Outsourcing marketing defined for B2B companies

Most business-to-business (B2B) trade will be conducted online, either as a hybrid omnichannel interaction or solely online. As confirmed by McKinsey's most recent global B2B pulse, the pandemic served as a wake-up call, indicating that B2B companies must now raise the bar in their marketing and sales strategies to manage client expectations and enable optimal business growth.

To compete, most scaling B2B companies are delegating their strategic and operational marketing functions to third-party partners who have the specialized talent, processes, and tools required. Outsourcing marketing is one of the most beneficial tools for helping B2B companies focus their internal resources on delivering value to their clients and competing in their markets, while driving profitability and growth. It also allows B2B companies access to top marketing talent, along with the tools needed to level the playing field and compete against big-pocket brands.

According to a recent CMO Survey, over 44% of B2B companies in the United States outsource their marketing, allowing their leadership to focus intensely on their core business. When outsourcing marketing, business leaders can step back and rely on the marketing partner to propose the best strategy, implement its programs and campaigns, and report on its progress. In this scenario, the outsourcing marketing firm is a critical partner in a business's success.

The most typical outsourced marketing functions include:

• Research: Includes researching your market, competitors, and clients. Additionally, research can reveal insights into market opportunities and emerging trends.

• Strategy: This encompasses company-wide growth, as well as targeted go-to-market strategies for specific offerings and new markets. It also includes developing key differentiators, brand positioning, and messaging for all stakeholders, including your employees and the community.

• Creative: For the most part, this function encompasses brand strategy, design, interaction, and content. In addition, it includes packaging, collaterals, motion graphics, user interface (UI), merchandising, and bespoke fonts.

• Operations: This includes running a business's day-to-day marketing operations. Examples include media buying, content production and editing, social media management, public relations, sponsorships, event activations, and database marketing support.

• Sales Enablement: Establishing an iterative process of providing the sales team with all the resources they need to close more deals. This includes implementing a marketing strategy aligned with the CRM process, optimizing the customer journey, enhancing customer retention, facilitating cross-selling, and promoting utilization initiatives.

• Analytics: Effective marketing operations must track, analyze, and optimize every aspect of a business's marketing programs and campaigns, such as online analytics, sales performance, demand creation, and lead generation.

According to the CMO Survey, 7.5% of a B2B company's revenue is spent on marketing, so creating an effective strategy is crucial for an optimal return on investment. Outsourcing marketing can provide the tools, processes, and access to the right talent, increasing productivity, adding scalability, and ultimately enabling business growth.

Fuel and optimize your business growth with a tech-smart and strategic marketing plan. Our Growth Advisors have the tools to help you see the bigger picture and discover new opportunities you may not have thought were even possible.

Through a marketing-as-a-service approach, scale-ups and startups can focus on keeping the flame alive at the forefront of their businesses. In contrast, we keep the fires burning behind the scenes through the implementation of real-time research, smart data, and analytics, as well as up-to-date consumer and market trends in your marketing strategy. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for your marketing plan.

*This blog post was written by Jason Amalia, Managing Partner, Senior Marketing Advisor & Head of Marketing Services at DuartePino.

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ABOUT US

DuartePino is a management outsourcing firm that combines in-depth customer knowledge with practical expertise in marketing, communications, brand management, and overall business strategies to help clients create sustainable business growth. Our single-source accountability comprises a unified network of Trusted Advisors with years of combined experience in their respective industries. As a result, we can provide your organization with a fresh perspective, proven processes that deliver results, and the necessary martech tools for successful execution.

We have one primary purpose: to help Hispanic-led companies connect with growth opportunities. We do this by intentionally building relationships of trust, internally and externally, through reliability, competence, and integrity. As members of the Worldcom network, we also have quick and unfettered access to the resources of more than 80 global partners in 50 countries and on six continents, enabling us to work together in designing and implementing communications strategies for all key stakeholders. Today, we proudly manage over 15 marketing communications departments representing more than $1 billion in annual sales, and 70% of these departments export to international markets.