Hiring full-time employees is a herculean venture, from the recruiting and interviewing process to negotiating salaries, making final offers, and doing onboarding. The process is time-intensive and costly, especially when you end up hiring someone who's not a great fit for your organization. This is precisely why businesses across several industries are increasingly exploring flexible and outsourced marketing services models.
In this article, you'll learn the three most popular ways to outsource your marketing, some outsourcing models you can adopt, how to outsource by channel or by role, and how MarketerHire can help you outsource your marketing.
What do we mean by outsourcing your marketing?
Outsourcing your marketing means contracting external parties to manage part or all of your marketing activities instead of handling them in-house. This approach is popular among businesses looking to optimize costs, access specialized expertise, or focus more on core operations. By outsourcing, you can delegate tasks to an outsourced marketing department or external professionals who specialize in content creation, SEO, social media management, digital advertising, and strategy development.
There are three major ways to outsource your marketing:
1. Hiring freelancers
Freelancers are independent professionals who offer specific marketing services, such as copywriting, graphic design, social media management, or digital marketing. They usually work on a project-by-project basis or short-term contracts, which allow you to access their specialized skills without committing to long-term employment.
Pros of hiring freelancers
- They’re usually more affordable than hiring a full-time in-house team or a marketing agency. You only pay for the specific work needed, avoiding the expense of full-time salaries.
- They’re flexible in terms of workload. You can hire them as needed, scaling up during busy periods or scaling down when work slows.
- They tend to focus on specific areas of marketing, so you can hire experts with niche skills for short-term or one-off projects.
- When hiring a freelancer, you have direct access to the person completing the work, which streamlines communication and gives you more control over the process.
Cons of hiring freelancers
- Freelancers work independently and usually juggle multiple clients, so they may not have the bandwidth to take on large, complex projects. This can lead to delays or slow turnaround times.
- The quality of work may vary depending on the freelancer’s experience, workload, or the level of detail in the initial brief.
- Since freelancers aren’t full-time employees, they may not be as invested in your company’s long-term success.
- Managing multiple freelancers for different parts of your marketing (e.g., one for SEO, another for graphic design) can become time-consuming and may lead to inconsistent branding, if not well-coordinated.
2. Hiring agencies
Marketing agencies are firms that provide a full suite of marketing services. Working with an outsourced marketing company allows businesses to outsource large portions of their marketing strategy and execution.
Pros of hiring agencies
- As your outsourced marketing services provider, agencies typically offer a full team of specialists, from SEO experts to copywriters to graphic designers. This means you can benefit from the collective knowledge and expertise of multiple professionals.
- They have the resources to scale marketing efforts up or down depending on business needs. They can manage larger campaigns and projects without overwhelming internal teams.
- They often work under clear contracts and service-level agreements (SLAa), which provide predictability regarding delivery times, quality, and ongoing support.
Cons of hiring agencies
- Outsourced marketing services from agencies tend to be more expensive than freelancers, especially when dealing with larger firms that offer a full range of services. They also typically charge a monthly retainer, which can be cost-prohibitive for smaller businesses.
- Since an agency manages most of the process, you may feel removed from day-to-day operations, especially if you prefer having hands-on involvement.
- Agencies work with multiple clients, which means they may not fully understand your company’s vision or prioritize your business as much as a dedicated in-house team.
- Working with a larger team or through account managers can sometimes lead to misunderstandings or communication delays.
Read: How To Choose a Digital Marketing Agency—Key Criteria, Steps, and Tips
3. Going offshore
Offshoring involves outsourcing marketing tasks to professionals or agencies based in other countries, often where labor costs are lower. Businesses often offshore repetitive or lower-cost tasks like data entry, basic content production, or administrative marketing functions.
Pros of offshoring
- Offshoring can help you save costs, as labor rates in certain countries are much lower than in the U.S. or Europe.
- It gives you access to a large, diverse talent pool. Some offshore markets have highly skilled professionals in areas like content creation, digital marketing, or customer support.
- Working with offshore teams in different time zones can be great if you need tasks completed around the clock. This facilitates continuous progress on projects.
Cons of offshoring
- Differences in language, time zones, and culture can lead to misunderstandings and communication delays, which can negatively impact project timelines and quality.
- If the offshore team isn’t familiar with your market, brand standards, or audience, their quality of work may not measure up. For example, offshore workers may not have the cultural context needed to create content or campaigns that resonate with local consumers.
- Managing an offshore team can be more difficult than managing freelancers or local agencies due to the lack of physical proximity and potential communication issues.
Read: Rev Up Your Business Growth With a Marketing Team for Hire
Different models of outsourcing your marketing team
Working with an outsourced marketing services provider requires careful consideration of your specific needs. There are two main models for outsourcing your marketing team: the flexible model (which we recommend) and the fully outsourced model. Below is a breakdown of each of them:
1. Flexible model
The flexible outsource marketing team model is a hybrid approach that combines the strengths of an in-house team with external resources. We highly recommend this model if you're seeking to maintain control over your marketing strategy while leveraging specialized skills or scaling your efforts as needed.
By keeping a core in-house team and augmenting it with external talent or agencies, you can enjoy flexibility in both budget and expertise. This model comes in two forms.
In-house core team + fractional talent
In this approach, you maintain a small, in-house core marketing team that handles key tasks like marketing strategy and project management. To fill gaps in expertise or manage workload fluctuations, you hire fractional talents—freelancers, consultants, or part-time specialists—on a temporary or on-demand basis.
Advantages of this model
- You only pay for the expertise you need when you need it, without the financial burden of full-time hires.
- Fractional talent allows you to tap into a wide range of specialized skills, from SEO to content marketing, as and when required.
- Your in-house team retains control over the marketing strategy, ensuring that your company goals and brand messaging remain consistent.
- You can quickly adjust the team size or shift focus based on the company’s current needs.
- Hiring on a fractional basis lets you engage with high-level experts who might not be available for full-time roles.
Disadvantages of this model
- Managing multiple freelancers or consultants can become complex, especially when trying to maintain consistency across projects.
- Since fractional talent is often temporary, there may be a lack of emotional investment in the company’s long-term goals.
- Freelancers often juggle multiple clients, meaning their availability might be limited, which could delay critical projects.
In-house core team + agency
In this version of the flexible model, your in-house core team focuses on strategy and decision-making while outsourcing large portions of tactical execution to an outsourced marketing firm. The agency takes on responsibilities such as content creation and distribution, campaign management, and performance tracking.
Advantages of this model
- The marketing services agencies offer (content, SE0, paid media, etc.) allow your in-house team to focus on core competencies like strategy.
- Agencies can handle multiple campaigns simultaneously and scale their efforts based on your company’s marketing needs.
- Agencies often provide structured processes, ensuring deadlines are met, and campaigns are executed professionally.
- Agencies can offer insights from working across industries, providing valuable perspectives that your in-house team may lack.
Disadvantages of this model
- Agencies are more expensive than freelancers or consultants, especially when engaging with growth-stage or enterprise-level companies.
- With agencies managing execution, your in-house team may not be on top of the day-to-day marketing operations, which could impact agility.
- Even with regular communication, agencies may not fully align with your company’s internal culture, which may lead to differences in branding or messaging execution.
2. The fully outsourced model
In this model, you hand over your entire marketing operations to an outsourced marketing company, either by hiring agencies exclusively or by going offshore for help. Essentially, you have no internal marketing team and rely completely on outsourced partners to manage every aspect of marketing.
Why some businesses opt for the fully outsourced model
- Companies, especially startups or small businesses, may not have the internal resources or expertise to handle marketing effectively. Outsourcing to an agency or offshore team can seem like a quick solution to bridge this gap.
- Businesses may want to focus on their core competencies, such as product development or customer service, and delegate marketing responsibilities to specialists.
- Some companies may believe that external agencies or offshore help can scale their marketing efforts more quickly and efficiently than an internal team could.
- Offshoring marketing tasks to countries with lower labor costs may appear cost-effective, particularly for smaller businesses with limited budgets.
Why the fully outsourced model is not advisable
- Full-service agencies often come with high price tags, and their fees can quickly add up, especially when you require multiple marketing campaigns, ongoing content production, or comprehensive digital strategies. You may find yourself locked into expensive retainer agreements with no guarantee of proportional return on investment (ROI).
- If you outsource everything, you may lose direct control over your marketing operations. This makes it likelier for agencies or overseas teams to make decisions that don’t fully align with your company’s culture, vision, or long-term goals. Also, since you’re totally dependent on the agency or offshore team, you won’t be able to quickly pivot or resolve issues if the agency underperforms or the offshore help isn’t reliable.
- Offshoring marketing to overseas teams can create cultural barriers, especially if the offshore team doesn’t fully understand your target market’s preferences, values, or buying behaviors. There’s also a risk of instructions being misunderstood, which can lead to wasted time and resources.
- With agencies or offshore teams, the quality of work may vary. While you receive strong results from one campaign, the next may fall short of expectations. This inconsistency can hurt your company’s ability to build and maintain an effective marketing presence.
- Fully outsourced teams, especially offshore ones, may not be able to react to market changes as quickly as an in-house team would. This can hinder your company’s ability to take advantage of trends, respond to competitors, or address customer feedback in real time.
How to outsource marketing by channel and role
When working with an outsourced marketing services approach, you should consider the specific channels and roles that best fit your goals. Outsourcing by role helps fill gaps in expertise and management, while outsourcing by channel allows you to focus your resources where they'll have the most impact.
Outsourcing by role
There are many roles you can outsource, depending on the marketing channel you’re choosing to focus on and your budget. Here are some of them:
1. Fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)
This is a high-level marketing executive hired on a part-time or contract basis. Rather than employing a full-time CMO, you can engage a fractional CMO to oversee strategic marketing decisions, manage teams, and guide growth initiatives. These professionals typically have years of experience and bring the expertise needed to steer marketing in the right direction, without the financial burden of a full-time salary.
Read: Hire a Fractional CMO—Get High-Level Expertise for a “Fraction” of the Cost
2. Growth marketer
Growth marketers are focused on rapidly scaling a company’s efforts, using data-driven strategies to optimize customer acquisition, retention, and revenue growth. Outsourcing a growth marketer can help you efficiently target new customers, test new channels, and optimize your marketing funnel without committing to a full-time hire.
You can also scale up or down depending on current goals and resources, which is particularly useful if you’re a seasonal business or a fast-growing startup.
3. SEO marketer
SEO marketers focus on increasing organic traffic by improving a website’s visibility on search engines like Google and Bing. SEO requires a mix of technical expertise, content strategy, and constant algorithm updates.
Unless SEO is the core of your business, hiring a full-time in-house expert may not be necessary. Outsourcing to freelance specialists or agencies allows you to access this expertise without the cost of a full-time hire.
Read: 5 signs it’s time to hire an SEO marketing manager
4. PPC (pay-per-click) expert
PPC experts focus on managing paid advertising campaigns on platforms like Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook, and LinkedIn. They optimize campaigns to maximize ROI through careful targeting, bidding strategies, and performance analysis.
If you only need a PPC expert during campaign cycles or product launches, it’s more practical to hire on a project or retainer basis rather than having a full-time employee dedicated to paid ads.
5. Social media manager
A social media manager is responsible for maintaining and growing a company’s social media presence across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. This role involves content creation, community engagement, and performance analysis.
Social media management can be highly time-consuming, and hiring a full-time in-house person might not be necessary, especially if social media isn’t your primary marketing channel. Outsourcing allows for flexibility in managing social media during campaigns, product launches, or special events.
6. Email marketer
Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for nurturing leads, driving sales, and maintaining customer relationships. An email marketer handles email campaign strategy, list segmentation, automation, and performance tracking.
If you only require email campaigns during promotions, product launches, or seasonal sales, outsourcing allows you to work with an expert on a per-campaign basis without hiring someone full-time.
7. Marketing analyst
Marketing analysts interpret data to provide insights that can improve marketing strategies. They track campaign performance, customer behavior, and key metrics like conversion rates, ROI, and customer acquisition costs.
Data analysis requires specific skills and tools that you may not need on a daily basis. You can hire a marketing analyst on a project basis to evaluate campaign performance or provide insights at critical moments, such as during rebranding and product launches.
Outsourcing by marketing channel
Different marketing channels require unique skill sets. Outsourcing by channel allows you to work with specialists who excel in specific areas, from SEO to social media. Below are some of the most common channels where outsourcing makes sense:
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a long-term marketing channel that requires ongoing optimization and content creation to ensure your business ranks highly on search engines. While some SEO roles, like SEO Manager/Strategist, can remain in-house for strategic oversight, others are ideal for outsourcing because you might not need them all the time.
The SEO roles you can outsource include:
- Link-building experts
- Technical SEO Specialist
- SEO content writers
2. Paid advertising (PPC, Google Ads, Social media ads)
Paid advertising is a fast-moving channel that requires constant monitoring, adjustment, and optimization. If you want to get the most out of your ad spend, consider keeping strategic roles in-house while outsourcing more tactical execution tasks.
Some in-house roles you can have are PPC expert/manager and Creative Director. The roles you can outsource include:
- Ad campaign manager
- Ad copywriter
- Paid search experts
- Performance analysts
- Conversion rate optimization (CRO) specialists
Read: Hire a PPC Expert—Maximize Your Paid Advertising and Drive Growth
3. Social media management
Social media is critical for maintaining brand presence, engaging with customers, and driving traffic. Because social media marketing requires both consistent engagement and the ability to create timely, relevant content, it’s essential to strike the right balance between in-house and outsourced roles.
In-house social media roles may include social media manager and community manager. The outsourced roles may include:
- Social media content creators
- Influencer marketing manager
- Social media analyst
4. Content marketing
When working with an outsourced marketing department, content marketing involves the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant content (blog posts, eBooks, videos, infographics, podcasts, etc.) to attract and engage a target audience. Balancing in-house roles with outsourced support is crucial to maintaining a cohesive content strategy while scaling production.
Some in-house content marketing roles may include content marketing manager and creative director. The outsourced roles may include:
- Freelance writers/content creators
- Video producers/editors
- Graphic designers
- Podcast content creators
How MarketerHire can help you outsource your marketing
If you're looking to outsource your marketing without the stress of finding and interviewing multiple candidates, MarketerHire is here for you. As your outsourced marketing partner, our platform gives you access to a large pool of pre-vetted marketing experts, including fractional CMOs, growth marketers, social media managers, paid search marketers, and more.
MarketerHire uses a combination of AI and human expertise to match businesses like yours with the right marketer for their needs in as little as 48 hours. This eliminates the hassle of lengthy job postings and interviews, making the hiring process fast and streamlined. Since we only accept the top 1% of applicants after a thorough vetting process, you can rest assured that the marketers we match them with are great at their jobs.
To ensure compatibility, we offer a two-week risk-free trial, which allows you to assess whether your matched marketer is the right fit before making any long-term commitments. If the fit isn’t perfect, MarketerHire offers free rematching to help you find the right talent.
If you want to go the offshore route, our Expert Assistants service gives you access to qualified offshore talent. They’re also fully vetted and highly experienced and can help you save up to 70% of the resources you’d normally spend on hiring US-based talent. These assistants cover everything from digital advertising and social media management to website design, video editing, lead gen and prospecting, data entry and research, and more.
Schedule your first call with us today and be on your way to expanding your marketing team with top-tier fractional talent.