Outsourcing Marketing Technology Support: Is It Right for Your Firm in 2024?

-By Christina R. Fritsch JD, Founder and CRM Success Consultant

But Is Outsourcing Right for Your Firm?

In today’s digital landscape, professional services firms are increasingly relying on marketing technology to drive business development. However, managing these systems effectively can be challenging. This article explores whether outsourcing marketing technology support is the right move for your firm in 2024.

Three areas that are particularly well-suited to outsourcing marketing technology support are management of the firm’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and eMarketing systems and cleaning and maintaining the firm’s data. All three of these roles can be particularly challenging in a professional services firm. While this technology is critical to support the firm’s marketing and business development efforts, because the technology is specialized, not everyone has the knowledge or skills to jump in to cover one of these areas when needs arise. Even if some team members are able to perform some of these tasks, they can take a significant amount of time – time that could be better spent attending to the more strategic needs and priorities of the department and the firm.

The Problems – and The Solution

Outsourcing marketing technology support roles can solve a number of problems within the firm including:

1. CRM Implementation Challenges

Problem: Underestimating resources required for effective CRM implementation.

Solution: Outsourced CRM managers can oversee rollout, coordinate efforts, and manage key implementation tasks.

2. Data Quality Issues

Problem: Poor data quality leading to low user adoption and ineffective communications.

Solution: Outsourced data management professionals can clean, enhance, and deduplicate records efficiently.

3. Effective Client Communication

Problem: Difficulty in executing effective communication strategies.

Solution: Outsourced eMarketing experts can optimize deliverability, ensure system integrations, and develop sound communication strategies.

4. Staff Absences and Skill Gaps

Problem: Disruptions due to staff leaves or lack of specialized skills.

Solution: Dedicated outsourced support provides consistent coverage and specialized expertise.

Benefits of Outsourcing in 2024

While many firms turn to outsourcing because it can provide substantial cost savings on staff overhead, pay and benefits as opposed to hiring internal team members, there are a number of additional benefits firms don’t always consider, including:

Cost-Effectiveness: Reduced overhead compared to full-time hires.
Flexibility: Scalable support for short-term or long-term needs.
Specialized Expertise: Access to professionals with extensive experience across multiple systems.
Focus on Core Competencies: Allows in-house team to concentrate on strategic initiatives.
Compliance: Expertise in navigating evolving data privacy regulations.
Technological Edge: Stay updated with the latest marketing technology trends.

But Is Outsourcing Right for Your Firm?

There are many factors to consider before deciding to outsource CRM, eMarketing or Data Quality functions. To help determine if outsourcing is right for you, consider these four questions:

Why are you thinking of outsourcing?

If your existing staff is too busy with day-to-day tasks, processes and requests to focus on more strategic initiatives or goals, or if gaps in knowledge are preventing you from realizing the benefits of your marketing and business development technology systems, your team could likely reap a significant return from outsourcing.

What are the short-term and long-term goals you want to achieve or problems you want to solve?

Mapping out your goals and/or identifying problem areas in advance can help to clarify your needs and ensure that you enlist the right assistance.

Do you have the right team members with the right skills to accomplish the goals?

Hiring staff with the necessary experience and training can be prohibitively expensive, and finding good candidates can be challenging. If hiring or training are not viable options for filling your in-house skills gap, outsourcing is a good alternative and will likely even bring added value.

Is your need temporary or long term?

Outsourcing can bridge gaps when there are staffing transitions or skill deficiencies, fill needs related to special projects and help the in-house team to meet critical deadlines. Outsourcing can also provide the additional capacity to manage routine tasks and operations when teams are focused on major projects or organizational change.

Where to Begin

For firms new to outsourcing marketing technology support, a measured approach is often beneficial. Start with a specific, manageable project such as CRM contact cleanup, a data quality assessment, or optimizing a single email campaign. This allows you to evaluate results and calculate ROI with minimal risk. Measure improvements in data quality or campaign performance, calculate time saved, and gather feedback from stakeholders.

As confidence builds, gradually expand to more complex projects. Consider tackling tasks like industry categorization in your CRM, data migration from legacy systems, or developing comprehensive email marketing strategies. Many firms find the benefits so valuable that they transition to ongoing support for regular data cleansing, continuous CRM management, and email campaign analysis.

Throughout the process, regularly review the performance and value of your outsourcing arrangement. Set clear KPIs, maintain open communication with your outsourcing partner, and be prepared to adjust the scope of outsourced tasks as your firm’s needs evolve. This measured approach minimizes risks while maximizing benefits, often leading to improved operational stability, streamlined workload management, and ultimately, increased profitability.

Remember, effective outsourcing isn’t just about offloading tasks—it’s a strategic move to enhance your firm’s capabilities and allow your in-house team to focus on core business objectives and client relationships.

To determine whether outsourcing is right for your firm, please reach out to CLIENTSFirst for a complimentary assessment at 404-249-9914 or info@clientsfirstconsulting.com. Our team is always at your service and happy to help.

– For almost 15 years, the team at CLIENTSFirst Consulting has been supporting professional services firms and other organizations with highly trained and experienced outsourced CRM, eMarketing and data quality staff and strategic consulting services.