In-house vs outsourcing. What’s best for your marketing? Find out the different types of professional outsourcing services and the costs involved for your healthcare brand.

Digital marketing is one of the fastest-growing industries in the UK and is the biggest in Europe. It’s an ever-changing and evolving industry, packed full of trends, technology and tactics.

But with great popularity comes bigger challenges and competition. Despite the digital healthcare industry surpassing $430.52bn in 2022, trying to leverage marketing to gain a lion’s share in the market is still a sticking point for many organisations.

One solution to this problem is to outsource your marketing. From the outset, it may seem like a costly investment. But there are some compelling reasons why you should think twice. Let’s explore.

What is outsourced marketing?

Outsourced marketing means handing over your brand’s marketing activity to another business or agency.

Typically, a third-party such as a marketing agency is acquired to take care of your marketing activities. This service could include your entire marketing operation or just a portion, depending on what they can offer and what you would wish to manage in-house.

For example, you might have experience managing social media campaigns, but you need help with email marketing.

Outsource marketing is common with businesses of all sizes and across all industries, with around 42% of UK businesses choosing to.

Here is a list of marketing services you may wish to outsource:

  • Content marketing (blogs, videos, case studies, etc.)
  • Social media
  • Website design
  • SEO (search engine optimisation)
  • Email marketing
  • Paid advertising
  • Branding
  • Graphic design

As you can see, there are multiple specialities to utilise in the marketing industry. All this activity requires strategy and analytics.

So, if you choose to outsource your marketing services, ensure your provider can demonstrate their intentions for your business with a proven strategy, before supporting this strategy with conclusive results.

In-house vs outsourcing marketing

In healthcare, there is a high demand for continuous and professional content, including health updates and 101 patient support helplines.

One of the biggest demands among the younger generations is social media. With the rise of technology, patients and clients expect quicker responses and easier access to support on the go. It’s trends like this that pose the debate around whether trusting an external agency with your marketing is a better solution than keeping things in-house.

With this in mind, let’s take a closer look at the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing your marketing.

The advantages of outsourcing your marketing

Marketing experience 

One of the most vital advantages of outsourcing your marketing is the experience and knowledge you’d acquire.

Marketing is more than colourful content and catchy captions. You need to find the time to analyse analytics and make informed decisions in critical times. That’s a lot of pressure for an individual or organisation to handle on their own.

Professional outsourcing services depends on data-driven results. This information will help you connect with customers across all digital marketing channels, from email to social media.

Understanding the behaviour of your consumer is part of the process. Experienced marketing professionals have access to this essential information and will use it to tailor campaigns and effectively generate leads.

Professionalism

In the healthcare industry, professionalism is paramount. As you know, your patients must have complete trust in your business to serve their needs. A slight fault or error may cause major ramifications to your reputation.

Outsourcing your marketing to a professional agency will ensure your marketing stays professional and coherent round the clock. You can cut out time-pressed social mishaps and wrong strategies. An agency will use their time to focus on what they do best.

Manage costs

The costs for marketing in-house are much less consistent and can fluctuate very quickly and without warning.

At least with a specialist marketing agency, your marketing is in safe hands, and you can budget around the quoted price already established.

The price of going in-house seems cheaper in the long run, but it’s not always the case. You have all the financial implications of hiring someone to consider, such as pensions, training and holiday pay. New inexperienced staff could even make costly mistakes.   

Scale faster

When an outsourced marketing project is completed, it’s as simple as paying your bill. If you hired marketers in-house, there’s the added pressure of finding new work and investment to cover your salary costs.

You never know when your budget shrinks or when marketing plans get disrupted.

Healthy ROI 

For outsourced marketing to be so popular, it needs to offer a guaranteed return on investment. It’s in the interest of your hired marketing agency to deliver you results, or else you’ll stop using their services.

Despite investing funds for outsourcing, you can rest assured in the knowledge those funds are invested properly to produce results.

The disadvantages of outsourcing your marketing

Choose the wrong agency

On the flip side, you still need to find the right agency for your marketing needs. Like most industries, you risk of dealing with a bunch of cowboys.

To ensure you don’t pick the wrong agency, try and find a specialist operating in the healthcare industry. In the hiring process, enquire into the experience and performance of former healthcare marketing campaigns.

This solution will offer insight and expertise in the healthcare field. Plus, a fresh perspective can show you how to run your healthcare marketing campaigns more effectively.

A lack of communication  

Not having regular correspondence with your marketing agency can result in a lack of consistency for your brand. The more information you can provide, the better and easier their job will be. Remember, you’re the healthcare expert, they’re the marketing specialist.

Understanding you and your brand will help them send the right message with the correct tone of voice. As with any relationship, communication is key.

Cost

By choosing the right agency, you shouldn’t be wasting your money. That said, it’s still money spent elsewhere.

Although it might be tempting to save on expenses by managing the marketing yourself, it’s time-consuming. Time is much better spent running your healthcare business, so you can focus on improving patient or client care.

Hiring someone to work in-house might appear cheaper in the long run, but it demands smart recruitment and a period of training to ensure they reach an acceptable standard. Have you got the time to fulfil this obligation?

The price differences between outsourcing your marketing and in-house marketing

To many, the all-important question is; how much does it cost to outsource marketing?

For an average cost of outsourced marketing, you can be looking at anywhere between £1,000 and £20,000 a month. It depends on the agency and the scale of marketing operation you have to offer.

For instance, a full-scale marketing package, including SEO, PPC, strategy, content marketing, paid social media and organic social media costs an average of £6,000. 

If you decide to hire in-house, the average salary for a marketer in the UK is £40,585. Now, when you think that’s just one person vs an entire agency operation, then factor in training, holiday, and benefits, the cost of outsourcing doesn’t seem so steep after all.

You also have the luxury of dialling down operations should your healthcare facility experience any unexpected budget cuts. Although, this depends on the specialist you choose.

How to outsource your marketing

As we’ve clarified, the most crucial component of outsourcing marketing is finding the right agency to take on your healthcare business.

To find the best suitor for your project, consider the following:

  • Is the marketing agency a healthcare specialist?
  • Are they specialists in the marketing channels you require assistance with?
  • What do their Google Reviews say?
  • Are they quick to reply to your email? After all, you need someone responsive to meet your needs.

Amay Digital is an experienced marketing agency specialising in the healthcare industry. Our reputation as an outstanding outsourcing option for numerous healthcare companies is proven by our PPC, SEO, and social media management services.

Our expertise in this sector will help you outrank your competitors, attract more patients, and generate more sales.

If you’re interested to see how our marketing expertise can elevate your healthcare brand, get in touch.

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