Marketing Business Process Outsourcing (BPO): An Overview

Lots of people dream of starting their own business. But one thing not everyone thinks about is just how much work it can be to run that business. You know this firsthand from your experience with your company. There are so many tasks you have to get done every day, and it can quickly become overwhelming.

That’s why a lot of companies opt to outsource certain tasks to other companies. One of the most common areas of business where this happens is marketing. That’s why marketing business process outsourcing (BPO) is an increasingly popular practice. But what is BPO, exactly?

That’s what we’ll discuss on this page, so keep reading to learn more. In total, we’ll cover the following topics:

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What is BPO?

Business process outsourcing, or BPO, refers to a system where companies outsource specific business tasks and processes to other companies that specialize in those areas. This approach is very common in areas like customer service — a company might outsource their customer support to a call center rather than handle it themselves.

In the context of marketing, specifically, BPO involves outsourcing some (or all) of your marketing strategies to an external agency. The agency will handle all the work of running your campaigns, rather than you having to manage it yourself.

Types of digital marketing BPO

There are three major types of marketing business process outsourcing, which are defined by which sort of company you outsource to. Those three types are:

1. Offshore BPO
2. Nearshore BPO
3. Onshore BPO

Read on to learn about each one.

1. Offshore BPO

Offshore BPO happens when you outsource your marketing to a company in another country, particularly if that country is on another continent. The reason you might do this is that it can sometimes be cheaper due to different tax rates in other countries.

That said, offshore BPO isn’t often a good idea for something like marketing, which you use to directly communicate with your audience. Have you ever encountered customer service that was incredibly unhelpful because of a language barrier due to it being outsourced to a foreign country? The same issue crops up with marketing.

Even if there’s not a language barrier, there may be a cultural barrier. That’s a huge problem for marketing, which requires intricate knowledge of your audience. Of course, it might be that your target audience actually lives in another country. In that case, using an offshore agency (one from that country) could be a benefit.

2. Nearshore BPO

Nearshore BPO also involves outsourcing to agencies in other countries. However, as the name implies, nearshore BPO occurs in nearby countries — mainly countries that directly border your own.

This is a good middle ground between the other two types of BPO, since it can still be cheaper, but also keeps your marketing a bit closer to home. Of course, depending on what countries are next to yours, this approach can still fall prey to some of the same problems that plague offshore BPO.

3. Onshore BPO

Finally, we have onshore BPO. As you can no doubt guess, this type of BPO involves outsourcing to agencies in your own country. Depending on where you live, this may be a bit more expensive. But if it’s within your budget, it can be a worthwhile investment — you get what you pay for with BPO.

Onshore agencies don’t come with the same issues as offshore or nearshore ones. There’s no language barrier, and they share the same national culture as you, so there’s not as much reason to worry that they won’t understand your audience.

Ultimately, though, which type of BPO company you choose comes down to your budget and your unique marketing needs.

Pros of marketing BPO

You may be wondering what the benefit is of using digital marketing BPO. As it happens, there are several reasons to invest in BPO. Those reasons include:

• It saves time: When you outsource your marketing, you no longer have to fit it into your schedule. As a result, you have a lot more time to work on other areas of your business.
• Your marketing gets more attention: If you tried to do your marketing yourself, you’d only be able to spare so much time for it. But an outsourced team can give it their full attention.
• You gain access to years of expertise: Unless you’re a marketing genius, a professional agency probably knows more about marketing. That means your campaigns are in more experienced hands when you outsource them.

Cons of marketing BPO

Marketing BPO isn’t necessarily the right choice for every company. There are some potential downsides that may lead certain companies to reconsider. Those downsides include:

• It costs money: This is an obvious one — outsourcing to an agency requires you to pay that agency for their services. Of course, it’s worth noting that it costs money to hire an in-house team, too (sometimes a lot more).
• It can be less secure: You may have security concerns over handing an external agency your business data, and with many agencies, you’d be right to. That said, if you choose a trustworthy agency, you have nothing to worry about.
• Communication can be trickier: It’s a lot easier to communicate with an in-house team, where you can just walk over to someone’s desk to talk to them. By contrast, some agencies are harder to reach. Fortunately, a good agency will be very communicative.

How to decide if marketing BPO is right for you

Based on the pros and cons listed above, you might be struggling to figure out if digital BPO is the best route for your business. The answer to that depends entirely on your unique budget and needs.

Consider what it would take to do your marketing in-house. Think about the time and money you would have to commit to that. Then do the same with an agency, and figure out which one is more feasible for you.

If you have tons of time to spend on your marketing, and you’re willing to pay for an in-house team, then you may not need marketing BPO. But BPO may be the better option if you:

• Don’t have a lot of time for your marketing
• Find that an in-house team is more expensive than an agency
• Want your marketing in more experienced hands

Ultimately, you’ll have to consider a variety of factors to decide what’s best for you. But a lot of companies have found great success with marketing BPO, so if that looks like a good option for you, it’s definitely worth pursuing.

WebFX is the perfect digital marketing BPO company for your needs

Are you looking for an agency to outsource your marketing to? Look no further than WebFX. We’re a full-service digital marketing agency with over 28 years of experience driving revenue for our clients through successful campaigns. When we say “full-service,” we mean that we offer a variety of marketing strategies, including:

That means that if you want to outsource multiple areas of your marketing, we can handle all of them.

When you come to us for your digital marketing BPO, you’ll not only gain access to our vast marketing expertise, but you’ll also get to use MarketingCloudFX, our proprietary marketing software. MarketingCloudFX includes 20+ features that help you with everything from tracking ROI to personalizing campaigns to automating your email marketing. 

Interested in partnering with us, or just in learning more about our services? Give us a call at 888-601-5359 or contact us online today!