After observing businesses attempt to outsource their marketing, certain patterns emerge that few discuss openly.
Most marketing agencies and freelancers avoid these topics because acknowledging them undermines their sales pitch. Understanding these realities beforehand can save organizations significant resources and prevent considerable frustration.
Here's what typically occurs when businesses outsource their marketing.
Your Strategy Can't Be Outsourced
"We need someone to handle our marketing" is often the most expensive sentence in business. Most organizations attempt to hire marketing teams to develop strategy for them, then express surprise when results don't materialize.
The reality is that no external party understands your customers, value proposition, or competitive advantage better than you do. These strategic elements cannot be effectively outsourced.
A software founder recently described his experience burning through three agencies in two years. When asked about his ideal customer profile, he provided five different answers. This internal confusion made successful outsourcing impossible—he expected external partners to resolve fundamental strategic questions.
— The specific audience you aim to reach (and their digital behaviors)
— The precise problems you solve for customers
— Your meaningful differentiation from alternatives
— The success metrics relevant to your business objectives
Marketing partners can help refine strategy, but cannot create it from nothing. Greater strategic clarity increases the probability of successful outsourcing relationships.
Cheap Marketing Is Actually Expensive
"We found someone who'll manage all our social media for $500/month."Translation: You'll receive generic content that potentially damages your brand.
One client sought assistance after working with a low-cost provider for six months. They received the promised daily posts, but upon review, the outsourced team had mistakenly tagged incorrect customers, used competitors' hashtags, and once posted content for an entirely different industry. The reputational damage significantly exceeded their supposed cost savings.
Low-cost providers aren't performing miracles—they're applying templates to your business. To deliver at those price points, they typically:
- Produce generic, non-specific content
- Manage excessive client loads per account manager
- Omit necessary research and strategy work
- Reduce quality control measures
Results Take Longer Than You Think
Marketing agencies promising "immediate results" are creating unrealistic expectations.
Marketing differs fundamentally from advertising. Rather than generating quick customer attention, it builds relationships gradually. Nevertheless, most business leaders expect outsourced marketing to deliver leads within the first month.
A B2B service firm was prepared to terminate their marketing team after just two months without sales. Analysis of their customer journey data revealed an average sales cycle of 8-10 months. Their expectations were completely disconnected from their market reality.
Even the most effective marketing typically requires 3-6 months to demonstrate a meaningful business impact. Significant results often take 6-12 months to materialize. Promising faster outcomes sets unrealistic expectations.
Most Content Dies Without Distribution
Outsourced content creation has limited value without a distribution strategy.
Organizations frequently invest substantially in quality content that receives minimal engagement. They outsource creation but neglect distribution planning. This approach resembles building an exceptional retail location in an inaccessible area, then questioning the lack of customer traffic.
Content creation typically represents only 30% of the necessary work—the remaining 70% involves delivering it to the appropriate audience. Yet most outsourcing arrangements focus exclusively on creation while entirely overlooking distribution.
A manufacturing client had invested in 24 detailed blog posts before seeking assistance. The total traffic across all posts was less than 100 visitors. Their previous agency had delivered the contracted content, but it generated minimal value without distribution.
More Activity Isn't More Results
"We're posting daily" or "We published eight blog posts this month."
These statements might appear impressive but have little meaning if they don't drive business outcomes. Yet most outsourced marketing reports emphasize activity metrics rather than results.
A single strategic piece that converts consistently delivers more value than numerous posts generating minimal engagement. Organizations need to measure impact rather than effort.
A financial advisor created three videos weekly based on an agency's recommendation. Data analysis revealed that one specific video format generated 95% of leads. Reducing production to one high-quality video weekly in that format improved results while reducing costs by two-thirds.
The Path Forward: Strategic Outsourcing
These realities might suggest opposition to marketing outsourcing. That's not the case. The opposition is to uninformed outsourcing that creates unrealistic expectations.
Effective marketing outsourcing typically includes:
- Internal ownership of strategy, external ownership of execution. Maintain clarity about target audience and differentiation. Allow marketing partners to determine effective articulation methods.
- Quality prioritization over quantity. One exceptional content piece delivers more value than multiple mediocre ones. Invest in expertise beyond deliverables.
- Outcome measurement. Focus on business results rather than activity metrics. Track qualified lead generation, sales conversation initiation, and ROI.
- Channel focus. Master one marketing channel before expanding to others. This concentrates resources and simplifies effectiveness tracking.
- Feedback implementation. Successful outsourcing relationships improve through structured feedback and iterative refinement.
When implemented correctly, marketing outsourcing can transform organizational results. Success begins with acknowledging these realities and adjusting approaches accordingly.
Looking for a marketing team that prioritizes results over activity? Learn how our virtual teams can help build marketing that drives measurable growth. Schedule a consultation →
