Is Outsourcing Internet Marketing Right for You?

Although not entirely a new business concept or practice, outsourcing had dramatically changed into something huge in recent years. This is mainly due to the internet drawing the entire world together in a huge market place where one can choose from the many available resources anytime, anywhere.

It is therefore not surprising to see many businesses take this road with their different business needs and requirements because outsourcing does have more advantages and benefits for the business. While outsourcing your internet marketing tasks, for instance, you are able to concentrate on the core business without letting the marketing side of the business come to a halt. But venturing on outsourcing requires that you do things the right way. If done without careful thinking and planning, you might end up with disastrous outcomes.

The two important questions that need to be satisfied are: “Will it be cost effective to outsource?”, and “Do you have employees who can run an internet marketing campaign?”

The True Costs of Internet Marketing

Most business entrepreneurs think that outsourcing is just adding an expense. Of course, it would cost money to outsource, but an in house marketing campaign would also cost money. A lot of times, in house campaign costs are not calculated – probably because the mindset is that the salary of the personnel you have in mind to run the campaign for you are already being paid for.  True, but it’s not like you are not taking out money to pay for this particular work. These costs should be added and factored in to determine which would cost the least – in-house marketing our outsourced marketing?

• Cost of employees involved in the in-house marketing campaign. The number of employees needed for the in-house marketing campaign will depend on how big or small your company is. It can be a one-man show, or a team of employees. If assigned employees are not productive in the in-house internet marketing campaign, it will be wasted salary paid for no significant output. Add to that, the original task handled by the pulled out employee will be negatively affected, too. That’s double loss for your company.

• Cost of running an inferior in-house campaign. Without the required experience, knowledge and expertise on internet marketing, all in-house marketing campaign efforts will pale in comparison to outsourced marketing campaign in terms of conversion rate, increase in revenue, etc. And because the campaign is not carefully thought of and planned, the expected results may not reach peak performance, and it may take longer to see results tangibly. The cost of that extra time need to be factored in as well.  

Do You Have the Time?

Internet marketing is not as simple as it sounds. To effectively run a marketing campaign, one needs to invest considerable time. Online marketing requires constant monitoring, updating of information, interacting and engaging in conversations with potential customers, etc.

As mentioned, a successful internet marketing campaign will require full-time commitment considering the requirements of the activities entailed by the campaign. Pulling away an employee from the campaign to do the original job scope, the campaign results will definitely suffer. If your staff cannot handle the additional workload of in-house marketing campaign, it makes no sense to jeopardize the employee’s overall performance because of the additional load which is out of scope of the present job description.

Final Decision

The most important step in the evaluation process is putting your decision into action. If the final decision is to do in-house marketing campaign, get a heads up and inform the concerned staff in order to intellectually and psychologically prepare them for the new task. If, after calculating the costs you found out that in-house marketing will be more troublesome and costly, then outsourcing is the right decision for you. You’re ready to tap the world resources to have the right outsourcing partner.

There are many internet marketing outsourcing companies who have survived the never ending challenge of change in the internet marketing arena. You have to consider certain things before making that final decision on who will take care of your campaigns. You can refer to this article, Why Decide on Outsourcing?-- to give you a better view of it. Researching the right company won’t be that hard for there is a lot who is really delivering promised results.

The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing US Jobs to Developing Countries

Take this puzzle : The United States has a high unemployment rate at 8.2% as of June 1, 2012, and a 10 million manufacturing jobs that are still vacant to date. A survey of more than 1,300 US employers showed that about 49% of companies in the US have had problems filling in mission-critical positions. Why then are US workers not filling in those vacant job posts?

The apparent reason for this imbalance is the skills mismatch. The most in-demand jobs require technical training and experience plus multiple skills. A company in the US looking for an electrician is actually looking for an electrician with engineering background to respond to the complex nature of the projects available. And because workers in the US are not applying for the position which may be due to lack of qualification or wage issues, such positions were made open to workers from developing countries by way of outsourcing.

Many multinational companies in the United States have long been outsourcing their workforce in developing countries.

Benefits or Pros of Outsourcing

• Cost-effective. There are many US multinational companies that are into cost-cutting choose to outsource some of their company’s functions to outsourcing companies from other countries like India, the Philippines, and China, to name a few. With outsourcing, the US multinational is able to cut their operational costs and make substantial savings for the same work done for less pay and excellent quality.
• Generate employment and industrialization. Outsourcing not only benefits the multinational company in terms of growth and savings, but also facilitates generation of employment and industrialization. This benefits the worker and his country’s economy and development.  

Disadvantages or Cons

• Negative impact on the US economy. By outsourcing some of the tasks and functions to developing countries, the US company is earning more and helping to develop and grow   the economy of the developing country. And it is said to have a negative impact on the US economy.
• Imbalance in economy and policy. Outsourcing of jobs means that there are no more employees employed for the position When the employment goes down, this will create or start the discontent among the workers with their employers, in which case some talented unemployed workers might lead to immigration top other countries, draining the US of its valuable workforce.

Companies in the United States should therefore strike a balance between outsourcing to developing countries and fulfilling their duties as socially and economically responsible employers. With the race to future affluence, the only thing that will matter is talent. The skills gap that are causing the high unemployment rate in the US today will not likely close in the near future. This means companies and countries that can develop, train and retain the highest skilled talent, will come out on top.  

With the huge number of unfilled positions in the US, developing countries like the Philippines, India, or China will continue to train workers and employees with the technical knowhow and expertise on the job posts as they await for those companies with unmatched positions to outsource those positions.

Why Decide on Outsourcing?

At this day and age of computer and technology, there are no substitutes to replace internet marketing. This is a critical business strategy to help small companies compete and expand their business scope and sales activities. And businesses start with owning a website which can be used in the marketing efforts.

For some business people, internet marketing may seem easy that they do things on their own. Thinking that the operation is rather small, it may not require too rigid marketing practices or tasks that need to be implemented to achieve the desired results. Sadly, the truth is that internet marketing is not an easy and simple task and it is very much time-consuming. And with these, some have considered outsourcing their internet marketing. And why not?

• Increased site traffic by 110%. Studies have shown that outsourcing internet marketing services to a reputable company can increase the site traffic by 110%. Doing in-house SEO showed a much lower site traffic improvement. Hence, if you want to increase your business potential, leave the marketing to the experts. They are specialized and experienced and can do the job in less time. This can mean more traffic, more potential conversions, more targeted customers and more sales.

• Internet marketing is not straightforward marketing. It does not mean simply connecting to clients directly. It will necessitate finding ways to generate presence which can eat up most of your time as it requires constant monitoring to keep the site to the top. In this sense, outsourcing is more about time spent on strategizing on marketing efforts. In-house internet marketing not only will be time-consuming but it will require investing on certain tools to help with the marketing efforts.

• Having control over strategies. Outsourcing internet marketing will mean that you are free from routine tasks of internet marketing. Aside from that, you will still have control over your marketing strategies. You will be able to focus on the core business and increase the strategies by consulting with the outsourcing company. Your role will be more concentrated on strategic aspects. Online marketing is a collaborative effort and the good thing is you have a partner that is expert on that area.  

• Having the expertise at your disposal. Imagine yourself doing in-house marketing. You start by learning the trade and the trends that go with it. Apart from the fact that learning requires time, internet marketing is very dynamic, that sometimes when you have learned the trade, the market will present new changes which will render your acquired knowledge no longer applicable. An outsourcing company has the team or pool of professionals who have extensive experience on the trade. Learning new updates will be easy for them. If you have an outsource company, these experts and professionals are at your disposal (under an agreement, of course) for all the marketing needs your business may have.

• Cost effective marketing. Outsourcing internet marketing is an ideal set up for a small business because they offer a range of products, packages and services that can cater to the marketing budget of the company. You get the service you need when you need it. You only pay for the services requested and delivered.

The decision on whether or not to outsource the internet marketing services, is an option for the business that will depend on a lot of factors but ultimately, efforts should be directed to improving the work process and the marketing activities as well.  

Winning Over Outsourcing Challenges

The current global trend is on outsourcing – IT, financial services, human resource, management, product supply and deliveries, both voice and non-voice. Most of the global companies see the cost-effectiveness of such arrangements with outsourcing companies. These non-strategic activities should be able to give tangible benefits to the business in terms of product and service efficiency, improved sales activities, among others. However, despite the many obvious benefits that go along with the concept of outsourcing, there are other challenges these outsourcing companies have to deal with in order to successfully deliver their commitment to the client.

While it is true that outsourcing has seen the growth of the industry to what it is now, many companies planning to take on outsourcing some of their activities are somewhat fazed by some concerns on risks posed by outsourcing:

• Security of data

This is an important and critical issue for companies who are contemplating on outsourcing. The service level agreement should have an explicit provision or clause on liability and accountability of the outsourcers with respect to handling, storage and securing vital business data and information. While you have no direct control over this concern, there should be legal parameters covering such incidences. The outsourcer should be able to demonstrate clearly on how this angle is handled by their people, what countermeasures are in place in case of breach of data security, etc. Any outsourcing company that has no clear policy on this matter is not worth your while.

• Customer satisfaction

Customers would normally know if their calls or inquiries are handled by outsourcing companies. The almost robotic and practised and learned responses are easy give away signs. Customers will have different take on outsourcing and it is important that the outsourcers are aware of what type of customers they will be dealing with – their needs and wants, their concerns and issues, etc. A thorough understanding of the business is very vital to the successful migration of the business activity from in-house to outsourcing.  

• Technology and other Business Infrastructures

Outsourcing companies should have the required technological platforms and facilities to carry out their implementation processes – excellent communication facilities, banking systems, legal system (to take care of data security and intellectual property issues), all linked and connected together to allow for fast and smooth operations. Equally important are conducive office environments where outsourcing personnel will be motivated to perform according to the required expectations. Any global company will be comfortable entrusting the business activities to the outsourcers that give attention to these concerns.

• Communication and language gaps

This is very critical for companies entrusting their business activities to outsourcers as there should be clear understanding of the needs and wants of the company and the methodologies and implementation processes of the outsourcers. Failing this will definitely result to unresolved conflicts and undelivered commitment.

When these challenges are overcome and met with resolute approach, more businesses and companies will turn to outsourcing to improve their business performance. Having said this, it must be remembered that different businesses have different needs. If the challenges outweigh the advantages of outsourcing, then a re-thinking may be necessary as to the appropriate options to take. Ultimately, the decision is for the business owner on whether outsourcing is beneficial and good for the company or not.

Criteria for Selecting an Outsourcing Partner

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Outsourcing involves creating a productively successful partnership. And there are a multitude of choices for outsourcing partners. Each sourcing company is unique and nothing equally the same as any other in terms of service level, business principles, methodologies and  business models. Finding the perfect outsourcing partner can be a daunting task but is imperative to the success of any outsourcing partnership arrangements.

Choosing a perfect outsourcing partner for your company requires answering some questions which will determine and identify your outsourcing needs.

• What are the processes in your business that need to be outsourced? IT functions (technical support), business processes and HR (recruitment), Finance (payroll and accounting services), Sales and Marketing, Health and Safety (medical, insurance, etc.) are some of the non-strategic and non-core activities your business might need outsourcing to. By identifying the business activity you would like to outsource, you will be able to collect the information on outsourcing service providers specializing in those areas or fields of expertise.
• What is the required level of service? The outsourcing partner should have a good understanding of the product or service they are to provide for your business. They should be able to provide you with an implementation processes to be adhered to in order to achieve success.
• Will it be cost-effective to outsource? The outsourcing should provide your business with a good competitive advantage to make the whole process a wise financial and resources investment.
• Will outsourcing improve your business’ efficiency to carry out implementable new business strategies or investments? By freeing some of your personnel and making them concentrate on core business tasks, outsourcing can bring flexibility to the business’ costs and capital allowing to venture into other business challenges.  

When these are properly identified and answered, the next step would be checking out the many outsourcing companies that might be a potential successful partner for your business. Similarly, some key points to consider when scouting for an outsourcing partner for your business:

Project Experience or Track Record

It will give you an idea of how competent the outsourcing provider is if you know the kind of customers or partners they have provided services and the number of projects they have thus far completed. Check if they are recognized or heard of within their own industry. Find out if you can on customer service level of satisfaction. Blogs are usually the best sources for this information.

 

Operational Reliability and Financial Stability

Check out the company details like the number of years they are operating, number of employees, number of satellite offices, their history and experience in the business. Tangible business models should show their capability to understand your business goals with the right process, technology and personnel to implement it.

Find out about their financial standing and who are the directors and top management. This will give you an idea if they have a solid financial status.

References

A good way to check most of the critical information is by knowing who they have worked with in the past that can vouch for the quality of service, customer support services, timely deliveries, reliability and turnaround time. All these are vital in making a good call in choosing the right outsourcing partner.

 

Service Level Terms and Conditions

Different providers have different service level terms and provisions. Terms on payment, deliverables, timelines, implementation guidelines, allowable restrictions or limits, etc. should be explicitly discussed by the outsourcing partner in order to avoid conflict or misunderstanding later on. You may ask some of their references a little information on these if you can.

Infrastructure and Technology

A good outsourcing partner invests in their technology and service platforms. They should also utilize time-tested management tools and programs to continuously improve the quality of their service. A physical visit to the outsourcing partner’s business office will let you know if they give importance to these elements critical to their business operations. You need to know that they have the right equipment to handle and manage your product and service and if they are able to provide post-development support to resolve any issues that may crop up after the project’s implementation is completed.

Communication

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A high level of communication between the outsourcing partner and the business will ensure a project’s success. This will pave the way for a better understanding of the needs, goals and objectives of the business and the outsourcing partner’s translations of such issues in terms of their implementation processes. Communication is critical to any business relationship.

 

See them at work

The best way to see how the outsourcing partner works is to visit them during business hours where you can observe how they ago about specific projects.  Even for potential partners offshore, you need to visit their operations before making any final decision on your choice.

These are just some of the important criteria your business has to take into consideration in your selection of an outsourcing partner. The basic rule is to look for one whose vision is that of providing efficient productivity, competent business transformations and substantial cost savings for your business. If they work around these parameters, you are guaranteed of tangible results for your business.

When you have satisfied most of these criteria, you will have less to worry about the activities outsourced and will have to pull your time and effort in addressing the needs of the core business to improve the business activities. After all, one of the reasons you have considered to take on outsourcing is to push the resources (human and financial) to beefing up business strategies and new program or project development.

The decision to outsource your business activities is more or less tied to long-term goals and objectives. Make periodic assessments to see if the decision results to financial benefits, improved customer service, faster and accurate technical support, reduced errors in the delivery of service, improvement in the efficiency of adhering to timelines and delivery dates, etc.

Constant communication will ensure that the terms agreed upon are observed and implemented. While the outsourcing partner has the responsibility to take care of the outsourced business activity, you still have to participate actively in managing the relationship.  

Behind Every IT Outsourcing Projects

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Often times, companies are faced with challenges that may seem difficult to hurdle on the surface. One such challenge is braving up the economic crisis with much resilience to bounce off against the adversity. In many ways, companies shift to survival mode, implementing cost-cutting measures all over the place in order to keep the company from hitting the ground. Chucking out some under-utilized departments is one of the many measures they have put in place. And in most cases, the IT department suffers the brunt.

IT outsourcing companies sprout everywhere, giving a financially distressed company a viable option to reduce the overhead costs as the outsourcing company will render IT-related services whenever there is a need. This means a lot of savings on employee wages and benefits. However, despite its attractive impressions, studies and surveys have shown that some IT outsourcing companies may not be what they claim they are in terms of their ability to handle and manage the work effectively.

Sure, one would do all the background check and all, to make sure that the outsourcing company will genuinely help your business. But there are outsourcing companies which play up their track records or claim projects accountable to them, in exchange for higher or inflated service contracts or fees. If you are not careful, you might end up signing a deal with an outsourcer that is only good in paper.

Additionally, some IT outsourcing companies present other serious issues like:

• The quality of work is below acceptable standards. It may happen that an IT technician will be despatched by the outsourcer to address the problem which in fact is not clear to the technician and you will be charged for that. The lack of expertise on the problem has caused your business unnecessary expense on the recommended action which did not solve the problem.
• Response time. This is one disadvantage of outsourcing IT. The turnaround time is slow. In a critical emergency, you will be losing tons of money because of this inefficiency.
• Risk of data loss or damage. This is a critical issue. Without a trusted in-house IT specialist who can guarantee the protection of the valuable business database, it is difficult to point liability and accountability. Many IT outsourcing companies are utilized by some unscrupulous business opportunists.
• Priority. What reason could you have for you to be on the top priority list of your IT provider? There are others, like you who wonder the same thing when it comes to who gets prioritized during an emergency situation.
• Continuity. Because the IT department is outsourced, no single person has the history of the reported problem. A lot of time resources will be wasted by just redirecting engineers. No single solution will ever crop our from different engineers because each of them will have a different approach at solving the problem. Or so you hope.

Ultimately, when you do decide to outsource your IT department, in order to concentrate on another business potential, make sure you have not overlooked some of the very important and critical issues against what could be saved from the project in terms of quality, reliable and trustworthy work.   

The Call Centre Battle : Philippines vs India

The Philippines is listed in Wikipedia as the 4th ranking English-speaking population as per the Year 2000 list, with India ranking number 2. In the same list, the Philippines showed 78.53% English speakers as against India’s low 33.33%.

This goes to show that the two countries have been rivals in many common global business areas such as call centres or what is more aptly called Business Process Outsourcing or BPO. The Philippines is now the setting of BPOs with global links, an energetic industry that has helped the country in keeping the economy afloat for many years now. Business experts are saying that the BPO industry is expected to increase its revenues from $9 billion to some $25 billion in 2016. Some are even optimistic that BPO revenues will surpass that of OFW remittances. The call centre industry is a great help to the Philippine economy and to thousands of unemployed Filipinos whose qualifications are more than what is ordinarily required for a call centre customer support.

In 2010, the Philippines had been reported as a top BPO hotspot in the global market. Offering both inbound and outbound services, the Philippines continually attract analysts and investors overtaking India in providing the world with voice-related services. India’s 350,000 call centre workers have already been surpassed by the Philippine’s 400,000 employed call centre support staff.

There are many reasons why most global companies have entrusted their outsourcing requirements over to the Philippines’ BPO providers, to wit:

• Fluency in the English language – The country’s known affinity with the western culture had resulted to a better understanding of the needs of American consumers. Compared to India, there are more English speakers with better professional qualifications giving them the edge of quickly adapting to the American English’ or other countries’ accent requirements. The good English background taught in Philippine schools had even paved the way for non-voice outsourcing requirements as well.

• Low wage rates – There is a marked wide wage gap between industrialized and developing countries. Considering global recession and economic crisis, most global companies will be on the lookout for low wage countries offering the outsourcing requirements they need. While both India and the Philippines are in the same category of cheap labor cost, the Philippines’ demand a slightly higher rate than India due to its better English accent. Notwithstanding the fact that the country has an abundant supply of highly-talented and skilled professionals who can best qualify for the global requirements.

• Presence of reliable technology -  The country is set technology-wise to the demands of outsourcing or business process outsourcing. There are over a hundred call centres currently operating in the country’s prime business districts like Makati City, Pasig City, Quezon City and Taguig City. Regional business hubs like Cebu, Baguio, Laguna, Bacolod, Angeles City and Davao City are some of the common installation and operation sites of BPO companies. In these locations, the technological facilities are kept at par with global qualities.

Even India recognizes the cost-effectiveness of setting up their BPO operations in the Philippines that they have slowly shifted the operations of Indian-based call centres to the Philippines.

This is not to say, however, that the Philippines will stay in this position forever, considering the reasons seen as influencing the growth of the business. There are more challenges that need to be prepared for like competition from other neighbouring countries like Malaysia or Vietnam. The BPO industry players should be able to come up with cutting-edge differentiation from the other call centres countries in Asia.

In fact, the Philippines need to be more vigilant on the shift in trend of outsourcing from voice to non-voice. This is another potential big economic booster if the BPO players will start enhancing this sector as early as now. It is predicted that 2016 will see a remarkable increase of demand for non-voice workers which includes internet marketing outsourcing workers such as web designers, seo experts, ppc professionals, content writers, and the likes. There is also this not-yet-fully-tapped healthcare information management market, which is also slowly showing some good indicating signs. The country should start training people in these fields as a preparation for the surge in the very near future.  This will clearly put the Philippines ahead of India or any other country which may be looking at taking a little share of the market.