When it comes to implementing an outsourcing strategy for your busy content marketing department, convincing the boss is the first step. Here are some proven steps to take to get your boss as excited about the possibilities of outsourcing as you are.
Research the Possibilities Before You Pitch
Ensure you’re ready for your big outsourcing pitch with all of the details you need to make your boss take notice. Before you even consider setting up a meeting, gather information about which specific tasks you want to outsource and the steps you need to take to outsource those tasks.
If you’re interested in handing off content creation, social media management or marketing to an outside team, research the expertise and capabilities of the company you want to use. Be able to answer any questions your boss has about how much outsourcing might cost and how long the process is expected to take. The better prepared you are to hit the ground running, the more likely your boss is to let you implement that specific plan.
Show How Outsourcing Benefits the Company
For your boss, the biggest selling point is how your proposal generates revenue or saves the company time or money. Put the focus on company gains by showing how outsourcing helps your company meet key performance indicators. Explain how outsourced content or social media posts can help you attract new customers.
You might also want to emphasize how scaling up or scaling back your outsourcing makes it easy to control costs and save money, especially compared to paying an in-house team to do the same job. For maximum impact during your pitch, collect data on how much time it currently takes to complete similar tasks in-house and create charts to show the savings visually.
Address Potential Concerns
Your boss is likely to have questions and concerns, especially if the company hasn’t used outsourcing before. Consider any potential issues with outsourcing and try to address them early in the pitch before your boss brings them up. Don’t bring these things up as potential problems, though.
Instead, integrate the solutions into your pitch to circumvent any objections. For example, if you think your boss might be concerned about losing control over your brand identity, show how you plan to create detailed brand guidelines to ensure that outsourced content fits into your company’s brand image.
Try Alternative Strategies
Ask for a trial run if your boss seems hesitant to outsource a larger project. Suggest outsourcing a smaller project for a limited amount of time to test out the concept. Once you have hard data showing the benefits of outsourcing compared to prior in-house efforts, it might be easier to convince your boss to scale up your outsourcing efforts.
Once your boss is on board, make sure your outsourcing efforts succeed by choosing a company with the experience and creativity needed to handle your project. Contact us about our enterprise content solutions to get started.
