What does an outsourced marketing manager do?

If your business has grown beyond doing the marketing when someone has time, but you’re not ready to employ a full-time marketing manager, there’s a gap that needs filling.

You might have a website, send the occasional email, post on social media and use different suppliers for design, print or digital marketing. There’s plenty happening, but no one is really responsible for looking at the whole picture and keeping it moving in the right direction.

That’s where an outsourced marketing manager can help.

An outsourced marketing manager takes responsibility for planning, coordinating and managing your marketing, without becoming a full-time employee. They help decide what needs to be done, organise the people and resources to do it, and make sure your marketing actually happens.

What is an outsourced marketing manager?

An outsourced marketing manager works with your business on an ongoing basis to manage the marketing functions in your business.

Think of them as your marketing manager, just not sitting in your office five days a week. They’re there for the hours you need to get the job done.

Rather than waiting for you to hand over individual tasks, they get to understand your business, your clients and where you’re heading. From there, they can identify what your marketing needs to focus on and take responsibility for moving it forward.

For an established business without an internal marketing team, this can provide much of the strategy, direction and coordination you’d expect from an in-house marketing manager, without needing to create a full-time role.

What does an outsourced marketing manager actually do?

The exact role will depend on the business. You might already have some good marketing foundations in place, or you might need to step back and work out where the gaps are first.

Typically, an outsourced marketing manager can:

• understand your business, clients and goals.
• review your existing marketing.
• identify priorities, gaps and opportunities.
• develop or refine your marketing plan.
• coordinate activity across your website, email, social media, print and other channels.
• create content or manage the people who create it.
• keep your branding and messaging consistent.
• organise external suppliers and marketing projects.
• maintain a regular marketing rhythm.
• review what's working and what needs adjusting.
• bring new ideas and opportunities to the business.

The important difference is ownership.

You’re not simply paying someone to complete a list of marketing jobs. You have someone thinking about what needs to happen next and taking responsibility for keeping it on track.

That matters when the reason your marketing isn't happening isn't a lack of ideas. It's a lack of time, direction and someone to drive it.

How is an outsourced marketing manager different from a marketing consultant?

There can be some overlap between the two roles, but the biggest difference is usually what happens after the advice has been given.

A marketing consultant may review your marketing, develop a strategy and recommend what your business should do next. Then you or your team then take responsibility for implementing those recommendations.

An outsourced, (fractional or virtual) marketing manager is generally more involved in the ongoing implementation.

They might develop the strategy, but they'll also help turn it into a practical plan, coordinate the work, manage suppliers, keep projects moving and review progress.

If you already have people internally who can execute your marketing but need strategic direction, a consultant may be enough.

If you need someone to provide direction and make sure the work happens, an outsourced marketing manager may be a better fit.

What about hiring freelancers or a marketing agency?

Again, it's not necessarily an either/or decision.

Freelancers can be a great option when you know what you need. You might hire a copywriter for your website, a designer for a new brochure or a specialist to manage advertising.

An agency can provide access to a wider range of skills and services, particularly when you need specialist expertise or a larger volume of work.

But someone still needs to decide what work should be done, how the different pieces fit together and what takes priority.

That's the gap an outsourced marketing manager can fill.

They can also work with your existing freelancers, agencies and suppliers. Instead of you briefing and coordinating everyone individually, your marketing manager can help keep the different parts of your marketing aligned.

When does outsourcing your marketing make sense?

There isn't a particular business size or turnover where you suddenly need a marketing manager.

A better indicator is what's happening inside the business.

You may be ready to outsource your marketing when:

• marketing regularly gets pushed down the priority list.
• different people are doing different things, but there's no overall coordination.
• you're relying heavily on referrals and want to develop a more consistent marketing presence.
• your business has grown, but your marketing hasn't kept up.
• you have plenty of ideas but struggle to turn them into consistent action.
• the business owner is still making every marketing decision.
• you're managing multiple marketing suppliers yourself.
• you know you need more strategic direction, but don't need a full-time marketing employee.

At this stage, the problem often isn't that the business is doing no marketing. It's that the marketing has become fragmented or reactive.

Moving from DIY marketing to managed marketing creates more structure around it.

Does outsourcing mean you can completely hand over your marketing?

Not quite, and nor should it.

Your marketing manager can take much of the day-to-day responsibility off your plate, but good marketing still needs input from the people who know the business best.

You know your clients, your industry, your expertise and what's happening inside the business. There will still be times when your marketing manager needs information, feedback or approval from you.

The difference is that you no longer have to drive the process.

Instead of thinking, "We haven't sent an email for three months, we really should do something about that", there's already a plan and someone responsible for keeping it moving.

You stay involved where your knowledge and decisions matter, without having to manage every marketing task yourself.

Do you need an outsourced or full-time marketing manager?

For some businesses, employing an in-house marketing manager is absolutely the right next step. If there's enough ongoing work to justify a dedicated role and you want that expertise permanently within the team, employment may make sense.

But not every business needs 40 hours of marketing management each week.

Outsourcing can give you access to experienced marketing support at the level your business currently needs. It can also be useful when you need someone who can move between strategy, planning, coordination and practical execution rather than filling a narrowly defined role.

The question isn't simply, "Do we need a marketing manager?"

It's "Does our marketing need someone to take ownership of it?"

If the answer is yes, outsourcing may be the more practical way to get that support.

What should you look for in an outsourced marketing manager?

Start with the role you actually need them to play.

If your main problem is that you need someone to complete specific marketing tasks, a freelancer, agency or specialist may be enough.

If you need someone to look across the business, establish priorities, create a plan and coordinate the work, look for someone who combines strategic thinking with practical execution.

They should also be comfortable working collaboratively. Outsourced marketing works best when your marketing manager can bring structure, ideas and momentum while drawing on the knowledge that already exists within your business.

Most importantly, you should be clear about who is responsible for what. Good outsourcing reduces the amount of marketing you have to manage. It shouldn't create another supplier you need to constantly manage.

Moving from DIY marketing to managed marketing

There often comes a point where DIY marketing has taken a business as far as it reasonably can.

That doesn't mean you need to build an internal marketing department.

An outsourced marketing manager can give your business someone who takes ownership of the marketing, plans what needs to happen, coordinates the work and makes sure it gets done.

You still bring the business knowledge, feedback and approvals. But you no longer need to be the person remembering, organising and driving everything.

If your marketing is being neglected because no one has the time or responsibility to manage it, take a look at TG Design's Growth Marketing service. Or get in touch for an initial conversation about what outsourced marketing support could look like for your business.

Frequently asked questions

Is an outsourced marketing manager the same as a fractional or virtual marketing manager?

The terms are often used in similar ways. Both generally describe an experienced marketing professional working with a business on a part-time or flexible basis rather than as a full-time employee.

The exact scope matters more than the job title. Some fractional marketing roles focus primarily on leadership and strategy, while an outsourced marketing manager may also coordinate and manage practical marketing activity. It's worth checking exactly what's included.

How many hours does an outsourced marketing manager work?

It depends on the needs of the business and the scope of the role. Some businesses need a relatively small amount of ongoing strategic and coordination support, while others need more active management and execution.

The advantage of outsourcing is that the level of support can be matched more closely to what the business actually requires.

Can an outsourced marketing manager work with our existing suppliers?

Yes. In fact, coordinating existing suppliers can be an important part of the role. Your outsourced marketing manager may work with your web developer, designer, copywriter, digital agency, printer or other specialists to keep projects aligned with the wider marketing plan.

What should I outsource first in my marketing?

Start by identifying where marketing is currently getting stuck. If you know exactly what needs doing and simply lack the skills or capacity to complete it, outsourcing an individual task may be enough.

If you're struggling to decide what to prioritise, coordinate different activities or maintain consistency, you may need marketing management rather than another individual supplier.

Book a call and let’s talk about getting your marketing sorted.