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Boost your marketing, boost your growth

by Debbie Richardson, Partner RCR Australia

Marketing spend is often a good bellwether for the economy and recent indicators suggest that an increase in marketing budgets is good news for the recovery. For example, research recently published on www.marketingmag.com.au suggests that 38 per cent of companies are planning to recruit into marketing roles in the next six months.

However hiring new staff when the recovery is still uncertain will feel like a gamble to many businesses and the same survey shows that 52 per cent of companies expect marketing employee numbers to remain unchanged.  Moreover, hiring intentions suggest that investment will be in cheaper, less experienced members of the team, with decisions about hiring senior level strategic expertise being postponed.

One option for companies that are keen to boost their marketing without increasing headcount is to outsource.  Over the last decade outsourcing has become increasingly commonplace in a variety of sectors especially IT, finance and HR.  Now, SMEs are recognising that outsourcing their marketing function could also make sense for the same reasons: increased flexibility, variable and reduced costs, and an ability to tap into a wealth of specialist experience.

If this is a possible solution for your business, here are tips for getting it right:
 
1  Be clear about why you're doing it - here are some pointers on effective outsourcing scenarios:

• Outsourced marketing director: you need an experienced person but not full time, either because you can't afford it or there isn't  enough for them to do
• A complete outsourced team: your skill requirements are going to be variable as your priorities evolve, and it's going to be difficult to find those in one employee
• Skills transfer: you want an outsourced marketing director who can train your junior staff and coach your management team, and then recruit their own full-time replacement as your business grows
• Project resource: you need some specific skills and capacity to handle a defined project alongside your existing team

2  Identify the cost benefit

For many SMEs, the cost benefits of outsourcing versus hiring a staff member are clear.  You can expect the overheads of hiring an employee to effectively double or treble their salary.  With outsourcing there are no overheads and the cost should be variable - you can use as much or as little outsourcing as you need from month to month.

3  Be clear on the skills and experience that you need

When cash is tight, the temptation is to hire a cheap junior marketing exec.  The danger is that they don't add any strategic or creative value, and they become a drain on the time of senior management.  So be clear about the level of experience you need and consider whether it would be more effective to have a part-time, outsourced senior marketer than a full-time junior.

If you'd like to see our top 10 tips for outsourcing please click here www.rcrpartnership.com.au/rcr-blog

In association with the CFO Centre RCR is currently offering 10 FREE marketing reviews that will answer the following questions:

• Is your marketing delivering measurable revenue
• Do you have the right marketing capability in place to grow our business?

To book your marketing review please email drichardson@rcrpartnership.com.au