When you outsource marketing to freelancers and virtual assistants, thee are some keys to keep in mind. In this post, we’ll go over outsourcing basics, training, where to hire, what to outsource, and key best practices.
How Does Outsourcing Marketing Tasks to Freelancers and VAs Work?
When searching for freelancers or VAs, most people go to freelance marketplaces. This proves to be more successful and reliable than posting on your social media pages and even potentially cheaper than putting out an ad post online.
These marketplaces house tens of thousands of talented individuals from across the globe. They fall under hundreds of different service and skill categories like web design, eCommerce, and yes, digital marketing. These platforms usually let you review freelancer profiles and see their reviews and work history. Some even include a rating system where clients can indicate how well a particular freelancer did on the job.
The typical process of hiring a freelancer to outsource marketing to involves posting a job on a marketplace or searching for them. When you find one that you’re interested in hiring, these marketplaces usually offer specialized ways of contacting them and setting up an interview. If you are sure of a candidate, you can start discussing rates. It’s worth noting that some marketplaces negotiate payments differently than others.
Do I Have to Train Them in Marketing?
Most freelance marketplaces have contract workers who are already experienced in the service categories they are under. The same applies for those who want to outsource marketing. A lot of these marketplaces advertise that they thoroughly vet their hires to ensure that these workers do have the skillsets and even the right work attitude before their applications are accepted. Some of these places even offer ongoing training to their workers to keep them updated on the newest and best practices in that field.
Where Can You Outsource Marketing Tasks From?
1. FreeUp
FreeUp is a freelance marketplace that aims to connect businesses with the top 1% of freelancers and virtual assistants. One of their most popularly outsourced services is digital marketing.
Waste no time getting to work with their fast onboarding processes. Their hiring practices ensure you are getting only the best of the best in whatever service category you choose. They vet thousands of applicants across the globe by their skill level, communication ability, and even personality. Not only that but they offer an account manager to help you make the best hiring decisions.
Their “No Turnover Guarantee.” means that they will shoulder any costs applicable to replace any freelancer that quits on the job.
2. Upwork
Dubbed “the world’s work marketplace”, Upwork aims to provide businesses with more flexibility while at the same time providing talented workers with great work opportunities. With Upwork, you can find talent to outsource marketing to. And pay for their work only when you approve of the job done.
You can find talent in three main ways on Upwork. Project Catalog allows you to browse pre-made templates that may fit your project needs. On Talent Marketplace, you can post a job request and wait for the applicants to roll in for review. Talent Scout is a service where a recruiter will help you find the right talented individual to suit your specific needs. (Note that Talent Scout is only applicable for those projects lasting a month or more.)
3. MarketerHire
If you want to hire digital marketing experts who have worked with top global brands, you may want to check out the MarketerHire platform. MarketerHire screens all freelancers from the perspective of being marketing experts themselves, ensuring that the hired applicants have proven experience and are among the best and most effective.
They help match businesses with their ideal marketer. After filling out a short form and providing details on your business, they will review and assign a marketing manager to help pair you to the ideal marketing freelancer or team to fit your business goals and needs. This matching process takes no more than 48 hours. Most clients keep on with the suggested marketer for well over 3 months. The manager will also keep track of the working relationship. If the chosen marketer does not perform up to standard, they will assign you a new one.
4. OnlineJobs.ph
The Philippines is among the top countries to outsource from next to places like China and India. OnlineJobs.ph is the largest marketplace for outsourcing Filipino talent to date. You can pick from thousands of profiles and resumes to find the perfect digital marketer for you. Their profiles are very detailed and include information such as their educational attainment, specialties, years of experience, working hours per week, and even their expected salary.
Searching for talent is incredibly easy. There are two ways you can go about it. The first method is to post a job and wait for the talent to come to you. The second way is to simply search for the specific skill you need and scroll through the candidates.
It’s worth noting that you can’t get in touch with any freelancer on the platform until you have purchased a plan from them.
What are Some Examples of Marketing Tasks You Can Outsource?
Market Research – This involves looking up the competition, looking at what currently is popular in your space, and can involve figuring out where your audience is most active. Researchers figure out what the best practices are currently, what your ideal buyers look like, and if your pricing is competitive. This typically informs your marketing strategy as well.
Marketing Strategy and Analysis – This involves planning and implementation of a combination of tried and true and latest marketing methods to generate the best results. Strategists and analysts will come up with game plans for how to attract more customers, how to allocate your budget, etc. The analysts then take a look at your metrics, generate reports, and coordinates with you and your strategists to find the best plan of attack.
Website Design and Content – You may not think about graphic design and content creation as marketing related tasks, but they do play an important role. When you think about brand recognition and brand identity, they are vital. Your website and your ad copy must communicate to your target audience who you are as a company.
Campaign Management – This can involve setting up, running, and monitoring paid advertising on search engines like Google and Bing, social media campaigns on platforms like Tiktok, Facebook, and Instagram, and email campaigns. This can also include hiring someone to run an organic SEO campaign to rank on search engine results pages.
What are the Best Practices When Outsourcing Marketing Tasks?
1. Establish Your Goals Clearly
Before you even begin looking for marketing freelancers or VAs, it’s important to lay out the parameters of a project. What specific skills do you need? What are your objectives? You need to know exactly what your needs are so you can find the right person for the job and be able to effectively communicate these goals to them. More than just listing the tasks that need accomplishing, it will benefit your business and your partnership greatly if you can convey what your vision is. This is especially important in marketing where your brand image, identity, and even the values of your company will be delivered through your advertising efforts and strategies.
2. Choose Freelancers from A Recognized Marketplace
Some businesses are worried or are hesitant when it comes to the idea of outsourcing. These concerns can be mitigated by carefully selecting the marketplace or agency where you find your freelancers or VAs. The 4 platforms we listed earlier are among those that have a good reputation and are experienced and established in the space. You should also consider some of the unique benefits that each platform offers. Some have better support, better turnover guarantees, etc. When hiring, you may also want to consider freelance agencies that specifically cater to your needs. MarketerHire is one of those places dedicated to digital marketing services. This doesn’t mean that you won’t find an excellent marketer elsewhere, of course.
3. Communicate Effectively with Your Hires
This relates to the first best practice, but while the first one focuses more on initial onboarding, this time we’ll talk about the importance of consistent and clear communication. Letting them know your goals and objectives as a company is the first step to effectively communicating and avoiding any misunderstandings. However, if you want your working relationship to remain smooth and your projects to remain on target, it’s crucial to schedule regular updates and check-ins.
Keeping your outsourced hires in the loop means they can adjust quickly to any changes that could affect how they do their job for you. For instance, if you are hiring a marketing strategist, they need to be updated as soon as possible if the ad budget increases or decreases. An extra $100 added to the daily ad budget could significantly change the way they go about planning. A closer communicative relationship also means that any feedback or changes you want made regarding the work can be acted on as soon as possible. A few hours every week could save you more time and money in the long run. You will avoid course-correcting because there was a miscommunication somewhere along the way.
Conclusion
If you are thinking of outsource marketing tasks, you also need to be flexible. Be willing to receive their expert advice or recommendations. Ideally, these workers will have years of experience under their belt and will have worked with other clients. As your working relationship develops, they will get more familiar with who you are as a company. They may then suggest a little tweaking to your plans or objectives in order to make your efforts more successful. Recognize that these individuals have valuable insights to bring to your business. The success of your project is about balancing your vision for your business and taking in the advice from seasoned professionals in the field to produce the best outcome.
