What Is Outsourced Marketing and Why Do I Need It?

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SharpMedia / Outsourced Marketing / What Is Outsourced Marketing and Why Do I Need It?

What Is Outsourced Marketing and Why Do I Need It?

It’s no secret that B2B marketing best practices across different marketing channels (social media, paid advertising, website optimization, lead nurturing email campaigns, etc.) are changing every day. Rather than divert time and money trying to learn the necessary tools and techniques, many companies are outsourcing these tasks.

Generally speaking, outsourced marketing is the engagement of a professional marketing firm to serve as your own firm’s marketing department.

Outsourced marketing lightens the load for company owners and busy managers who are already wearing too many hats within their organizations. Not everyone has the time, resources, marketing savvy or copywriting/design chops to handle marketing on their own – so outsourcing to an agency is sometimes the perfect solution!

How Does Outsourced Marketing Differ from Working with an Ad Agency?

Because so many people use the terms “marketing” and “advertising” interchangeably, you might think outsourced marketing isn’t anything new. After all, ad agencies have been around since the 1800’s.
But outsourced marketing is different in some very key ways—and most of them benefit small or mid-sized businesses like yours.

First, marketing is more than simply promoting your business.
When you enlist the help of a good marketing agency, you aren’t just looking for jingles and taglines. Marketing agencies can research your target demographics, understand their online habits, and better align your company’s online presence with those habits. Marketing agencies can help you educate and “nurture” prospective clients—a strategy that modern consumers prefer over hard-sell tactics and tired rhetoric. Outsourced marketing lets you meet and engage prospects at many different stages of their buy cycle.

Another difference: marketing agencies are generally better handholders than ad agencies.
At Sharp Media, for example, we don’t drop the work on your doorstep—leaving you to figure out where it goes and how to get it there.The implementation side of what we do is just as important as the researching, writing, and designing. Even beyond execution, we’ll help you test and measure the results of a marketing campaign, so you have a clear idea what’s working—and what you’re paying for.

Types of Organizations That Benefit Most

Outsourced marketing is a particularly good investment for organizations that don’t employ a large, in-house marketing team. You might have a few people (or zero people) dedicated to your website, your email list, your newsletter, your social media strategy—i.e. all those big items you keep avoiding. Understandably, you don’t want the overhead that comes with hiring a fulltime web developer, designer, copywriter, SEO or PPC consultant, etc.

Most marketing agencies have all those experts on staff. You only pay for what you need, when you need it. And since you don’t need major redesigns every month, you can save a lot of money—without skimping on quality.

In a nutshell, the types of organizations that benefit most from outsourcing tend to be small to mid-sized, privately held organizations where:

The owner has been coordinating or executing his/her own marketing.
There is little to no in-house marketing staff or department.
The VP of Sales is dually serving as VP of Marketing.
The in-house marketing manager is swamped with an assortment of tasks – and they’re struggling to keep pace with the ever-growing list.

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7 Signs You’re Ready to Outsource Your Marketing

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SharpMedia / Marketing Signs / 7 Signs You’re Ready to Outsource Your Marketing

7 Signs You're Ready to Outsource Your Marketing

So now you’re probably wondering – hmm… should I be outsourcing? This sounds like me. There’s no exact formula for figuring out the answer to that question, but if you can identify with a number of the following statements, you might be a sure-fire candidate.

Alright, you asked for ‘em! If you’re still on the fence about outsourced marketing, here’s a look at seven solid reasons why it’s probably a smart solution for your business.

1. You Do Marketing Activities but You Have No Real Plan

There’s no limit to the kinds of projects and campaigns a marketing agency can produce. You can commission an agency to rebuild your website, plan and execute your social media strategy, design your print and digital ads, draft press releases and white papers, coordinate your tradeshow materials, ghostwrite your blogs and newsletters, etc. And they can do all of that in accordance with a strategic plan! Not to mention they can effectively analyze the results of said plan – and refine campaigns accordingly.

2. You Want to Get Out of the Weeds and Focus on Running / Growing Your Business

If you’re the entrepreneurial type, or you’re a sales executive or marketing manager simply overrun by the long list of marketing initiatives you’ve got on your mind 24/7, you could probably use some outsourced assistance. You might experience a feeling of euphoria once you’re finally able to really do what you do best, while the outsourced marketing team becomes the primary handler of your branding, communications collateral and website work.

3. Your Marketing Is Not Getting Done Consistently

So many business owners, and even dedicated marketing professionals, simply lack the bandwidth to regularly plan, produce and promote fresh content on their website pages, blogs and social channels. Unfortunately, this is important, not only for producing enough steam to see actual results, but for the search engines to recognize your company site as relevant. Consistency is key.

4. You Want/Need to Take Your Marketing to the Next Level

Ever see an awesome website, or a cool infographic, or even a super clever email that strikes a chord and then you think to yourself – man, I wish I could market to my target audience like that. Enter an outsourced marketing agency. They’ll provide the resources and expertise you need to upgrade your programs, sharpen your messaging and leverage the latest and greatest tools and channels.

5. You Believe You Can ''Let Go'' And Partner With a Trusted Marketing Team

The best outsourced marketing engagements have a thick layer of trust built in. At the onset of the engagement, there may be a few growing pains – and surely, a reputable agency should prove themselves sooner than later to be effective and adaptable to your industry. But once that proof is in the pudding, giving up the majority of that “control” over your marketing is going to be a critical determinant of success. Can you handle that? If so, then outsourcing might be right for your business!

6. You Know You Can't Get All The Skills You Need in a Single Hire

The beauty of outsourcing is the practically limitless access to resources. Adept in-house hires may be able to tackle content writing and strategy, email marketing, social and/or a number of other marketing categories – but can that individual additionally handle PPC campaigns, design work, optimization, and all the specialties today’s marketing landscape calls for in order to stand out? That’s unlikely. But by all means, if you happen to find a single jack-of-all-trades super specialist with every marketing skill and certification known to man, please let us know!

7. You Feel Overwhelmed by the Many Ways That Marketing Is Changing - And Changing Fast!

Who has the time to keep up with all the trends taking shape across the marketing world? Well… an agency does. The right firm’s employees live and breathe marketing, and because there’s a collection of marketers at each agency specializing in various areas, you know you’ve got all your bases covered.

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7 Outsourced Best Marketing Practices

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SharpMedia / Marketing Practices / 7 Outsourced Best Marketing Practices

7 Outsourced Best Marketing Practices

Already preparing to hire an outsourced marketing agency? Great! Think you’ll never have to mention the word “marketing” again? Not so fast…

While it’s true that your outsourced marketing agency will take a huge chunk of work off your plate, you still want to sit at the table and be a part of the conversation. So here are seven bonus tips to help you effectively manage your outsourced marketing engagement!

1. Set Goals Together

When interviewing potential marketing firms, make sure to talk about the goals you have for your business, the general budget you have to achieve them and the timeline you hope to achieve them in. With an outsourced marketing firm, you will be setting and tracking goals regularly, so you have to be on the same page throughout this process.

2. Clarify Expectations Together

Decide how often and in what format you and your outsourced marketing firm will communicate with each other. Both of you must agree on the frequency and type of check-ins and accountability you need in order to be comfortable and successful. You may want to have a bi-weekly conference call to get an update on projects, a weekly email summary or a monthly face-to-face meeting, for example. When you’re mutually clear about the best times and ways to reach each other, you pave the road to success.

3. Understand the Difference Between Outsourcing and Employing

While an employee works exclusively for your company during his or her working hours, your outsourced marketing firm serves several clients simultaneously. You should expect a high level of response from any partner you work with, but it is unrealistic to expect that an outsourced partner will be able to provide instantaneous response to every question or request. By setting clear expectations on communication and response times, as well as project deadlines, you will avoid a frustrating experience.

4. Hire a Firm to Work with You, Not for You

The best outsourced marketing partner will not simply take your direction and execute. The right firm will be a partner in your business, a partner that brings new ideas to the table, suggests new ways of doing things, gives you information and insights to make decisions, and pushes back on your ideas when appropriate. This is what you want in a successful marketing relationship.

5. Designate a Leader of Your Marketing Team

Top marketing teams are collaborative and cooperative, with several people offering their talent, ideas and insights. But there does need to be a designated leader, a chief marketing officer of sorts. For the most productive outcomes, the outsourced marketing firm serves as the chief marketing officer, owning all decisions, sign offs, etc. (with critical input from you and all appropriate parties) and having the responsibility to keep the marketing moving forward in the right direction. To be successful, your outsourced marketers need to have your trust and confidence so they can do their jobs and make decisions on behalf of your company.

6. Share Your Expertise, Provide Timely Feedback

A successful relationship with an outsourced marketing group relies on an open, steady flow of communication so that your marketers can use your industry knowledge and subject matter expertise to create meaningful, relevant content for your key audiences. Success is also dependent on providing feedback and sign offs to your outsourced agency – or assigning someone in your firm to handle them – so that your marketing will progress efficiently.

7. Embrace Creative Differences

Much of marketing involves a creative process, and how much – or how little – you like a piece of copywriting or a design is highly subjective. While it’s critical to offer honest feedback, it’s just as important, however, to not give up on your creative team if their first efforts do not work for you. Give them the opportunity to rewrite, redesign, and rework as part of the process. You may be pleasantly surprised with how well a good writer or designer can take your feedback and transform a previous piece into something that works perfectly!

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Outsourcing in Bulgaria. Why?

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SharpMedia / Outsourcing / Outsourcing in Bulgaria: Why?

Outsourcing in Bulgaria: Why?

Business process outsourcing in Bulgaria

Within less than 10 years Bulgaria has established itself as a leading global destination for outsourcing and nearshoring

The winners in Europe are Bulgaria and Romania, which continue to stay comfortably in the upper half of the
index, at 17th and 25th, respectively. Members of the European Union but with lower cost profile than most other member states, they are the new offshoring stars in Europe.
Shifting Geography of Offshoring, A. T. Kearney Global Services Location Index™, 2011

According to the Yearbook data of the British National Outsourcing Association (NOA) Bulgaria once again is among the stars in the off shoring and outsourcing industry, this time as a popular destination for the pharmaceutical sector.

Employees in the Bulgarian BPO sector grew from 0 to 15 000+ over the last 10 years
Clients in Western Europe, North America and Asia are served from the BPO sector in Bulgaria – the majority being Fortune 500 or Fortune 1000 companies
The average BPO company presented in this brochure provides services in more than 25 languages

…due to a qualified and talented workforce, competent in many languages and technical areas…

…If you want first-class mathematicians, try looking in Bulgaria.
William Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid, Harvard College

With an abundance of educated and multilingual prospective employees, Bulgaria is certain to continue to make inroads into global business process outsourcing.
Datamonitor

Sofia GDC is considered a strategic location for IBM. The qualified young team has allowed it to innovate and establish best practices that are implemented across the IBM network of global delivery centers.
Joseph Lazarus, General manager, IBM GDC Bulgaria

Bulgaria prides itself on the system of foreign language secondary schools where after a year of intensive study of a foreign language students switch to studying main subjects in the respective foreign language.

BPO industry in Bulgaria has significant growth potential

Besides Sofia, other major cities such as Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Veliko Turnovo, Blagoevgrad and Ruse have excellent university programs and significant BPO potential
About 60 000 students graduate annually from all Bulgarian universities. About 50% of the graduates obtain degrees in majors suitable for the needs of the BPO industry
Estimated 80 000 Bulgarian students study abroad and present a major labour source for BPO companies in Bulgaria
Costs of doing business in Bulgaria are the lowest in SEE with average salary of € 327/ month and office rent price of €9-19/sq.m. Cost of labor and real estate are likely to remain relatively low in the medium term

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Tell Me More about Bulgaria

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SharpMedia / Bulgaria / Tell me more about Bulgaria

Tell Me More About Bulgaria

Bulgaria is just a short flight away from the main destinations

Bulgaria has a strategic location, political stability and low costs of doing business

Bulgaria is strategically located and provides access to the following markets:

South-East Europe – a 122 million inhabitant, high growth market
European Union – Bulgaria offers the lowest cost access to a market of 500 million consumers
Russia/CIS, Middle East and North Africa

Bulgaria offers a combination of political and macroeconomic stability and incentives for doing business:

Stable parliamentary democracy, EU, NATO and WTO member
Bulgaria’s currency is fixed to the Euro under a currency board arrangement
Lowest tax rate and one of the lowest labour costs in the EU coupled with special incentives for investors
EU funding – more than €10 bln in EU funds over the next years

Bulgaria: Summary Statistics

Popilation:

7.4 million

Labour force:

3.4 million

Urban Population:

73 %

Capital:

Sofia

Time zone:

EET (UTC+2)

Summer (DST):

EEST (UTC+3)

Total area:

110 879 sq. km

Land area:

108 489 sq. km

Water area:

2 390 sq. km

Climate:

temperate

Languages:

Bulgarian (official)

85.2 %

Turkish

9.1 %

Roma

4.2 %

English, German, Russian, French:

widely spoken

Religions:

Christian Orthodox

76 %

Muslim

10 %

Other

14 %

Currency:

Lev (BGN)

Fixed exchange rate:

€ 1 = BGN 1.95583

Corporate income tax:

10 %

Personal income tax:

10 %

VAT (standard):

20 %

Government type:

Parliamentary Democracy

Supreme legislative power:

Unicameral 240-seat

National Assembly

Executive state body:

Council of Ministers, head:
Prime Minister

EU member since 2007
NATO member since 2004
WTO member since 1996

Source: Bulgarian National Bank, National Statistical Institute

Bulgaria has exemplary macroeconomic fundamentals

Government debt and government deficit in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland and EU 27 (% of GDP), 2011

2012 Economic Snapshot:

GDP (€ bn):

39.7

Exports (€ bn):

26.5

Net FDI (% of GDP):

3.5

GDP growth (%):

0.8

Unemployment (%):

11.4

Inflation rate (annual change,%):

3.7

Government deficit (% of GDP):

-0.5е

Government debt (% of GDP):

18.9

Current account balance (% of GDP):

– 1.3

Long-term credit ratings:

Moody’s:

Baa2 stable

S&P:

BBB stable

Fitch:

BBB stable

Source: Bulgarian National Bank. National Statistics Institute. Ministry of Finance Bulgaria

The Bulgarian economy had a constant growth of above 6% in the period 2000-2008
The economy stabilized in 2011 with GDP growth of 1.8% for 2011, and 0.8 % in 2012
The budget deficit in Bulgaria is one of the lowest in Europe for for 2012: -0.5e%
There are no currency fluctuations due to a currency board, introduced in 1997 – the Bulgarian Lev is pegged at 1.95583 to the Euro
Bulgaria has the lowest government debt to GDP ratio in the EU27 in 2012

Bulgaria is the only European country with an increased credit rating by Moody’s since the beginning of 2010.

Bulgaria offers a unique lifestyle experience within easy reach of Sofia…

Bulgaria is an attractive destination even for outsourcing of Hollywood productions starring actors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Scarlett Johansson.

… and boasts some of Europe’s greatest historical treasures

Sofia is among the oldest capital cities in Europe and the only city besides Jerusalem with an Orthodox church, a Catholic cathedral, a mosque and a synagogue within a square kilometer.

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The Bulgarian BPO Industry

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SharpMedia / Bulgaria BPO / The Bulgarian BPO Industry

The Bulgarian BPO Industry

The Bulgarian BPO industry serves clients across the globe in more than 25 languages…

Most BPO firms expect the size of the Bulgarian outsourcing market to increase up to 100% over the next 3 years
Call center operations, customer support, followed by market research are expected to be with highest demand

The Bulgarian BPO sector employs more than 15 000 and generates more than €200 million in revenues.

Bulgaria ranks among the top outsourcing destinations in the world in terms of attractiveness…

According to Global Opportunities Amid Economic Turbulence – the 2011 A. T. Kearney Global Services Location Index, Bulgaria ranks 17th in the world, with an overall index score of 5.37
Bulgaria ranks number one compared to all countries in SEE and number five from the countries in the EU

Bulgaria’s educational system is particularly well suited for the needs of the BPO sector

In 2011 there were about:

64 000 graduates from 53 universities and colleges
30 000 graduates potentially suitable for employment within the BPO industry – Business, Economics, and certain Social and Technical science majors
10 200 foreign students enrolled in Bulgarian universities, the majority from South-East European countries

Each year approximately 15 000 students pursue a university degree in language studies including Chinese, Japanese, Hindi, Scandinavian, and Slavic languages.

Wage costs in the sector and overall in the economy remain competitive

Annual country average wage, 2012, (€)

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