One of the biggest barriers to outsourced marketing is cost. Yes, you have to pay your outsourced marketing partner, and expertise comes at a price. We’ve heard it before:

We don’t have a big enough marketing budget to afford an outsourced marketing partner. 

We aren’t sure we’re going to get a good ROI by outsourcing. Is it really worth the cost? 

It takes time and resources to vet potential partners, and that costs us money.

What if we told you your worries are legit, but the payoff from outsourcing can help soothe those worries and ultimately grow your business? Are we guaranteeing outsourcing will save you money? We would never, but we have data that shows it’s highly likely outsourcing will save you money. And a handful of reasons that might help you address your worries and take the leap to a more collaborative work-life, outsourced marketing partner in tow. What follows are three reasons the cost is worth it to partner with an outsourced marketing expert.

Outsourcing Saves You Money

In August of 2021, we surveyed over 250 professionals from a wide variety of industries. These professionals work at companies that have outsourced all or part of their marketing, and when we asked them how much they’ve saved every year, on average, by outsourcing their marketing, they were unanimous: outsourcing saves money. Here are our top stats:

1 in 5 respondents reported saving up to $25,000 per year by outsourcing their marketing. 

2 in 5 respondents reported saving anywhere from $25,000 to upwards of $100,000 per year by outsourcing their marketing. 

For small businesses of 10 or fewer employees, it’s possible to save up to $25,000 per year by outsourcing your marketing. 

Service-based companies are over 3x more likely than companies that sell products to save up to $25,000 per year by outsourcing their marketing. 

B2B companies are 2x more likely than B2C companies to save $75,0001 to $100,000 per year by outsourcing their marketing. 

When you’re worried about the cost your company will incur hiring an outsourced partner, remind yourself that yes, you are going to spend money, but you will also save money through your collaborative approach. And if you do have an in-house marketing team or are considering expanding your in-house team, employee support costs add up quickly.  

It’s Expensive to Hire, Train, and Support an In-House Team

Depending on your organizational structure, you may have one marketing pro or dozens. In-house marketing teams typically include a range of experience levels—from intern to CMO—and a range of required support. When you hire an in-house marketing team, your costs can add up quickly with:

• Onboarding
• Training
• Salaries
• Benefits 

When you hire an outsourced marketing partner, you can eliminate bullet points 2-4, and the onboarding process is typically streamlined with an outsourced marketing partner. What’s left? You have a contract to uphold and pay. That’s it. 

Let’s address the base cost for hiring an outsourced marketing partner. When evaluating potential outsourced marketing partners, you may find a wide variety of pricing models. One agency might quote $2,000 per month for social media management, while another may quote $7,000. Some agencies work on retainer models, and others charge a percentage for ad spend. 

Here’s the good news: it’s a company’s market. What do we mean by that? You get to choose who you work with. The decision-making power lies in your hands. If hiring a social media agency for $7,000 per month isn’t in your budget, don’t hire an agency that charges that amount. Instead, look for a partner that fits your budget. They’re out there. 

Let’s bring this all together. Say you hire a Content Marketing Manager for $65,000 per year. That’s around $5,400 per month. Unless you demote, lay off, or fire that employee, you’re paying $5,400 per month. A Content Marketing Manager, outsourced-style, could be a couple thousand a month. At the end of the day, you can choose to hire an outsourced partner for significantly less than hiring an in-house employee. And the workflow is streamlined, too.     

You’re Paying for Precision When You Outsource 

When you’re working with an in-house marketing team, you’re paying for training, meetings, breaks, PTO, benefits, productive time, and non-productive time. And let’s be honest, we’ve all been in meetings that weren’t productive. 

The amount of time you pay your employees during which they are actively moving the business forward is a fraction of the total time you pay them for. One breakdown shows that when you remove all the non-productive moments from an employee’s day, they’re contributing a mere hour and a half towards moving the company forward.

While meetings, strategy and otherwise, with your outsourced marketing partner aren’t always included in the price to play, a streamlined workflow saves you money in the long run. Here are the benefits you can expect from an outsourced marketing partner: 

1. You’re only paying for their productive time in the form of deliverables. 
2. They bring expertise to the table, saving you training time. 
3. They bring a full team to complete projects and internally cover any absences; you don’t have to worry about vacation schedules or sick days. 
4. You’re paying them to deliver, not spend time on their social media or personal phone calls. Your price is set for the work you expect. 
5. An outsourced partner brings their own technological resources to the table, like keyword research software, editing software, and relevant subscriptions, saving you money. 
6. An outsourced partner can address internal pain points.

Let’s talk about that last point. Say your internal marketing team is great. There are three of them, they’re hard workers, and they bring a lot to the table. However, you can’t train at a speed that matches your business growth. You can vet an outsourced marketing partner that’s already there. That outsourced marketing partner may bring technical expertise, data-driven techniques, and the ability to demonstrate ROI with multiple other clients. Together with your internal team, an outsourced partner can facilitate the growth you want at the price you need.  

Start Saving Money 

Whatever your cost concerns, one of the biggest benefits of outsourced marketing is its inherent flexibility. You and your partner agree on terms and conditions, and your contract outlines expectations for duration and deliverables. You can negotiate, every week, every month, every quarter, or every year for an arrangement that fits your business goals and budget. You just don’t have that freedom with an in-house team. Your relationship with an outsourced partner can evolve as rapidly as the industry you’re in, and can save you major cash over time. 

If you want to know more about how much money outsourcing can save your company, check out our valuable resource to see if outsourcing makes sense for your company.

And if you’re ready to explore a partnership, let’s start a conversation. Email us at [email protected]. We can’t wait to help you reach your business goals!

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