Maybe you were raised like many of us were and adopted a lesson learned in childhood: if you have to ask how much something is, then you probably can’t afford it.
Of course, price shrouding is a marketing tactic. For those businesses selling products that fall in the astronomical price range, the idea is to give consumers enough time to justify spending that kind of money. The goal is the same whether the product is a home cryogenic chamber or automated production line equipment. Putting the price tag front and center makes the mind come to a screeching halt. The prospect turns 180 before dipping a big toe the sales funnel.
Childhood Lessons Don’t Apply to Outsourced Marketing Costs
If you think you can’t afford to outsource your marketing, you may be right. But, as Billy Joel would say, “You may be crazy.” Outsourcing your marketing isn’t like buying a home cryogenic chamber. Marketing is an essential business function, so ask marketing firms for a ballpark figure. For one, there’s a good chance you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how affordable it is. For two, even if it is out of your budget now, you’ll have a number to aspire to.
A majority of the web inquiries and phone calls EAG Advertising & Marketing fields from business owners about outsourcing marketing costs either begin with a discussion about budget or quickly go there. The point is to ask how much outsourced marketing costs, because your business can probably afford it. More importantly, a good, strategic marketing plan is designed to pay for itself in increased sales and revenue.
READ MORE: How Much Should I Spend on Marketing?
Outsourced Marketing Budgets are Scalable
From the startup phase through maturity, businesses must engage in advertising and marketing. Outsourced marketing is appropriate for all business sizes and stages. In the early to middle years, strategic marketing generates name recognition, brand loyalty and sales to take a business to the next level. When a business matures, marketing continues to maintain consumer loyalty and increase market share. A marketing budget increases proportionally with sales as a business matures.
A marketing budget should meet your business where it is. For example, without a compelling website or landing page (at minimum) to drive users to, there is no sense in allocating budget toward digital advertising. An outsourced marketing firm should spend time assessing your existing marketing assets and create a plan that cost-effectively meets your goals, be they launching a new product, generating leads, expanding market share, building brand awareness, entering new markets, etc.
Not only are outsourced marketing budgets scalable, but the buying power of an agency can bring serious discounts for advertising options that might not be affordable otherwise.
Outsourced Marketing Covers All the Bases, Whatever Happens
Marketing starts with planning and strategy and requires experts to execute the tactical aspects, including:
- Web developers
- Content writers
- Search specialists
- Graphic designers
- Strategists
- And countless other marketing skills as needed.
Trying to hire an in-house marketing manager with not only the planning skills, but also the expertise in website design and development, copywriting, content marketing, search engine optimization, and print and digital design is like hiring a unicorn.
Even an experienced marketing manager, whose salary will run you upwards of $60,000 to $75,000, will require the support of experts in their fields (design, content, SEO, etc.). By outsourcing your marketing, you save the salary and benefit from having an entire marketing team and a slew of services at your fingertips.
Never was the value of having a team of experts as your outsourced marketing department better exemplified than when the pandemic struck. So much changed so quickly for businesses that they had to pivot fast, and many marketing plans changed. With people working from home, trade shows cancelled and doors at physical offices closed, outsourced marketing firms were able to scale back budget or move budget from say print advertising to digital advertising, maintaining (and in some cases even increasing) sales.
Businesses using outsourced marketing could transition quickly, thanks to having a team already in place versus those that took a wait-and-see attitude or had to spend valuable time finding and vetting marketing resources in areas outside their comfort zone.
READ MORE: Outsourcing Marketing Yields a Positive Return on Investment
The Value of Marketing Expertise and Tactical Ability Cannot be Underestimated
An outsourced marketing agency with a long history of experience in a broad variety of industries can help you build and execute marketing strategies that will generate awareness and leads, as well as drive new revenue.
The real value of working with an experienced outsourced marketing agency is its experience. Is it worth checking into the cost of outsourcing your marketing? You betcha.