Why you should outsource your marketing during the cost-of-living crisis 

Even if you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll be aware that we’re in a ‘cost of living crisis’. Costs are going up and confidence is going down.  

This is a troubling time for businesses and business owners, with three-quarters of small and medium businesses concerned about the long-term impacts of the cost of living crisis. While there’s an understandable temptation to cut costs, your good intentions could actually be detrimental to your business. Marketing is key to generating new leads and obtaining new customers: something that is essential right now.  

Given the uncertainty we’re bound to experience, now is the ideal time to put some information out there about why outsourcing your marketing could be a good idea. 

Let me be very clear: I’m not saying you should dismiss your marketing team and use an agency instead. What I am saying is: If you need extra help with your marketing, you should consider using an agency or a freelancer. Here’s why. 

What is marketing outsourcing? 

Marketing outsourcing generally does what it says on the tin. On a basic level, it means enlisting someone from outside your business to help with your marketing.  

The most common ways to outsource are to an agency or a freelancer. You can go into detail on the differences between the two (as well as comparing to internal hiring) here but, for now, the basics are: 

• A marketing agency is a business that can offer a variety of skills to help with your marketing 
• A marketing freelancer is an individual who usually has a specialty 

The best outsourcing will involve a partnership between both parties, where ideas and strategies can be discussed and developed using all available knowledge. It gives you the marketing skills you need to achieve your goals without the responsibility of hiring an internal marketer.  

Why you might be looking to expand (or create) your marketing team  

We’ve already mentioned uncertainty over what will happen in the next few months (as if we haven’t experienced enough of that already). It’s like a house of mirrors, who knows whether you’ll end up where you want to be or right back where you started? A marketing team can help you overcome the challenges you face by ensuring you’re targeting the right audience, with the right messages, at the right time. Ultimately, this gives you the best chance of success.   

There’s less commitment  

By ‘less commitment’, we don’t mean less effort. We just mean that you’ll have the flexibility to cancel if you need to.  

At LikeMind Media, we’re incredibly fortunate to have clients who have been with us for a long time. We also have clients who need short-term work. This could be because they: 

• Have a one-off project, such as an event or product launch 
• Need help in a specialist area 
• Can’t get sign-off for a rolling retainer 
• Need a short-term boost to their leads or sales 

Whatever the reason, most agencies are usually more than happy to take on short-term contracts and limited-time projects. Unlike hiring a new employee, you don’t need to worry about where your business will be in six months’ time.  

You get a wide range of marketing expertise 

The beauty of using a marketing agency is that you get expertise from a lot of different people. And as they say, many hands make light work.  

To paraphrase the words of Bryan Mills: “What we do have are a very particular set of skills; skills we have acquired over a very long career.” If you got that reference, extra brownie points for you. 

The key part of ‘uncertain times’ is the uncertainty that defines it. Success relies on the ability to pivot and adapt. The more brains, the more ideas and the deeper levels of creativity.  

A great example of using creativity to adapt during the coronavirus pandemic is the Pub in a Box launched by Signature Brew. Offering beer, a glass, snacks, a quiz beer mat and exclusive playlists, the brewery brought customers the full pub experience at home. What makes this innovative idea even better is that the boxes are delivered by out-of-work musicians in London. 

Increase sales and lead generation 

We’d go as far as to say every business relies on lead generation in some way or another. Whether you need sales or sign-ups or advocates, people are essential to running a successful (and profitable) organisation.  

That means lead generation should always be at the heart of any marketing strategy.  

Outsourcing your marketing can bring those leads rolling in without you having to do a thing. Marketing gets people to your website, engaging with your social media and, most of all, lining them up in your pipeline. Your sales people, or your website, can then work their magic and convert those leads into customers. 

Get an external viewpoint 

When you’re working on something all day, every day, it’s hard to not get lost in the details.  

One of the biggest advantages of outsourcing your marketing is all the new viewpoints from which you can see your business and its products or services. Fresh eyes offer brand new perspectives, which could include benefits of your business that you haven’t previously noticed. 

As well as helping you see the big picture, enlisting the help of a marketing agency brings an abundance of experience and skills. Not only can an agency bring ideas from other projects but will keep you up to date on the latest tools and methods for promoting your business. 

Outsourcing your marketing gives you the expertise to help without piling on the pressure . Give it a go and you won’t be disappointed.  

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LikeMind Media are a UK-based marketing agency who specialise in creating partnerships that generate results. Using the LikeMind Media Method, we combine our skills with your knowledge to create marketing strategies that work.  

Want to know more? Book an introduction call.