mar∙ket∙ing
n.
1. The act or process of buying and selling in a market
2. The strategic functions involved in identifying and appealing to particular groups of consumers, often including activities such as advertising, branding, pricing, and sales.
A job that involves encouraging people to buy a product or service.
Are you a DIYer, a delegator or an outsourcer when it comes to marketing? Maybe you’ve never even thought about it, which is the perfect reason to read on.
The Marketing DIYer
Generally this is the person who owns or runs the business and has approximately 23 roles within the company, give or take (read: control freak). They probably don’t have a marketing budget aside from the occasional pocket change spent on boosting posts on Meta. They insist on doing it all themselves because they know their business best and no one else can be trusted to do it because they’re all idiots.
Benefits of the DIY Approach
Saves money on paying someone else to do it
Drawbacks
You don’t know what you’re doing
You don’t have time to do it
No one proofreads the content
Sometimes you forget/can’t be bothered to do it
You don’t do it very well
You’ve given yourself too much to do
No one proofreads the content
The Marketing Delegator
This person knows that the business needs marketing. So, they pick someone in the office who ‘knows about social media’, gives them access to the business profiles and tells them to get on with it. They occasionally touch base (cringe) with this person to tell them what they want posted and other petty matters. They feel reassured that they’ve got a ‘marketing person’, or ‘social media manager’, when in reality they’ve got someone who was actually employed for another purpose, who’s been burdened with additional duties that they’re *probably* not being paid for.
Benefits of the Delegation Approach
You’re *possibly* getting two jobs done for the price of one
You’re *possibly* getting two jobs for the price of one-and-a-bit (assuming you’re paying a little bit more but nowhere near what the two roles deserve)
You’re using someone you know and trust, who knows about the business
Drawbacks
Either: neither role is being executed properly, or one role is suffering because it’s deemed less important than the other
No one proofreads the content
Knowledge of marketing is basic (at best), and efforts are ineffective
Being ‘social media savvy’ does not equate to professional ability
Starts off well (novelty factor) and tails off after a while when they’ve run out of ideas/time/f*cks to give
No one proofreads the content
The Marketing Outsourcer
This person understands that marketing is necessary and valuable. They know that even if someone in their staff was willing (paid or unpaid) to take on the role in addition to their existing duties, it wouldn’t be enough. They understand that marketing goes way beyond casually posting on social media. They know they need an external provider that can look
after all the elements on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis. The website, social media, email campaigns, networking event promos etc. A provider that takes care of all this stuff, sometimes without direction from you, because they understand what you need and just do it.
Benefits of the Outsourcing Approach
You can pass things on to the team and forget about them
You can fully concentrate on your own job
No more swearing at stupid technology because you can’t figure out how Facebook works
Someone proofreads the content
Often things will be done before you even think about them because the team gets to know your business and its trends/regular events/other important stuff
Consulting and working with the team allows your business to evolve with the times and stay ahead in your industry
Outsourcing is more economical than employing someone to fulfil the role, and more effective than using an existing employee to take care of things
Explore new advertising avenues with confidence and discover what works for your business
Get things done properly – website, marketing materials, adverts etc. Everything should work in harmony and always be up to date
Drawbacks
It can be difficult to find a good team that you can trust, who has your best interests at heart and knows what they’re doing. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut and choose someone you feel is right. Give it a few months and if you’re not happy with their work, or with the results, call a meeting to review the situation.
What's the Verdict?
In a nutshell, our view is that outsourcing is the way to go. A biased opinion, you might say, but we’ve seen the alternatives in action! Underestimating the importance of marketing, having a modern, up-to-date website and social media channels is a big mistake (Big. Huge!).
Whatever money you think you’re saving by not outsourcing your marketing and online presence is small in comparison to the amount of money and opportunity you’re missing out on. Stop trying to write the theme tune AND sing the theme tune. Start outsourcing!
For more information on how outsourcing your marketing, web design & maintenance and social media content creation can benefit your business, contact us for a free chinwag.