Chinedu Ozulumba: Outsourcing Your Back End Function is a Smart Alternative for Digital Marketing

Most businesses are relentlessly investing a lot of time, energy and resources into social media marketing. Digital marketing has become a trend for the future of marketing and a cost effective channel to boost sales and represent a brand.

Big brands are beginning to hire specialists, media experts to target their audience through every possible social media platform.

With over 1.79 billion active monthly users on Facebook which represents 16 % increase year-on-year. About 1.18 billion people log onto Facebook daily representing 17% year-on-year and about five new profiles are created on the platform every second which makes Facebook too big to ignore.

Digital marketing is more than just a fad; it’s the future of marketing.

Smaller companies that take early advantage of digital marketing may overtake the bigger corporations. Smaller companies have realized this approach gives more access to a wider audience and it’s also cost effective compared to paid advertising.

Bigger corporations with a much more complex backend infrastructure may begin to think how to realign their businesses to include digital marketing to the mix.

There is a way to fuse both sides of your business.

A study has shown that companies that move their back office operations to low cost countries may cut down expenses. Less than half of the companies that have begun moving general and administrative functions to offshore offices said they were satisfied with the outcome – Hackett Group survey finds

This invariably means they now have more time to focus on the commercial side of business as they pursued more opportunities abroad.

Traditional businesses are beginning to embrace the digital movement; they have plugged in quickly to get the best out of a market saturated by digitally-focused companies. For businesses under this category, a complex backend infrastructure may be of great concern.

Integrating your backend by outsourcing could be a strategic and cost effective option for your business.

Tactically fusing your backend with your digital marketing plan
Today, traditional marketing channels like paid advertising are gradually being replaced by modern technology.

Alpine Internet refers to digital marketing as:

Technology + Marketing = Digital Marketing

It’s easier for traditional companies that have embraced technology earlier to adjust easily with digital marketing. They may require a few tweaks on their business model.

Your company’s backend is a very important asset to your business, your online marketing efforts would leverage on a functioning data exchange system. This will enable your online sales funnel work efficiently.

Fusing your backend and your online plan would require you hire, train and supervise staff. You also need to reprove and fire when necessary, to reduce these hassles, outsourcing these functions out to a third party to manage maybe a good alternative.

In a publication by Resource Nation, it stated that most companies choose to outsource some specific functions such as IT tech functions, client service desk functions and onsite maintenance. Many smaller businesses are now turning to IT Management companies to provide other auxiliary services.

Imagine setting up an archive to store a million documents. Doing this would take considerable amount time and effort. Relieving your team of such stress will make sense when you choose to outsource. It will be practical to allow a synergy between your backend function and your proposed digital marketing plan; it will pay off in the long run.

Before you click to compose an email requesting for proposals from outsourcing companies, you’ll need to put these into perspective:

Flexibility in operations
Businesses that are technologically driven from the onset like Raz Chorev, copyblogger, Fiverr have earlier adapted their system to drive revenue through marketing efforts online. Digital companies like this generate over 80% of their sales online.

Human capital and expert knowledge
When two-thirds of your staff are technologically savvy, then you could be on your way to building a business that is digitally focused. Your marketing strategy can seamlessly be implemented with your team. On the flipside, if your team is technologically laid back, and then outsourcing may apply.

Cost implications
The cost of outsourcing either your backend or your front office functions should be put into perspective, ensure you save money either way.

Managing both ends
Business leaders often wear a lot of hats which they most times refuse to admit. It’s not their fault because they want an eagle eye on all aspects of their business.

Learning to loosen your grip on routine backend functions will create ample time to focus on other strategic plans. It’s high time you allow your company’s organogram work even if you are a team of two.

Effectively managing both ends of your business will set your overall business strategy for success, nevertheless you mustn’t burnout to do that.

Here’s what to do if you decide to outsource your backend functions.

• A good relationship is vital to the success of any project; build a cordial relationship with your outsourcing partner.
• Ensure your outsourcing partner keeps you abreast of events by requesting for daily activity reports of your backend operations.
• Periodically check your backend infrastructure to validate reports sent.
• Assign team leads to serve as correspondence to your outsourcing partners; your team leads can stand in as agents to communicate with you.
• Gradually restructure your operations towards being digital by eliminating paper transactions as much as possible.
• Promote digital marketing and encourage your team to do so.
• Pitch and partner with technology savvy companies that find your services convenient to use.
• Exploit social media platforms through campaigns either paid or organic; however invest your time on platforms where your audience is most active.

Depending on the peculiarity of your business, you can introduce more controls that would ensure your business runs smoothly.

With a well-structured backend, you’ll give your online marketing strategy a good opportunity to thrive and succeed.

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