The Plight of the Solo In-House Marketer: Sometimes, One Size Does NOT Fit All

Marketri is the outsourced marketing partner for many professional services firms such as law, accounting and engineering firms.  One thing I’ve observed is that there are clear job descriptions for 1^st year, 2^nd year and 3^rd year staff professionals (lawyers, CPAs, etc.) that are consistent with their education and experience.  As marketers, we are also professionals whose skill level varies with time in the workforce, personal strengths and education.  Often, however, firms hire marketing professionals with a “one-size-fits-all” mentality.

You may ask, “What’s wrong with this approach?”  After all, a firm wants to keep its marketer busy and has needs at many levels.  It’s probably paying the position a good salary and benefits.  The marketer  should be willing and able to do all that’s required, right?  In reality, a firm is simply setting its in-house marketer up to fail.  There is no one-size-fits-all in almost any profession including marketing.  In marketing, as with other professional positions, there are different specialty areas and years of experience does matter. 

For example, I am a highly experienced (20+ years) marketer and my specialty is strategy.  I develop effective positioning platforms for my small to mid-sized clients, identify target markets and create results-driven plans.  A mid-sized firm might be thrilled to have me on board full-time and even willing to pay my six-figure salary and benefits.  It’s all sounding great so far.  I would eagerly jump in and get the firm’s go-to-market strategy ready within the first 6 months.  This is where the problem starts.

To execute a well-written plan, the firm doesn’t need a person at my level with my salary.  Ideally, they need a mid-level, task-oriented marketing manager to do the tactical side of the job.  Because in this scenario I have been hired under the one-size-fits-all approach, the execution of the marketing plan would fall to me.  The firm may be paying a highly experienced marketing strategist to update the Website and data set, as well as, push out newsletters and plan events.   Boredom will set in for the strategic marketer and he/she will likely leave.

This scenario could be just as disappointing reversed – that is, a firm hiring a lower-level marketer and expecting this person with less experience to guide the strategy and planning process.  More than likely, the marketer will underperform and get terminated or be overwhelmed and leave.  There is a lot of turnover in the marketing profession and the one-size-fits-all approach is at the heart of the problem.

Small to mid-sized companies have needs at every level of marketing as well as needs for specific skills in areas such as social media, business development, search engine optimization, Web development and graphic design.  The most cost-effective approach for small to mid-sized firms is try outsourced marketing.  Through outsourcing, firms are able to tap all levels and specialty areas of marketing usually for the same cost as one mid-level in-house marketer.   Companies can scale up or down as needed and the outsourced marketing resources can change as the firms evolve.

If you have been considering marketing and might even have an ad placed for a full-time professional, it would be well worth your time to explore the outsourced marketing option before moving forward.  Marketri can give you an in-house marketer vs. outsourced marketing cost/benefit analysis.  While we would of course love to have your business, the analysis would be completely unbiased.  On many occasions, I have told potential clients that they are not the right fit for outsourced marketing.  Contact Debbie Andrews at Marketri today to schedule an hour consultation.