Specialization
It’s 2013 and most brands are focusing more and more on hiring specialized marketing experts. We don’t have the general “marketing specialists” instead we have titles like, “Social Media Manager” or “Director of Digital Presence;” and this is not a bad thing, it helps brands focus the right amount of resources into the best channel of marketing. But, what do you do when you have a new project or need but your company doesn’t have the human capital that specializes in that field? You have two options right? Have an jack of all trades type manage this new project and hope for the best, or you can outsource. But when do you keep coverage in-house and when is it more valuable to outsource for specific needs?
Right Brain v. Left Brain Marketing
When evaluating your team’s expertise you need to know your direction, know your strengths, and plan for what is missing. What is your team really good at? What is the current level of expertise focused on? Is your team right brained or left brained? This is going to be the best indicator of what you should outsource.
If your team is superb at communicating the emotionally compelling and richly described history of your brand (right brained) but you are having trouble with attributing the success of your campaigns to your bottom line you will probably benefit from outsourcing to a strategic partner with a ROI based marketing research firm. Or maybe it’s the opposite; you have a practical, bottom line oriented team (left-brained) focused on describing your brand as, “what you get, why you need it, and why no other company does it quite the same.” If this is the case a creative partner that could offer artful messages for your brand may be a great counterpoint. This is not an either or scenario, the brands showing strong Brand Vitality™ are ones that can communicate effectively to its consumers regardless of the marketers brain.
Make Strategic Choices
No one can give a rubric for, “In-House v. Outsourced Marketing.” It all comes down to, “what does your human capital do best?” If there is a void, filling the gap with an outsourced partner may be the most effective solution.