Outsourcing one’s marketing is not a new thing among companies. It is cheap convenient and allows you to focus on other important things like product development, managing your staff, and IT. With marketing having such a wide and taxing grasps, companies big or small, are actually reaping its success for many years. But this isn’t guaranteed to be a fail-safe strategy as not all outsourcing companies are created equal and not all of them have industry experts onboard their team. So if you are currently outsourcing your company’s marketing activities to a different company and not seeing the results you want, well maybe, it’s high time you get aware on maybe where you are failing. With many of our clientele here in Coefficients sharing their horror outsourcing stories to us, check some of the warning signs below.

You’ve Given Up Creative Control

Maybe you trust your provider too much, or completely relied on them because they have “industry knowledge”, but this is where the problem begins. While it is important to build trust and have a harmonious working relationship with your outsourcing provider, not having control of your marketing is a no-no. This is detrimental because you still need to have your say when it comes to outputs and productivity and this also hurts your outsourcing provider because there is a lack of direction from you which ultimately leads to misunderstanding. Yes, admittedly, you have to give up some degree of control, but micromanaging is so passé and harmful too. What you can do is talk to your provider occasionally and ask for updates and have them integrated in your company like create an account to the communication and company tools and programs that you use so they can still know you’re the boss by the end of the day.

Outsourcing Your Marketing Was A Mistake In The First Place

You can see all articles about what you can and cannot outsource abound the internet, and obviously, marketing is one of them. But again, these articles forget to address that it’s on a case to case basis. What works for another company may not work for you. Maybe you outsource the wrong business component, maybe you’re better off outsourcing you’re IT or accounting. Do an assessment and analyze the pros and cons and the costs before ultimately making the decision to outsource. Or better yet, do not fully outsource your whole marketing department. Outsourcing parts of your marketing such as design, coding, SEO, or other stuff you know your company is lacking is a much better solution. If your company is great at generating content but is stumped on how to market it in social media, why not just outsource your Social Media Marketing? It is up to you the captain of the ship to know what works.

You Didn’t Consider Your Partner’s Location

There are debates such as nearshoring versus offshoring. But the bottomline is, you need an outsourcing provider that is available when you are, a partner that can work on your time. Some advice getting an outsourcing partner that is closely compatible to your timezone, but we say you are just keeping your potential access to a small talent pool. Most outsourcing companies can adjust to your time (hence working on a graveyard shift) just to meet your deadlines and get the job done. Time and location are important but there are other things you should check with a potential partner like their technical skills, risk management, and business continuity in case of natural disasters and civil unrest, and the thing that irritates clients the most: power and internet outages.

Author's Bio: 

Coefficients Co. Ltd. is an outsourcing company that offers business solutions beyond Virtual Assistance and Customer Support and has been helping businesses grow by offering Business Development, Consultancy and Design Solutions to its clientele.

Offering services such as Advertising & Marketing, Content Creation, Graphic & Web Design among others, here at Coefficients, we go above and beyond for our clients. From assessment, to solution design, to training, transition and launch; we cater to every phase and we got you covered every step of the way. We don’t go for temporary aids. We strike to the core.