There are two main scenarios where you would be looking to hire an outsourced marketing manager.
a) if you are a small business owner and you like to 'do it all', and
b) if you are a growing business but are weighing up the costs of hiring a full-time employee.
Either way, here are three great reasons you should consider outsourcing your senior marketing role.
The most obvious reason for many is the containment of cost and risk. If you are a small business, it is often more cost-effective for you to outsource your marketing strategy and campaign creation. Businesses such as local plumbers, landscapers, electricians, cafes and florists usually don't want to allocate such a large part of their budget to cover a marketing manager full time.
According to Seek.com.au, marketing managers are typically responsible for:
Planning, developing and organising marketing campaigns to support business growth objectives.
Coordinating marketing campaigns involving specialised activities, such as artwork, copywriting, media scripting, television and film production and media placement, within time and budget constraints.
Conducting regular data analysis and measuring campaign performance against predefined metrics.
Presenting regular reports to clients and stakeholders.
Using consumer data to predict current and future consumer trends.
Identifying new growth opportunities through market research.
Developing and measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Optimising marketing campaigns for highest return on investment
If you are a growing business, it would be more suitable for you to consider hiring a marketing assistant or coordinator to do the implementation of the planned marketing activity (such as social media) and help with other bits and pieces around your business. However, it is important to remember that junior marketing employees do not have the experience or knowledge to develop the overall strategy and plan how marketing activity fits into higher business plans for revenue growth and customer retention.
Outsourcing your marketing manager responsibilities means that instead of spending $100k+ annually on a full-time employee, you could spend half of that engaging with an outsourced marketing manager who brings the same if not more value to your business.
If you are in category a, and you are a small business owner who 'does it all’, then this point is for you! By outsourcing your marketing management responsibilities, you are hiring a professional and qualified marketer (make sure you check the qualifications of the person you are outsourcing too!). Marketers are on top of what is trending for marketing, what channels may or may not work well and know the tricks of the trade to get things done in a much more efficient manner than most.
If you are in the second category, and you are a growing business, consider outsourcing as a new set of eyes. Sometimes all you need is a different perspective and fresh eyes to come up with an excellent idea and turn it into a marketing campaign. Outsourced marketing managers have significant depth and breadth of experience across different industries and businesses so they can recommend new ideas or steer you away from tactics that might not have worked in the past.
I'm sure you have heard the saying that the best business owners work 'on the business, not in the business.' Spending hours posting social media posts or writing new content for the website is time you should be spending on doing what you do best! Leave the distractions of what hashtags you should be using to a marketing professional.