12 Nov Outsourcing vs Hiring

Let’s face it, running a business is no small task. What may appear to others as an overnight success, often is anything but; instead demanding many years of diligent planning, ideation, collaboration and many late — or in some cases, utterly sleepless — nights.

Most business owners, regardless of scale or industry, can agree on the simple sentiment “It takes a village”. With the right leadership, and the right team in place to support and execute that founding vision, great things can happen. However, this begs the more important question — how can companies find the right talent? If long-term success and scalability can be largely attributed to the team a business owner has in place, what does that talent acquisition process look like? Moreover, in a business landscape which demands so much of each brand and its’ employees, how can business owners ensure they have the appropriate people in such a wide variety of demanding, yet integral, roles?

The answer, oftentimes, lies in the decision to outsource. 

What are the Benefits of Outsourcing

Consider this: More than one-third of small businesses outsourced a business process last year, and 52% planned to do so in 2019. Further, the global outsourcing market totalled $85.6 billion in 2018. From accounting to IT services and, even more predominantly, digital marketing, outsourcing has become an integral business strategy for companies to encourage continued success and growth.

Reduce Costs, Not Quality

While in-house staff can be undeniably valuable depending on your industry, there is no denying the cost(s) associated with internal hires. From corporate real-estate (the cost of each desk), salaries and benefits, full-time employees housed directly within your company walls are often an expensive venture. According to Workopolis, the benchmark figure for the average cost to hire is around $4,000 — but it could frequently tops $5,000 for jobs in a professional setting.

Cost of Onboarding a New Hire

This cost of new hired can be derived from a number of factors, including:

• HR salaries
• Recruiter commissions (if applicable)
• Employee referral bonuses (if applicable)
• Employee signing bonuses and relocation costs
• Infrastructure costs
• Advertising costs
• Training and on-boarding costs

Of course, this doesn’t even take into account the salary that employee will make per annum.

According to Glassdoor, the national average salary for a marketing manager is $78,141 for a single employee. If you wanted an in-house team of agency-level experts, you’d be looking at a potential annual cost ranging from $742,000-$1,019,500.

What is a Third Party in Business

With this in mind, many companies today look to a third-party provider for certain segments. In the case of digital marketing, this is especially common. Why? Because, what does every brand — regardless of industry — need to invest in? Marketing. After all, you could offer consumers the best product or service on the market, but if no one knows about it (or feels excited about it), you simply won’t find success. Fortunately, working with a digital marketing agency, business owners gain access to the experience and quality of agency experts at a fraction of the annual cost, ranging from $24,000-$96,000.

It Takes a Village, So Invest in the Village — Not Just One Person

The current consumer landscape is especially content-driven, fuelling the subsequent demand for budget allocations that take into consideration ad spend, influencer campaigns, social media marketing, thought leadership, and more. A single marketing campaign will often require the expertise of a copywriter, editor, designer, social media manager, SEO specialist, a business strategist and more. Finding a single employee who can wear all these hats — and do an exceptional job while doing so — is, admittedly, rare. Scratch that… it’s nearly unheard of. But does every brand have the budget to house a dedicated, in-house marketing team of several full-time, salaried roles? Not necessarily.

Benefits of Third Parties

Instead, when a business outsources to a third-party provider, in this case, a digital marketing agency, they unlock instant access to an entire team of qualified experts. Essentially, you’re able to dismiss the costs associated with hiring, in favour of an agency cost which grants you a seat at a table with a variety of skilled individuals that can tackle all of your marketing needs collaboratively. The agency will tackle the entire digital marketing segment of your business, allowing you to focus your attention and energy on other aspects of your bran

The utilization of an outsourced team or agency also speaks to a more agile, scalable model. In the eyes of a business owner, the enemy of continued growth is an infrastructure which cannot scale effectively. Finding ways to proactively manage growing pains and remain ahead of demand is paramount, and easily achieved by teaming up with an agency. In this case, outsourcing gives you instant and uninterrupted access to the expertise and growth support your company needs now, as well as in the future — and at a much lesser cost. I like the sounds of that, don’t you?

We hope you have enjoyed this look at weighing the benefits of outsourcing. You may also enjoy our article on why outsourcing your marketing may save you money long term, give it a read, and if you would like to have a chat, we would love to hear from you!