From a business perspective, whether you’re looking to develop new creative content or creating a new image for your company, consider having some of that work outsourced. What is outsourcing? Outsourcing is the act of having certain jobs done by another company or person (whom your company pays).
The purpose of outsourcing is to give another company content (and/or other tasks) that you would like them to create. This does not always mean that you can call them without further discussion–but it is more of you passing them work that you have a vision for and having them upscale and refine the idea.
There are advantages and disadvantages to outsourcing work to other companies or freelancers, but knowing the benefits (like cost savings and hiring additional expertise) versus the negatives (like offshore outsourcing security risks) will help you make the right decision for your company.
Pros of Outsourcing
Consider as a business owner, you might be looking to create new media content such as photography, articles, or another means of promoting the service you are offering to attain a competitive advantage.
The ability to outsource content marketing to an outside service provider gives you a variety of outlets to choose from. You are also able to oversee the project without allocating more time, in-house staff, and cost than usual. That allows you more management flexibility to focus on your regular operations.
Here are some pros to consider:
- Save Time. Something to consider when you are rebranding is the amount of time that needs to be put aside to develop new content (articles, social media posts, videography, etc.,). There is no additional stress such as balancing various deadlines, meetings, and creating large scale marketing plans. Outsourcing your work allows you to remain in control of the project but without the added stress of time – because we all know 24hrs sometimes is not as much time as we think!
- Cost Efficient. Saving money and putting it towards areas that require further critical development is something to consider as a company. Hiring a third party saves money that would have been spent on bonus rates, marketing dollars, and employee benefits. Having an additional team to manage on top of that an additional cost and stress to meet deadlines creates a more inefficient work environment. You can outsource work for less from a reputable company that will bring your marketing upwards!
- Expert Opinion. Outsourcing work has become more and more common as companies discover more ways to be more cost and time efficient. There are a multitude of reputable companies who are well-versed in developing and creating content that are at your disposal! For example; as an IT company trying to expand their marketing presence through their content with limited experience in the field – outsourcing their work would allow for the to work with experts and create better content than before!
- Strengthens Your Marketing Plan. Creating a marketing strategy can take more time and energy than you can allocate. Meeting with a professional from another company allows you to gain more knowledge on how the content will be created and in addition allows you to further develop your strategy.
- Simply Work Relationships. By outsourcing to other companies who are typically a close group of individuals working together you spend less time creating a connection and instead are able to limit your interactions to ones that are concise, and business related. This minimizes the risk of conflict between close co-workers and instead creates a relationship that is strictly business.
Cons of Outsourcing
Although there are a multitude of advantages that follow outsourcing it is important to consider the potential disadvantages that come with it. Receiving outsourced content can come at a risk of a lower quality rate among other contract agreements that can be consequential. Here are a few things to consider before outsourcing your work:
- Unreliable. When outsourcing make sure you have done thorough research on the company or person you are giving confidential information to. It is a matter of not only your security but the security of your company! Using a reputable company that has done many projects and are able to be trusted is more important than potentially saving a few dollars on outsourcing content. So make sure to be weary!
- Understand the meaning of outsourcing. Familiarizing yourself with what it means to outsource work allows you as a client to fully comprehend what to expect from them and their expectation of you. This is still a business transaction and both parties want to benefit. In order to bring back clients – the company you are outsourcing to wants to do the work to the best of their ability. You as a client have to be able to fully communicate what it is you are envisioning and aid them, so they do not create unsatisfactory content due to miscommunication.
- Hidden Costs. As expected, when you are receiving work from another company unexpected costs may arise. For example; for an additional feature of video editing or add-ons that would “benefit your company greatly” they rack on more fees. Generally, outsourcing work is considered more cost efficient but be sure to read all contracts carefully, so you are not blindsided!
- Loss of Some Control. Outsourcing your work can be beneficial because it allows the other company to build on what you had previously envisioned. The issue with outsourcing is that you can lose some control when it comes to supervision. This could affect the quality of the work you receive – even though you may get it back quickly you might not necessarily have the quality or standard that you initially hoped for. This is mainly an issue for companies that you have a lack of trust in so make sure you check your resources out first!
- Potential Delays. If you are a smaller company outsourcing your work there is a chance that with multiple projects going on – the company you are outsourcing your work to will not prioritize your work creating a potential delay that you wanted to avoid prior.
