Advantages of Outsourcing Your Marketing For SaaS
Digital marketing requires expertise in various areas such as search engine optimization (SEO), social media, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, content development, and analytics. Outsourcing some of these tasks gives you access to people with proven skills you need without having to hire them in-house.
If you are unsure of what to outsource, then you should read our comprehensive guide on the SaaS marketing tasks that can be outsourced.
Below are a few advantages of contracting out your marketing successfully.
1. Access to Industry-Standard Technology
Outsourcing your digital marketing campaign will put you in the driver’s seat when it comes to new trends and tools. The digital marketing space is rapidly evolving, and staying on top of the technological changes is essential to give you an edge over your competition.
By outsourcing your marketing, you have access to cutting-edge technologies and resources that your in-house team may not have. Furthermore, outsourcing your marketing to a team with industry-standard technological knowledge will help you improve your marketing plan and get even greater results.
2. Access to Specialized Expertise
Outsourcing SaaS marketing to a competent team means that you will be working with professionals who specialize in your industry. These experts would have helped market several products and have a deep understanding of what goes on in SaaS.
Sometimes, your internal team needs fresh ideas and outside-the-box thinking. This is where outsourcing comes in here.
An external team can recommend strategies or activities that have worked well with another business in your situation. They bring to the table new strategies and insights and can help you create marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience and generate meaningful results.
3. Latest Marketing Techniques and Trends
Digital marketing is constantly evolving and keeping up with the latest development and trend is a salient factor for a business to succeed. By outsourcing your digital marketing strategy, you have access to companies and individuals that are continuously keeping up with the newest marketing trends and technological advancements.
It helps you to optimize your marketing campaign, stay ahead of the competition, and remain on top of your niche.
4. Faster Task Completion
Outsourced digital marketing teams are often more focused and specialized than in-house teams, allowing them to perform projects faster and with greater quality. Furthermore, outsourcing allows you to scale up or down your marketing activities as needed without having to hire or educate new employees.
This can save you time and money while allowing you to concentrate on other elements of your organization. Finally, faster job completion might help you reach your marketing goals faster and gain a competitive advantage in the market.
5. No Training Required
The in-house marketing team requires significant time and resources to recruit, train, and manage employees which can be a big investment for a SaaS company. Outsourcing your marketing campaign reduces the requirement for training because the outsourced crew is already experienced and capable of handling your marketing campaign.
This will significantly reduce your cost on higher employees, training them, and making them industry ready. Furthermore, you can ramp up or down your marketing campaign without hiring or training your employees.
6. No Risk of Reliance on Specific Staff
In-house marketing teams are frequently made up of a small number of people, making it difficult to recover from the loss of a key team member. Sourcing out your marketing eliminates this risk because the outsourced team is responsible for managing its workforce and resources.
This ensures that your marketing activities may continue uninterrupted even if a member of the outsourced team becomes unavailable. Furthermore, assigning your marketing activities to outsiders allows you to simply scale up or down your marketing activities without the danger of being overly reliant on certain staff people.
7. Cost Savings Over the Long Run
While hiring an external agency has greater initial expenses than in-house staff, it can result in considerable cost savings over time. Outsourced teams are often more efficient and specialized, allowing them to execute work faster and with greater quality, perhaps resulting in a larger ROI.
Externalizing your digital marketing campaign also avoids the need for continued investments in training and development, office space, and employee benefits, all of which may be costly for in-house teams.
Finally, delegating your digital marketing activities outside of your business allows you to simply scale up or down your marketing activities without having to hire or dismiss employees, which can be costly and time-consuming. Overall, outsourcing your marketing can help you save money in the long term while still offering high-quality marketing services.
8. Improved Efficiency
Using an experienced third-party marketing agency allows you to make use of a team of experts’ specific talents and knowledge without having to supervise and control their work.
This may free up time and resources, allowing you to focus on important company tasks like product development, sales, and customer service. Externalizing your marketing activities can also assist in streamlining your marketing operations, reducing redundancy, and enhancing efficiency.
Hiring an external team to handle your marketing tasks allows you to make use of the most recent marketing technology and solutions, which may boost productivity and streamline your marketing operations.
9. Scalability
If you are looking to ramp up your marketing activities for a new product launch or scale back during a slow season or recession, then you are better off outsourcing marketing than hiring an internal team.
As your SaaS business grows, so does its marketing needs. One of the most vital benefits of outsourcing marketing tasks is the flexibility to scale up or down as needed without worrying about hiring, training, or even firing (when scaling down) employees.
This scalability can allow your company to stay agile and adapt to the ever-changing SaaS marketing landscape.
Challenges in Outsourcing Marketing for SaaS
Despite all the benefits of outsourcing SaaS marketing, possible security risks, inconsistent marketing methods and strategies, and reduced control over brand voice are issues that you might face. Here, we have outlined the most common challenges in outsourcing marketing and ways to tackle them.
1. Security Risks
If you share with the outsourced team sensitive information such as financial data, customer information, or intellectual property about your organization, it may create security risks.
As a rule of thumb, you should ensure to only provide information that is absolutely necessary for them to have. Also, you may create accounts with limited privileges for the agency’s use.
How to mitigate security risks when outsourcing marketing:
- Establish data security protocols that will outline your organization’s policies on sharing, storing, and protecting sensitive data. This also includes securing tools or using secure tools for file sharing and communication.
- Work only with partners who you trust and can’t afford to soil their reputation and business. As emphasized in our SaaS outsourcing guide, you must vet potential agencies thoroughly before making the hiring decision.
- Train your in-house team on data security best practices, identifying and avoiding phishing scams, spotting suspicious activity, and securing passwords.
2. Incomplete Control Over Brand Positioning
Outsourcing SaaS marketing may reduce your control over your branding, messaging, and overall marketing strategy, especially when compared to handling all tasks in-house.
While outsourced teams normally have a solid grasp of your brand and its values, there is still the possibility that their communication style will not fully mesh with your brand voice.
How to take control of your brand positioning when outsourcing marketing;
- Set clear guidelines as well as expectations upfront with the outsourced marketing team. You may also utilize resources such as style guidelines and templates to assist in maintaining consistency in messaging and branding across all marketing pieces.
- Maintain regular communication with the external team to review their work and ensure that your branding and messaging stay consistent.
- Work closely with your outsourced marketing staff to ensure they have a deep grasp of your brand and its values, and give ongoing input to guarantee consistency in message.
- Establish a clear approval procedure for all marketing materials to ensure that they are consistent with your brand’s voice and messaging.
- Review and evaluate the performance of your outsourced staff regularly to verify that they are effectively articulating your brand message and achieving results.
3. Cultural Differences
Depending on the location of your outsourced marketing team, you may experience some differences between your cultures that can affect the perception of your marketing. Popular examples are numbers, symbols, and colors that could have different meanings based on the culture. In the same way, a marketing strategy that worked in a region where the team is based may not work for your target market.
Even without running into these issues, if the external team is not based in your region, they may struggle to incorporate local references or humor into the messaging. This is why we have always recommended that you work primarily with a team that has ample experience not just in your industry, but marketing to the same region.
How to overcome cultural barriers when working with an outsourced marketing team:
- Prioritize working with a marketing team that caters to users in the same or similar region you target.
- Learn about local languages, idioms, customs, and holidays, especially if your company is outsourcing marketing in order to expand into the new market in question.
- Analyze your competition that operates in the same region and assess their strategies.
- Work closely with the outsourced team to ensure that they are using culturally appropriate messaging.
- Test your messaging and tactics with different focus groups
4. Lack of In-Depth Business Knowledge
Outsourced teams may not be as familiar with your company as an in-house team, which might result in a lack of awareness of your unique selling proposition, target market, and overall business strategy. This can lead to poor marketing initiatives and missed opportunities. Furthermore, outsourced teams may not be as dedicated to the long-term success of your organization as an in-house team, which might lead to a lack of in-depth business expertise.
How to tackle the issue:
- Give your outsourced staff specific information about your company, such as your unique selling proposition, target market, and general business goals and objectives.
- Communicate with your outsourced workforce regularly to ensure they have a solid grasp of your business and are aligned with your overall plan.
- Consider inviting your outsourced employees to frequent meetings or corporate events to assist them in getting a better grasp of your business and culture.
- Provide continuing training and materials to your outsourced crew to assist them in keeping current with your company and market trends.
- Assess your outsourced team’s performance regularly and make modifications as needed to ensure that they are producing successful marketing strategies that correspond with your company’s goals and objectives.
5. Quality Concerns
Many business leaders avoid outsourcing in general due to fears of lower quality work than their internal team. You are mostly likely to experience this issue when you outsource marketing to a team that doesn’t have a solid track record or one that simply is not invested in the success of your business.
Quality issues are a serious concern as they can directly impact your marketing campaigns and trustworthiness among other issues.
How to ensure quality with an outsourced marketing team:
- Vet the work of potential marketing agencies before choosing one to outsource tasks.
- Establish your expectations for timelines and the quality of deliverables.
- Emphasize your goals and objectives per project and provide them with all the needed resources and support.
- Communicate with the external team regularly and regularly check in on them to review progress and provide feedback. This way, it’s easy to confirm that their work meets your organization’s quality standards.
