clear understanding of what your agency is trying to achieve. This way, the collaboration process will be more fruitful. You should come to your outsourcing partner with clear expectations and a structure they can follow to meet your client’s campaign objectives.
Establish communication
Any successful partnership is based on clear and continuous communication. This avoids misunderstandings and allows for transparency in the process. Staying in contact with your partner will also give you peace of mind about the progress of your clients’ campaigns. The clearer and more detailed everything is, the better.
Conduct a thorough onboarding
Here is where you develop meaningful relationships with your outsourcing partners. Establishing a thorough induction process allows the agency to lay a good foundation for collaboration. This process ensures smooth sailing for both parties and clarity on important issues such as:
- Campaign objectives
- Campaign strategy
- Communication channels and reporting
- Management and responsibilities
- Feedback
Discuss costs
Your budget may vary depending on the type of collaboration you require and the type of service you hire, which is why it’s important to lay out from the start. The benefit with a digital production agency is that you have a fixed rate, which will hardly vary. This allows you to structure your budget and better assess your ROI when your project is completed.
Whether your agency is looking to expand or you just need a hand with the projects assigned to your team, digital outsourcing is a solid option. This process will prove beneficial for your internal collaborators, your ROI, and above all and most importantly, for your clients' digital campaign goals.
The only digital provider you'll need
It is an industry where demand is ever-changing, and established marketing functions are no longer the only answer to a digital strategy. This means businesses are increasingly working to achieve more from less through digital outsourcing. The time is right for your agency to adopt this solution.
That is where the WAM team comes in. WAM offers the ideal digital outsourcing partnership to help your business grow. We seek to make sure that outsourcing presents a world-class experience to our international partners by offering a full range of digital production services tailored to their needs.
You can start working with a fully equipped staff of Costa Rican professionals, and meet all of your clients’ campaign goals with top quality digital products.
If you are interested in going all the way with an outsourced solution, take a look at our full guide on outsourcing to make the best of this experience:
