Twenty years ago most companies viewed outsourcing their marketing department as insane. But in the Bay Area and Seattle, where I started Clarity Quest, the concept was gaining steam.
Today, we get inquiries from multiple companies a month wanting to outsource their marketing function completely.
Why the change?
Why outsource marketing has skyrocketed
Marketing requires specialized expertise
If you’ve been stumped by LinkedIn Campaign Manager or perplexed why Google rejected your ad copy, you understand the need for specialization first-hand. Effective marketing requires specific strategic, tech, content, design, and analytics expertise. Public relations pros need to possess even different relationship-building skills.
Skilled people are expensive to hire
Marketing specialists tend to come at a higher price than generalists and are tough to hire post-pandemic. Can you afford to staff all the marketing expertise you need internally? Most SMB companies cannot. An outsource marketing department can give you all the skills you require at a fraction of the cost.
Average Marketing Compensation
| Job Title | Average Annual Salary | Average Benefits Costs | Total Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Marketing Officer | $177,738 | $117,500 | $295,238 |
| Content Marketing Manager | $71,619 | $18,245 | $89,864 |
| Marketing Technology Manager | $92,974 | $8,500 | $101,474 |
| Marketing Director | $93,907 | $46,000 | $139,907 |
| Marketing Strategist | $63,953 | $28,951 | $92,904 |
| Marketing Analyst | $59,346 | $33,750 | $93,096 |
| Graphic Designer | $48,964 | $10,978 | $59,942 |
| Digital Marketing Manager | $71,188 | $32,554 | $103,742 |
| Total for Team of Specialists | $679,689 | $296,478 | $976,167 |
Source: *Payscale, January 2023
It’s tough to find quality candidates
Recruiters are constantly trying to poach your employees. Medical services company Remote Medical International in Seattle was losing marketing leaders and specialists to Amazon and Microsoft. The churn was hurting the bottom line and killing all pipeline momentum.
Their COO Paul Budak decided to give Clarity Quest’s outsource marketing model a try.
The benefit? They saw a better marketing performance by outsourcing.
RMI’s COO Paul Budak says “Compared to our previous internal efforts, our Clarity Quest outsource team really filled the funnel with a higher ROI than anyone expected.”
Marketing needs change over time
As your company grows and market conditions change, strategy and campaign execution requirements evolve. Even over the course of just a year, it’s difficult to predict exactly what skills you’ll need.
A full-service agency that has a wide range of expertise under one roof can flex with your company as you grow or even merge with another company.
Is outsourcing right for you?
To evaluate whether outsourcing is the right option, download our white paper “Is Outsource Marketing Right for Your Company”?
Read how our outsource marketing department helped:
- ICQ Consultants and Astarte Biologics get acquired
- Mach7 Technologies go public
