The document provides 7 tips for clients to get the most out of their relationship with an outsourced marketing firm: 1) Designate a single point person to manage the firm rather than a committee. 2) Prioritize developing a long-term marketing strategy before focusing on tactics. 3) Stay focused on executing the agreed-upon strategy without getting distracted. 4) Have internal staff write content drafts for the firm to refine rather than expecting the firm to write content. 5) Treat the firm with kindness rather than being overly demanding. 6) Provide an appropriate budget and resources for initiatives to succeed. 7) Reserve menial tasks for internal staff and have the firm focus on more sophisticated work.

1. TIPS TO GET THE MOST
OUT OF YOUR
OUTSOURCED
MARKETING FIRM7As a seasoned outsourced marketing firm, we’ve seen our fair share of clients, and the wide
range of personalities with which they come. Some client management styles are a catalyst
for growth, while others clearly stand in the way. Given this reality, we are offering up 7 tips
on how to get the most out of your relationship with your outsourced marketing firm so that
your probability of marketing success will be maximized.
Don’t manage by committee.1
Strategy over tactics.2
Stay focused on the objectives at hand.3
Leave the content writing up to you.4
If you want to ensure your
outsourced marketing team is
executing with seamless
efficiency, be sure not to have too
many cooks in the kitchen. If
you’re managing by committee
versus a designated point person,
then chances are you’ll have too
many opinions, agendas, and
schedules to work around. Simply
put, it slows down the process.
It’s imperative to find a point person that can round up the troops internally and voice the
group’s approvals and disapprovals. This also greatly minimizes the chances of spreading
your marketing firm too thin across your departments. If you have three or four people
providing direction, it’s only natural for them to come with their own interests in mind. Sales
wants this, and the Senior Team wants that. Such different agendas and competing interests
are sure to hinder results. Speed and focus are the real concerns here, and you’ll see neither
if your outsourced marketing team is busy having to please and receive feedback from your
various department heads versus being managed by an internal point person who can
minimize the number of roadblocks to being efficient with tactical execution.
There’s one thing that we’ve
found to be consistent in
successful companies with whom
we’ve worked: a strategy-first
mindset. While it’s easy to get
caught up in the next big
marketing idea you’ve read about
on LinkedIn over the weekend,
it’s important to stay focused on
a long-term, cohesive strategy that you most likely don’t have in place.
All too often, we see companies taking a bucket-shot approach toward their marketing,
deploying scattered tactics absent of any coherent strategy. Remember, your original goal
when you hired your outsourced marketing firm was most likely to develop a lead generation
engine tasked to drive top-line growth. This cannot be achieved without a solid strategic
foundation in place. By starting with a detailed strategic roadmap with clearly defined target
audiences, metrics and objectives in place, the chances that your outsourced marketing team
will achieve success marketing success will be maximized. By allowing a strategy to first be
developed at the outset of your relationship, you’ll also enable your outsourced marketing
team to be the leader and expert you hired them to be versus having them follow your lead
implementing the random tactics that you are biased to. And if they’re credible, they should
enjoy leading this effort and add great value by introducing lead generation channels, tools
and processes that you might not have known existed.
Over the years, we’ve found that
the business owners and teams
that we work with often don’t
possess the patience and focus
necessary to bring the agreed upon
marketing strategy to the finish
line. Once your strategy is set (per
tip # 2), be sure to stay on track
and try not to get distracted with
new tactics and marketing
channels that entered into your
inbox. Remember that the
marketing magic (“i.e. desired
outcomes”) happens when you
relentlessly implement and perfect the recommended tactics, technologies and processes
stemming from the strategy. Exercise patience in making sure you’re perfecting the campaign that
your strategy tells you to follow. Don’t start something and not fully carry it through simply because
it’s no longer exciting, cutting edge or giving you golden results right away.
Marketing is not about the next sexy idea or shiny thing, but rather it’s about doggedly putting a
lead generation process in place and then staying committed to following that process. Follow
what your plan in place and then relentlessly implement, refine, and perfect before moving on.
Bottom line: what’s the point of developing a marketing strategy if you don’t follow and refine the
roadmap provided?
It’s very difficult for an
outsourced marketing firm that
isn’t working inside the walls of
your organization to know the
nuances and subtleties of your
business the way you do. You live
it every day and have probably
done so for years. Also, to expect
your outsourced marketing firm
to be writing technical content to
multiple audiences and get it right the first time is overly optimistic. Most likely, you will be
engaged in multiple rounds of feedback and revisions to the point where by the end of the
process you’ll feel like you’ve done the lion’s share of the work. In addition to the frustration
caused, this is probably not the best use of your marketing dollars, especially when your
outsourced marketing team is more expensive than a lower level internal employee.
The solution? Find someone internally who knows your company well and can write to the
subtleties and technicalities of your product or service. While they might not be a great writer
or know how to package a message to sell like your outsourced marketing team can, they can
write the substance of the content and then hand it over to your outsourced team to help
bring to the next level. In addition to polishing up the content, the outsourced team can craft
the content strategy and select the delivery vehicles to ensure the content creates buzz and
generates qualified leads. This is a much better use of their time and your dollars versus
relying on them to write every paragraph of content.
relentlessly implement and perfect the recommended tactics, technologies and processes
Kill them with kindness.5
As mentioned in earlier tips,
we’ve seen all sorts of client
personalities and communication
styles. We’ve found that given
we’re not working within our
clients’ company walls, they can
demand much more. They feel
that since they’re paying their outsourced marketing firm for their time - versus a salaried
employee - they can be more demanding than they would an internal hire and that they are
“looking out for the company” by squeezing every last ounce out of their outsourced team.
While this is understandable and admirable if done properly, there are instances where we
have found that it leads to a destructive dynamic between teams. Examples of this destructive
behavior include; setting unrealistic growth expectations, setting overly tight deliverable
deadlines and even at times raising their voice and treating our team like 2nd class citizens.
While they may think they’re doing their job by keeping the outsourced marketing firm honest,
in reality they’re doing the opposite. If you are working with a credible and seasoned
outsourced marketing firm, this poor style of communicating will de-motivate your marketing
team and work against your underlying intentions. Your goal should be to foster an
environment where they are engaged and excited to be working with you. View your
relationship as a partnership where you work together as an engaged team working towards
the same goal. It’s not always about faster-better-more. And if your outsourced marketing
team is as good as they should be, they will be hard enough on themselves and as aggressive
with milestones as possible where you won’t have to say a thing.
Set your team up for success.6
Avoid menial tasks.7
In the words of management
legend Peter Drucker, “Because
the purpose of business is to
create a customer, the business
enterprise has two–and only
two–basic functions: marketing
and innovation.” Unfortunately,
many organizations do not
embrace this quote with their
actions. Rather than providing the
appropriate budget, resources and patience needed for marketing initiatives to flourish, the
mindset is often very short-term focused. For these companies, most of their marketing
dollars go toward tangible “paid media” purchases such as an ad or a click on Google.
While these expenditures provide quick short-term returns that a CFO can feel good about,
they often handcuff the initiatives their outsourced marketing team can tackle. For example, if
the directive is to only implement marketing tactics that can show a return, many important
initiatives that will generate healthy long-term results–which include developing a distinct
message, building a content library and creating client video testimonials - will never be
touched. The result is often a self-fulfilling prophecy that your outsourced marketing team
isn’t worth the time and money. The problem is they were never given a chance since they
weren’t provided with the toolkit and breadth of tactics needed to generate results. It’s like
telling a boxer to win a fight with a hand tied behind his back. Lastly, imagine if Howard
Schultz, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, or Elon Musk invested only in efforts backed by
guaranteed short-term results. They never would have built the empires that they have today.
Hopefully, you too will view marketing as an investment. Your outsourced marketing firm will
thank you for it.
If you’re working with a seasoned
outsourced marketing firm, they’ll
most likely be more expensive
than an internal marketing
coordinator. Knowing this, an
outsourced marketing firm
shouldn’t be relegated to tasks
that a lower level employee could
handle at a lower cost. If you do
have a marketing coordinator or
possible part-time marketing resource on staff, you should detail out what their job
responsibilities are versus those of your outsourced marketing firm.
During this exercise, we recommend outsourcing the more sophisticated marketing
responsibilities including; strategy development, marketing channel and technology selection
and implementation and tracking/metrics/reporting buildout whereas the lower level tasks
such as tweaking emails, writing a blog post and compiling lists can be handled by the
internal employee. If you don’t have an internal resource, you should make sure that you keep
your outsourced marketing team focused on the marketing tasks that are most valuable and
impactful to your top-line and minimize their efforts on lower-level responsibilities that will not
maximize your marketing spend.
As an outsourced marketing department for hire, TribalVision’s mission is to help companies
grow. This is achieved by combining intelligent strategy with tactical execution in a hands-on,
results-driven manner. TribalVision utilizes its clients’ marketing budgets as efficiently and
intelligently as possible – ensuring that each dollar spent maximizes awareness and
generates new business. TribalVision’s unique marketing model is designed to fully align
interests with client outcomes – guaranteeing an objective, client-first partnership. This is
demonstrated in the firm’s fee-based compensation structure, “roll up your sleeves” mindset,
metrics-driven approach, and role as a trusted marketing resource tasked to help navigate
organizations to higher grounds.
About TribalVision
To learn more about TribalVision, visit www.TribalVision.com