With all the plate spinning that comes with running a small business, outsourcing can be an excellent way of relieving pressure whilst simultaneously getting results.
Marketing is one such area which can make business owners time poor when attempting to take it on in-house without any additional resource. So here are just a few things to keep in mind when outsourcing the marketing for your business...
It costs less than you think
Hiring a freelance marketing consultant is great for smaller marketing budgets. Most Cornerstone Your Business clients are surprised at how affordable the services of an outsourced marketing manager are when they sign up. As a gauge, our fees start from just £495 per month.
Given the flexible nature of hiring a freelance marketing manager, the cost is also variable to your need. So, for example, if the launch of a new product or service is coming up, marketing support can be increased for the period before, during and after that launch; before returning to a monthly retainer or agreed fee afterwards.
For smaller businesses whose marketing needs may vary throughout the year, this adaptable solution can be much more cost effective than taking on a marketing manager in-house full-time.
How can a Freelance Marketing Consultant support your business?
Hiring an independent marketing consultant such as Cornerstone Your Business will bring to your company a range of skills and support.
Depending on the unique needs of your business, they can create your marketing schedules; look at how to support your business objectives; identify your target market; set up and manage social media accounts (or train a member of your team to manage them going forward); and act as a single point of contact for all marketing activity, so instead of needing to outsource to designers, SEO agencies, web developers etc., your outsourced marketing manager will manage those relationships on your behalf.
Bringing with them a wealth of experience from various roles, they have an in-depth marketing knowledge to support your business that has been accumulated from the diversity in their professional background.
What are the benefits over a full time Marketing Manager?
Once a business gets to a certain size, hiring a full-time marketing manager can be beneficial. But until that point, a freelance or outsourced marketing manager can support a business to grow and gain new customers, without the commitment of taking on a new member of staff.
Having an objective set of eyes looking at your business can be hugely beneficial from a marketing perspective. Instead of being caught up with their own knowledge and understanding of your business, an outsourced marketing consultant will think more like a customer; looking from the outside in. This means they can come up with innovative ways to market your product to your target audience and see new solutions for old problems.
Of course there’s also the flexibility that comes with outsourcing your marketing; as a freelance consultant like Jessica Morris-McKenzie will create a bespoke package tailored to the needs of your business. For example, that could be a marketing plan and schedule at the start of the year; ongoing social media support every month; ad hoc additional support throughout the year for the launch of new products and services; and then an end of year review to see what’s worked and what hasn’t. Or perhaps your business just needs one-off marketing support, to get ready for a launch with relevant members of your team trained to keep your marketing ticking along afterwards.
In addition to all of this, a marketing consultant such as Jess will come with their own ‘little black book’ of complementary contacts, so if support is needed from a designer, photographer, copywriter or similar, then they’ll have trusted freelancers to call on, managing that outsourcing on your behalf.
For a free, no obligation call with Cornerstone Your Business independent marketing consultant Jess, call: 07929 905 229.