When is it the right time to ask for help with your marketing?

Developing brand awareness in the marketplace is one of the most challenging obstacles small businesses face. SMEs can easily miss out on potential sales opportunities if they don’t market themselves effectively because customers, buyers and suppliers don’t know where to find them or what’s on offer.

It doesn’t take a Lord Sugar to know that to generate sales, you need a consistent flow of leads, a repeat customer base, and strong brand awareness. But what is now complicating the traditional business formula is the rapidly growing world of social media. Social media platforms have now heated up the competition and made the already crowded marketing landscape even more complex.

So no wonder 1 in 3 small businesses outsource at least one business process. As questioned by Clutch24% of small businesses said increased efficiency was the main reason for outsourcing, while other reasons included available expertise (18%), flexibility (16%) and giving employees time to prioritize other tasks (15% ) goods.

Can your SME manage its own marketing?

Every company is unique and has its own resources, talent and finances. Knowing whether your small business can manage its own marketing strategy requires an honest self-assessment:

• How much do you understand about marketing? Are you familiar with what strategies exist and how to measure the success of a strategy?
• Do you like marketing?
• Is anyone on your team skilled in a particular area? Do they have an eye for design, are they good with words or are they great with computers?
• How much time do you have on your hands?
• How well do you know your marketing needs? Who is your demographic and what platforms do they hang out on?
• Do you have the money to hire an in-house marketer, or should you consider outsourcing to one? full service marketing and communications agency?

Telltale signs that your small business urgently needs to outsource its marketing strategy

It’s been a while since you last assessed your marketing strategy

To keep your marketing efforts strong, your social media, email, and advertising engagement should be checked once a day. Reviewing your marketing strategy is essential to keep up with trends, demographic shifts and sudden opportunities that arise and ensure your campaign is an all-round success. If it seems like your marketing strategy has cobwebs (and your website was last updated in 2020), then it’s probably time to look at outsourcing.

You don’t see any results

Monitoring your return on investment is an excellent way to measure the success of your marketing strategy. If the phones aren’t ringing with leads, customers aren’t placing orders, and those that do aren’t the type of customer you’re targeting, then that’s a sign you need to call in professional expertise, especially if you think you have the made the right marketing moves.

You don’t know where to start

Between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest and TikTok, social media can be a bit of a minefield. It can be easy to jump the gun and sign up with everyone (which would only drain your resources), or for some it can even feel a bit risky to put yourself out there on an unknown platform. Marketing is a complex subject that requires the right expertise. Trying to do all of this yourself can be time-consuming and lead to disappointing results.

Your efforts are sporadic

When running a small business, disruptions and distractions can occur at any time. Stabilizing financials, monitoring inventory flow and maintaining employee retention are all key priorities, which sometimes means marketing is one that falls by the wayside. However, the only secret to a successful marketing campaign is consistency. Consistency and time are the factors that build brand credibility, awareness and loyal customer base. If you lack resources and your efforts are sporadic, you won’t see the healthy trajectory you need.

Your schedule is already packed

There are only so many hours in a day. Drafting and proofreading something that may seem as little as a Mail Chimp email can take a lot more time than you think. Even a single spelling mistake can cause a potential customer to overlook your brand. When implementing a marketing plan, it’s important to allocate appropriate time and set realistic expectations about how much time will be put into an effective strategy.

Your competitors are performing better than you

Keeping an eye on your competitors’ marketing strategy or even stalking their social media is a good way to see how well your strategy might perform. However, if your competitors are significantly outperforming you, it’s time to rethink your current strategy or bring in experts who can provide advice and even take responsibility for your strategy.

So you have chosen to outsource

Outsourcing your marketing is an effective way to leverage talent and expertise within the industry while ensuring a consistent and successful strategy. Not only is outsourcing a cost-effective choice, but it can also help your small business focus on core activities and free up time to remain flexible in changing market conditions.

If you think outsourcing is the right move for your small business, check out some of our top tips for selecting a marketing agency.