Deciding to either work with a virtual marketing team or allowing your team to do it is one that requires you to weigh the advantages of each before you settle on an option. The honest opinion is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for every business model. This is because business needs and goals change frequently and are usually unique to a specific business.
In some instances, it only makes sense to let your in-house team handle marketing whilst in others, you’re better off getting an agency to manage your online marketing needs. Other times, you can mix it up and take the alternative of hybrid marketing.
Speaking of everchanging conditions, with the COVID 19 pandemic lingering on, marketing budgets are quickly being revisited. Most companies can’t retain a significant amount of their employees, but these roles still must be filled.
Virtual agencies have made quite the difference in marketing during the pandemic because it’s a section in the business that cannot be laid off. Yes, it’ll save you money (and better your business) but is it right for your business?
Let’s explore the available options…
But first, a quick look at the technical terms:
In-house marketing embodies all the employees that work within your company. There’s the freedom to recruit and assemble a team that is to your liking. This could be an individual or a team of professionals.
Virtual marketing usually refers to an agency that you hire for specific marketing services such as Google Ads, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Copywriting, Graphic Design and others.
The Hybrid Approach is a tactical combination of internal and external marketing steps. In most cases, a project manager of sorts is planted in-house to manage the virtual team and guide them on company values, voice and culture. They will also suggest strategies and give tasks to the virtual agency.
And now for the options.
In-House Marketing
Hiring an in-house employee is decisively expensive. Your employee costs more than the salary or wage you agreed upon at the time of recruitment. Other factors that fit into the cost of employment include:
- Any onboard training
- Assets rendered, i.e. laptop, desk, chair, internet, maybe a phone and so on.
- Any rates for overtime
- Sick leave and paid holidays
- Costs of hiring (this cost goes up higher if you mis-hire)
- Performance reviews and KPIs
- Reporting channels and management
The image above will help you calculate the true cost of your employee if you’re a number cruncher. Don’t forget to factor in other uncrunch able numbers such as hours to train, mis hiring and those who need to learn on the job. A marketing team cannot comprise of one individual who handles your social media, SEO, web design, graphic design, copywriting, strategists and the many other facets of marketing.
This automatically means you’ll have to hire one specialist individual for each field (especially if they are full-time). Thereafter you’ll require an overseer of their productivity for the numbers to make sense.
You probably feel overwhelmed now but keep in mind that your business could have unique needs that won’t heighten your costs.
If your in-house marketing employee costs aren’t giving you much of an alarm, then you should consider a couple of more situations that signal to keep your marketing in-house. For instance,
Is your marketing team already bringing in lots of leads for your sales team?
If your sales team is overwhelmed with calls to make and potential clients to meet up with then you’re in a good space. With healthy leads every month and an ever-growing business, you don’t need to make any changes to your marketing model.
Your team is well-stocked up
Do you have an individual focused on all aspects of your digital marketing? A person for content creation, graphic design, strategy, SEO, Social media marketing, reporting, and website maintenance? Engaging a virtual team isn’t a way to get rid of your in-house team. It could simply work as a complement to the team that you already have in the case, you’re short-staffed or there is a bit of a gap in your marketing efforts.
You have closed-loop reporting in place
Closed-loop marketing refers to the life cycle of a potential client from the time they contact your business till the point they officially become a converted customer and hopefully refer their contacts. This channel can be easily tracked when a Facebook Ad is put out. Think about it, you’ll have interesting insights about how many people viewed, liked, shared, commented or went on to order.
Closed-loop reporting is about this process, and it must lead to conversion. If your business already has its claws on this system, then your marketing is far more advanced as compared to millions of your competitors.
When should you hire a virtual marketing team then?
Lack of results
Your in-house is working hard to meet the business goals and keep up with tasks but the results you’re looking for are just not materializing yet.
Balancing performance and still optimizing campaigns is tough work. When was the last time your business launched a successful campaign? Months? Years, maybe? If you answered ‘yes’ to both or any of these then it might be time to outsource marketing.
An overburdened marketing team
As we’ve mentioned above, it is absolutely crucial to have an individual designated to one part of the marketing process. If you have an individual; or a couple of individuals filling in many hats, chances are they are overburdened to a point of unproductivity. It’s not laziness, but a person that does SEO cannot possibly handle the job of creating adequate and effective graphic designs whilst creating the copy that goes with it. How many people are in your marketing team? Are they as productive as you expect? Perhaps now is a good time to ask if they need some help. Outsource that help. You’ll be gaining an expert.
No sign of closed-looped reporting
Getting customers that you believe are coming from whim? Or sheer luck? Marketing processes are traceable. If you’ve had a healthy flow of customers this month, do you think you’d be able to do it again next month? Are you aware of all that you did correctly?
As explained above on closed-loop reporting, it helps in keeping a finger on which campaign worked and why it did. Outsourced marketers ALWAYS have closed-loop reporting in place since they are result-oriented and need to be able to prove why a certain campaign worked over another. If you’re winging this process, you’re probably losing a lot of money and getting stuck in an ineffective marketing loop.
If you’ve been working on a whim, it’s time to seek the services of a virtual company.
You’re constantly behind schedule
A missed deadline here, a postponed email campaign there and a completely forgotten blog post. This is the first sign of disaster.
Is the office almost always in a panic over one thing or the other frequently? If you haven’t already considered it, this is the signal that your strategies are inefficient and the systems that keep tabs on everything for accountability aren’t functional.
Chasing after tasks instead of going along to the strategy
A completed task feels good.
But you know what feels satisfying?
Ticking off a task that is part of a strategy. It won’t waste your time and efforts plus it grows the business in its way. Creating hordes of content and sharing it means nothing if it isn’t part of a larger structured system aimed at achieving a specific goal in your business.
Staying active online is great but it doesn’t generate business. Consider hiring a marketing virtual agency to ensure that you get a proper strategy that will positively impact your revenue goals simultaneously.
You’ve decided to go digital
This is an important one because you’re likely feeling the push to relegate digital marketing tasks to an inexperienced team. Instead of wasting time and resources training your team, consider hiring a virtual agency that already has professionals that’ll give your business a great start on the internet.
Draft a couple of goals you’re trying to achieve by going online and keep those in mind as you are hiring and working with your virtual team. Digital agencies are performance and result oriented, so you’ll be sure on whether the inputs are getting you closer to your goals or drifting you further. The awesome thing is outsourced agencies give reports and you can judge them off real numbers.
So, there you have it
Where does your business currently stand? Which option looks fitting for your business? BPO Zimbabwe is a virtual work agency that aims to connect you with professional expertise that meets your business and revenue goals. You’ll have control over what’s going on with your marketing, even throughout the hiring process. The digital landscape evolves every day, but we have a talent that stays on top of current trends and is constantly upskilling to ensure that you’re steps ahead in any marketing campaign, strategy or deadline. We’ve worked with various businesses globally and will be able to give your business the push it needs to succeed and grow. Still not sure whether a virtual team is for you? Give us a call, and we’ll help you make that decision faster.