As a savvy brand, outsourcing services may have crossed your mind. The truth is your overworked team would likely pop champagne bottles in celebration.
Now, before we throw a party, let’s make sure you’re getting the most out of your time and money. We will help you decide between long term vs. short term outsourcing services with answers to the following:
- Should I work with an agency or a freelancer?
- What services are best for quick turnaround times?
- How do you establish a consistent workflow with less micromanagement?
- Can you find good outsourcing services on a rising and falling budget?
Our team at Tortuga Marketing wants you to have a successful journey toward great content marketing. While your competitors up their game, you’ll be prepared by knowing the importance of outsourcing content. As always, we are here to get you started with a few of the basics.
Time
When you are hiring outside help, hiring times and turnaround times can vary depending who you work with.
Agencies are highly effective as long term outsourcing services. Hiring times can be long since they’ll have to get their entire team on board with your process. Though as a result, your turnaround times are going to be faster with a team. That’s the advantage of many small parts working towards a common goal.
Independent consultants– like freelancers– come through as a great short term resource. When you need quick hiring times in a pinch, these workers usually respond within 24 hours and can rapidly get into your content strategy. In contrast, longer turnaround times are more common due to their other projects all being balanced on one person.
Work quality
With outsourcing, quality can be hit or miss and it’s important to vet your prospects before bringing them on board.
Again, both marketing agencies and freelancers can be great for long term strategy. The ongoing relationship is important if you want to avoid micromanaging your hires. Additionally, they have a strong incentive to keep adding value so they can keep working with you.
In the short term, you’ll find that both agencies and independent contractors require you to vet them carefully before hiring. If you can access their portfolios and testimonials, this can help you weed out the weaker options. Furthermore, you’ll have to manage them more as they won’t be familiar with your overall content plan.
Flexibility
Finally, we must consider that you may need to adapt your marketing plan based on budget and project structure.
In the long term, longer projects can be handled by any qualified team or individual. Large scope projects are best handled by a qualified team, but end up costing more.
Smaller projects are a great fit for freelancers, with the benefit of lower costs in many cases. That said, some independents pack more value at a higher price. It’s important to weigh their value offering, as cheap doesn’t always mean high quality.
Short term projects with freelancers provide the highest flexibility. This is great if your budget might rise and fall. If you have a tight budget, how should you approach a large scope marketing strategy? You may have to plan a collection of shorter, cheaper projects to get more wiggle room.
Outsourcing services should be done by the pros.
At this point, you’ve learned key strategies for planning outsourcing your content marketing. Whether in video marketing, writing, or social media, it can be a challenge to prioritize quality, cost, and time.
Now you’re one step closer to making a very successful move. In celebration, let’s take you a step further and have a chat. Here at Tortuga Marketing, we want you to succeed at what you do best. Talk to us today and we can do the rest.
