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Most marketing and advertising agencies depend on team members with specialized skills in specific practice areas to do a large variety of work in-house. With such strong internal bench strength, agency leaders might feel hesitant to outsource tasks to outside parties. Their concerns—from a reliance on external partners leading to vulnerabilities if the partnerships fail or do not meet expectations to the loss of control over service quality or data security—are not always unfounded.
However, outsourcing certain essential business functions can allow an agency to focus more on its core competencies, enhancing efficiency and innovation. Moreover, partnering with outside firms can actually result in improved service quality, not to mention cost savings. Below, members of Forbes Agency Council share important business functions their agencies choose to outsource to external partners, and why.
1. Public Relations
We outsource all of our public relations work. Successfully influencing public opinion through media coverage requires a specialized skill set. While we collaborate with our PR partners to align on approved messaging and upcoming campaigns, we also give them the freedom to add their own layer of expertise. This approach has proven to be successful for us. - Dave Foster, AvreaFoster
2. Cybersecurity
We outsource cybersecurity to a specialized firm. Cybersecurity demands expert knowledge and constant attention that we just don’t want to take away from our core business. By partnering with a dedicated firm, we can focus on what matters most to our clients. - Frederik Bussler, Bussler & Co
3. Web Design
One area we happily outsource in our agency is robust Web design. We take care of landing pages and similar projects in-house, but Web design projects are so time- and labor-intensive that it is far more beneficial for us to work with our Web development partners and keep our focus on building and executing marketing strategies. - Bernard May, National Positions
4. Branding
As a digital agency that formerly used the words “full-service” and “integrated,” we niched into just two best-in-class services and found that bringing in equally qualified specialists and experts in channels beyond our expertise can present great opportunities. One of the biggest ones for us was when we retired our branding services and built a great collection of the best branding partners. - Corey Morris, Voltage
5. Specialized Content Creation
When we need to create high-quality content that requires in-depth research and interviews with subject matter experts, we turn to professional journalists. We have a pool of long-standing expert partners who specialize in various fields and content types. Hiring just one isn’t an option, since each excels in a specific area, and hiring all isn’t feasible due to the irregular volume of tasks. - Dmitrii Kustov, Regex SEO
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
6. Global Employment
One essential business function that our agency chooses to outsource is the employment of staff in foreign countries, for which we rely on specialized vendors. This arrangement involves partnering with international Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs) or Employer of Record (EOR) services that handle all aspects of employment on our behalf. - Joschka Weltgen, Compado
7. Legal Services
Our agency outsources legal services because that simply isn’t our area of expertise. Outsourcing comes in handy in situations where time saved is more valuable than money saved. We simply don’t have the time to get updated on the latest legalese, so it’s money well spent to outsource these tasks to a professional. - Justin Belmont, Prose
8. Website Coding And Development
We cannot be experts in everything. We are experts in financial advisor marketing, which means we know how to build and design a website that showcases a brand and tells its story. In other words, we can paint the picture well, but we can’t engineer the canvas we paint on at the same level. - Trey Robinson, Story Amplify
9. Translation
We outsource translation. Yes, artificial intelligence can generate possible translations that convey meaning, but the workmanlike result is rarely compelling. However, a professional translator who specializes in the market you are addressing, and who lives in the market for which you are translating, will generate copy that has far greater impact and produces outstanding ROI. - Mike Maynard, Napier Partnership Limited
10. Photo And Video Production
You can’t be good at everything, which is why we outsource our photography and videography. Doing this allows us to access specialized skills and equipment, guaranteeing professional-grade content. Partnering with these experts frees up our team to focus on core digital marketing strategies and allocate resources more efficiently while still delivering exceptional results. - Lisa Montenegro, Digital Marketing Experts - DMX Marketing
11. Local Expertise
We produce a lot of experiential activations and events, and it is always highly rewarding to consult with local experts when it comes to location research, permitting processes or even recommendations for local vendors. We don’t fully outsource everything, but we always consult with partners who are local to our destinations. - Nhu Khue Ngo, OSK New York Inc.
12. Business Tax Structuring
It is crucial to have our contracts, business expenses and tax structuring in place to run a tight ship. The relationships we’ve built with our consultants—who help us function appropriately and legally—are crucial to our survival. Every state is different, and professionals who are experts in their states will eventually help you grow exponentially. - Cagan Sean Yuksel, Dreamspace
13. Influencer Payments
We outsource influencer payments. Since we handle thousands of transactions yearly, outsourcing streamlines the process, simplifying tax season by avoiding countless 1099 forms and enabling instant digital payments to creators. This efficiency supports our focus on seamless operations and strong influencer relationships. - Danielle Wiley, Sway Group
14. Graphic Design
We work with a graphic design agency to handle all of our digital marketing design and printed marketing materials. Even though the hourly rate may be more expensive than an in-house hire, the level of design and the speed at which it is executed have always made the service cost less in the long run, with much less back-and-forth on design changes. - Meredith Xavier, The Ligné Group
15. Analytics
As a Web design and development company, we think we can build just about anything. However, we decided to outsource our analytics. These days, the major Web companies that track website visitors have made huge investments in their code base. It would be foolish to think we could compete and develop our own platform. - Peter Boyd, PaperStreet Web Design