At Roundpeg, we work with companies who want to outsource some portion of their marketing. Maybe they have a marketing person but that person doesn’t have graphic design skills, or maybe they don’t have a marketing department at all and need someone to take over all their marketing efforts. Whatever their reason for needing outsourced marketing and regardless of  their industry or size or culture, there is one factor that contributes more than any other to a successful outsourced marketing effort: How much they care.

Yes, of course, it’s critical to start with a good strategy and to work with a great marketing company as a partner. Those are givens. But assuming you have those things, the next single biggest indicator of how successful you’ll be is how involved you are in the process.

Sounds counter-intuitive, right? You hire a marketing company so you don’t have to deal with marketing. But if you want outsourced marketing to be successful, you can never entirely remove yourself from the equation. No one knows your company like you do, and no one can want you to succeed more than you do.

A marketing company can suggest strategies, execute materials using creativity and love and industry best-practices, but at the end of the day, you have to be an active participant in your own success. You have to look at and respond to materials and information in a timely manner. You have to look at every piece and ask yourself if this fits your company, if this helps you meet your end goals.  And you have to be willing to speak up when something needs to change.

A good marketing company will help you make those decisions, but you can’t simply hand them your marketing and expect it to become a success while you’re not watching. You have to continue to nurture and grow your marketing, making sure it’s leading you in a direction that will grow your business the way you want it to be done.

Outsourcing is not abdication of responsibility. It’s admitting you need outside help, and then helping those marketers shape your vision in a way that helps you sell more, be more, do more.

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Roundpeg is an Indianapolis outsource marketing firm, providing ideas, strategy and execution for our clients.