Outsourcing Marketing: Can it Work in Professional Services?

In recent years outsourcing has evolved from functions like customer service and accounts payable to more cerebral realms like finance, accounting, and even marketing. Is it possible to effectively outsource marketing: a highly creative function, and one which is responsible for creating, maintaining, and evolving the external face of the firm?

As outsourcers ourselves, we have seen just how well it can work. The right outsourcers can not only help firms promote their existing ideas but can also refine those ideas and help develop new ones. This can be hard for firms to do on their own, given that many have marketing staffs that are just a fraction of what they once were. By teaming with an outside marketing services provider, organizations can develop and execute the programs critical to differentiating themselves from competitors, without having to rebuild their in–house marketing function. And for smaller firms in particular, outsourced marketing can supplement the sales efforts of the "chief rainmaker," whose lack of time for business development often limits growth.

However, many outsourced marketing relationships fail to deliver this value. A key success factor is having a high–level person at the firm to help the outsourcer get things done. In this white paper, we explore how some professional services companies are extracting maximum value from this novel arrangement.