How to Outsource Marketing Strategy With a Senior Director

In sales, reps are constantly under pressure to hit targets and deliver results. However, with so much on their plate, how do you ensure your marketing isn't overlooked?

The answer may lie in outsourcing your marketing leadership. If you bring in an outsourced marketing director, you can get expert-level strategy without the overhead of hiring a full-time senior marketer.

In this way, the marketing strategy becomes more active. So, when marketing and sales work together, you can get 65% more prospects into the pipeline. Now, how to achieve that same number and even more? Who's gonna take charge of bringing this outcome?

In this blog, we’ll explore how to outsource marketing and how an outsourced marketing director can help you achieve your desired results.

Highlights

• Outsourcing marketing leadership can help sales leaders scale their operations without the cost of hiring full-time senior staff.
• If you bring in an outsourced marketing director, businesses can organize marketing efforts, improve ROI, and focus on revenue generation.
• The right partner can provide strategic leadership, manage key marketing tasks like lead generation, content creation, and social media, and drive sales alignment.
• Despite potential challenges such as brand consistency, optimizing performance, and allowing sales teams to focus on what they do best.

Why Does Outsourcing Marketing Leadership Make Sense?

Without solid marketing leadership, sometimes it can be difficult to drive consistent results, especially in fast-growing start-ups. You might have seen it already in the last quarter.

Here’s a list of 10 advantages you get after outsourcing a marketing director:

1. Cost Savings: Avoid the expenses of hiring a full-time senior marketing executive.
2. Scalability: Quickly adjust marketing efforts as your business grows or shifts direction.
3. Expertise: Gain access to seasoned professionals with specialized skills and industry experience.
4. Increased Efficiency: Organize marketing operations and reduce internal overhead. For 64% of companies, the primary advantage of using an agency is the superior level of specialized expertise it offers over in-house capabilities.
5. Focus on Sales: Free your team to focus on revenue generation while marketing experts handle the strategy.
6. Flexibility: Scale marketing services up or down based on business needs without long-term commitments.
7. Faster Execution: Implement marketing strategies quickly with an experienced director at the helm.
8. Improved ROI: Maximize the impact of your marketing budget with a data-driven strategy and expert execution.
9. Fresh Perspective: Outsiders bring innovative ideas and a fresh approach to your marketing strategy.
10. Better Alignment: Ensure marketing efforts are perfectly aligned with your sales goals for maximum impact.

These strategic advantages are realized through concrete action. So, what does that action look like day to day for an outsourced marketing leader?

Read Also: What is a Sales Budget: Definition, Importance, and Steps to Make One

6 Key Outsource Marketing Tasks in the United States

An outsourced marketing director's role is to shape marketing strategies and guide the execution of high-impact campaigns. So, when your outsourced marketing director team outsources specific marketing functions, your business can stay focused on sales.

Here are six tasks you can outsource with an outsourced marketing director:

1. Lead Generation & Lead Qualification

Generating leads is vital, but not all leads are equal. Using advanced tools and processes, outsourced marketing managers ensure the best prospects make it to your sales team.

2. Content Creation

Content is the backbone of a successful marketing strategy. From blogs and videos to infographics and whitepapers, outsourced professionals ensure that content builds brand authority and trust.

This leads to increased web traffic, better website rankings, and stronger customer loyalty.

3. Appointment Setting

One of the most time-consuming tasks for a sales team is managing and scheduling appointments. This saves time, increases conversion opportunities, and creates a smoother sales cycle.

A professional appointment setter, using the right tools and approach, will increase the likelihood of meetings converting into actual sales opportunities.

4. Social Media Management

Managing social media platforms requires more than just posting updates. It involves understanding the nuances of each platform, optimizing posts, engaging with followers, and constantly adapting to algorithm changes.

A successful social media campaign can drive brand awareness and customer engagement.

5. SEO & Paid Advertising

An outsourced marketing manager will manage your SEO strategy, handle your paid ad campaigns across platforms like Google Ads and social media.

On average, businesses spend about $59.18 to acquire a customer through a Pay-per-Click (PPC) search ad. Effective SEO and paid advertising are crucial to driving visibility and generating leads, but they require expertise to execute correctly.

6. Event Marketing & Planning

Outsourcing event marketing provides the expertise needed to manage all aspects of the event, from promotions and logistics to follow-up.

Well-executed events often lead to direct lead capture and heightened brand awareness, all of which support your sales team’s efforts in closing deals.

At Activated Scale, we provide Fractional Sales Leadership service to help enterprises scale efficiently. Let us align your marketing efforts with sales techniques with our vetted sales professionals.

The right marketing leadership can significantly accelerate your business growth, but with so many options available, how do you choose the best fit for your needs?

Top 5 Companies for Outsourcing Marketing Leadership

Behind every breakout brand, there's often a brilliant marketing mind calling the plays. But what if that mind doesn't have to be on your full-time payroll?

The world of outsourced marketing leadership is filled with the best firms. Here are the five firms that are consistently praised for getting results:

1. NinjaPromo

NinjaPromo offers full-service marketing solutions, including specialized outsourced marketing leadership. They focus on integrating marketing strategies that align with your sales goals.

Their services include content marketing, social media management, SEO, and paid advertising. NinjaPromo excels at delivering data-driven marketing solutions that are customized to your specific audience and business objectives.

2. O8

O8 is a U.S.-based marketing agency offering outsourced marketing director services with a focus on data-driven strategy and execution. Known for its results-oriented approach, O8 specializes in providing fractional marketing leadership for growing enterprises.

Their outsourced teams work to refine and implement marketing strategies that increase efficiency and optimize ROI.

3. Quad

A large U.S.-based marketing outsourcing firm, Quad offers comprehensive marketing services, including outsourced marketing leadership. With years of experience working with enterprises, Quad provides strategic insights and solutions across various industries.

Their team focuses on delivering high-quality creative, print, and digital marketing strategies, helping businesses reach and engage their target audience effectively.

4. Mower

Mower is a full-service agency known for its strong B2B marketing leadership. They offer a broad range of marketing services, including strategic planning, brand positioning, content creation, and digital marketing.

Their team has extensive experience working with enterprise-level businesses and is skilled in building integrated marketing strategies.

5. Fulcrum Resources

Fulcrum Resources is a company that specializes in both B2B marketing and sales outsourcing. Their marketing leadership services include high-quality leads, managing customer relationships, and scaling their marketing operations.

Fulcrum Resources works closely with sales teams to ensure marketing strategies are aligned with sales goals, optimizing the lead generation process.

The promise of outsourcing marketing leadership is compelling. However, between that promise and reality lies a minefield of potential pitfalls, from loss of control to misaligned goals. Acknowledging these challenges is the essential first step to making it a resounding success.

Read Also: Top 7 National Agencies for Sales Recruitment

Real-World Challenges in Outsourcing Marketing Leadership

Everyone talks about the benefits of outsourcing marketing, but few discuss the hard truths. What happens when brand knowledge fails to translate, or when a remote strategist feels disconnected from your team's daily reality?

Here are some of the common issues businesses face and how outsourcing can still be an effective solution when managed well:

1. Ensuring Alignment Between Sales and Marketing

Without proper communication and integration, sales teams may find that the leads they receive from marketing aren’t the right fit or aren't nurtured effectively.

Solution: A strong outsourced marketing manager will prioritize a system for continuous communication between marketing and sales, ensuring that marketing efforts directly support sales objectives.

2. Maintaining Brand Voice and Consistency

When marketing is handled externally, there’s a risk that your brand’s voice may become inconsistent, especially if the outsourced team doesn’t fully understand your company’s culture and messaging.

Solution: Outsourcing to experienced and reliable firms can mitigate this risk. Frequent check-ins and a detailed brand style guide can help keep the messaging on point.

3. Managing Quality and Performance

Another common issue with outsourcing is the concern about maintaining the same quality of work as an in-house team. Some sales leaders worry that external teams may not be as committed or that they may not fully understand their industry.

Solution: To address this, look for outsourced marketing services that specialize in your industry or have experience working with similar businesses. Performance metrics and reporting systems should also be put in place to monitor progress.

4. Overcoming Resistance to Change

Some organizations experience resistance from internal teams when marketing functions are outsourced. Employees might feel threatened or concerned about changes in workflow, especially if they were previously handling certain marketing functions themselves.

Solution: Sales leaders should be involved in the transition process. Ensuring that the internal team understands how the outsourced team fits into the bigger picture can help ease any resistance.

5. Managing Expectations and Budget Constraints

Different businesses have different needs, and expectations can vary. This can lead to misunderstandings regarding timelines, deliverables, or budget constraints.

Solution: Set clear expectations upfront by defining the scope of the work, timelines, and costs involved. Maintaining a flexible approach and allowing room for adjustments as business needs grow will make the process smoother.

Looking to organize your sales strategy as well? At Activated Scale, we offer a Fractional Selling service designed to scale with your business. Here, you will get Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) who can create better strategies with a marketing leader.

The Bottom Line

When you outsource marketing, you get an opportunity to elevate your business strategy with specialized expertise and hands-on execution. Sales leaders will face less pressure to meet aggressive targets, and the marketing director can be the guide for your whole marketing strategy.

What’s important to realize is that marketing is integral to sales success. In a nutshell, outsourcing this leadership role allows your business to stay agile and ready to adapt to new market opportunities as they arise.

Don’t let sales hold you back from reaching your sales potential. Partner with Activated Scale, which can craft and execute a strategy that accelerates your growth.

Contact us now to discuss how we can help you set your sales team up for success.

FAQs

1. How can outsourcing marketing leadership benefit my sales team?

With outsourcing marketing leadership, you free up your sales team to focus on selling while marketing experts handle lead generation, nurturing, and qualification. This alignment ensures that only the most qualified leads reach your sales team, improving conversion rates and overall sales performance.

2. Can outsourcing marketing help me reduce costs?

One of the most significant financial advantages of an outsourced marketing leader is access to top-tier expertise without the long-term commitment.

This approach eliminates the expenses associated with a full-time executive, offering a more agile and budget-friendly solution.

3. What are the risks of outsourcing marketing leadership?

The main risks involve misalignment between the outsourced team and internal stakeholders, brand inconsistency, and security concerns. However, these risks can be mitigated with clear communication, well-defined processes, and selecting a reputable marketing agency with experience in your industry.

4. How do I choose the right outsourced marketing leadership company?

Look for a firm with experience in your industry with a proven track record of delivering results. Ensure they understand your business goals and your sales objectives. Transparency, communication, and a flexible approach are also key to a successful partnership.