The following was written and posted on Linkedin by a CEO, who successfully ran a well known nationwide brand for years. For his new venture he decided to do things differently. He wanted to use his time wisely and so decided to outsource his marketing to Secret Source Marketing. This is his advice to other Executive Teams thinking of doing the same;
"As a CEO there are many moving parts to manage in any organisation. You spend your time making sure that the different areas work the best to their ability and give you the right return on investment. I previously had an internal marketing presence and it was great, so I was slightly cynical and apprehensive when considering the possibility of outsourcing. However, I wanted to explore the option as it potentially meant that I could control my costs better. It was a leap of faith and I knew that I needed to find a group of people that I could trust. To my surprise, in reality this is what I found, and wanted to share with any other CEO’s who are thinking of potentially doing the same;
Meet the team – Outsource doesn’t mean offshore, find a team who when they say they have the skills, they actually do have them, and don’t outsource it themselves! They are only as good as their weakest member and so ask to meet the people you will be working with.
Hit the ground running – I managed to avoid all the onboarding costs, training, equipment and tools. Motivating the team and training them was all left to my marketing partner. This allowed me to then concentrate on the business.
Budgets - Set how much you want to spend and be realistic to what you are going to get. Controlling costs was simple because I got all the aspects of marketing for one monthly retainer fee. With the retainer model, the agency was then able to produce content with more long-term benefits, rather than an unconnected project to project transactional approach with little strategic value. I managed to get graphic design, SEO, website management, marketing leadership and content writing and I could ramp up various areas as and when the business required it.
Proactive - The team need to be proactive and offer you the advice as the designated experts. Giving them the room to move is important rather than being overly prescriptive.
Quality not quantity – My marketing partners offered me quality, uniquely generated content as opposed to volume and quick low value content. This helped set me apart from my competition.
More control! We had regular meetings and reporting, which meant I knew what was going on, at all times. Because I knew they knew their stuff, then this gave me more control to be able to steer the overall direction. The team’s experience in growing companies gave me the time to concentrate on mission critical aspects.
How much do I outsource? How much of the marketing you outsource is entirely up to you? In reality this whole piece can outsourced to third parties, however I would recommend keeping it all with one party and not a selection with each offering a different element. When it comes to running events, I would suggest an internal stakeholder is appointed, to take ownership.
Health warning – I know of other companies who have outsourced to different third party specialists and while you get the best of breed element, it is more difficult to co-ordinate, a lack of integration and overall understanding. I suggest instead find one owner, that understands how your business is going to grow and has the specialist skills to grow it.
The Result - The result was that I managed to re-brand, build five websites for the different areas of the business, get them to rank, sort out my sales and marketing infrastructure like CRM, data and automation tools, have regular relevant content, socials and public relations all happening in a very short space of time. But I got loads more value because of their experience, I got competitive intelligence business partner referrals from their connections and more besides.
I’m sure that there are stories on both sides of the debate and we always hear about when things don’t go to plan. I wanted to share when things go right. If you wanted to know more about how to get the most out of your sales and marketing then I’m happy to speak to anyone who genuinely wants to grow in the right way."
About Secret Source: Experienced in understanding the techniques that work, the right tools to use and the correct people on the project, Secret Source assign a 'Source Team' on your business and mission. Secret Source currently support Sales & Marketing Leaders, CEOs and Business Owners on specific projects, challenges or running the marketing element in its entirety, onshore without the overheads. We work as a partner, as your team, hence we were given the name Secret Source.
Next, read this: Reasons I Decided to Outsource My Marketing