Is it Worth to Outsource the Marketing of Your Private Practice?

Are you thinking about outsourcing your private practice marketing?

Marketing can be thought of as easy - “As long as I remember to post something on my Facebook page every now and then, my phone should start ringing”.  Unfortunately, that's not really the case.  Marketing requires experience, strategic skills, creativity, and a lot of time.  If you're finding yourself short in these areas, then the answer to whether you should consider marketing outsourcing is a resounding "YES".  In this article, we'll through some of the go reasons it might be worth to outsource the marketing of your private practice.

What is marketing and should you hire or outsource?

At its most basic definition, the task of marketing is to attract new customers and to retain them.   It's therefore considered as a long-term and targeted investment into the company's growth, ensuring both the acquisition of new customers and the retention of existing customers.  Question is, how does a private practice invest in its marketing functions if time, resources, and marketing expertise are limited?  Many private practices are looking for that one perfect employee who has the full array of marketing skills in their possession. Unfortunately, few find what they are looking for.  Often, a better option is to outsource marketing to a knowledgeable partner who is able to provide the company with reliable marketing services.

Why hiring an outsourced marketing agency is better than hiring an employee

Think of all the marketing functions that you need help with. Put the routine things on one end (eg. updating mailing lists, making website content updates), and the challenging and complex at the other (eg. Google Ads management, technical SEO, programming a form). Many of these skills require several backgrounds, and so a person who could do it all successfully simply doesn't exist.  Even if you found this marketing employee for your business, it’s would be very expensive and you only have the expertise and vision of one person at your disposal. If you choose to outsource to a marketing agency instead, you will have access to a team of professionals whose expertise covers a wide range of different areas of marketing. All these skills can be bought for much less than hiring one person and don't require additional expenses on behalf of the employer, like employment insurance or CPP contributions, or payroll management.

Here are several other great reasons to outsource your private practice marketing:

• You can focus on your  core business
• You will have access to a complete marketing team, whose expertise in different areas can be used as needed
• You save on costs because you only invest in the work being done - why pay a salary instead?
• You will gain new ideas and outside insights into your marketing strategy and marketing budgeting
• Get access to the latest marketing and advertising technologies
• Your marketing will be taken care of while you are on vacation
• You reduce financial risks and you don’t have to train your staff

Helping hands also bring peace of mind as things move forward with more resources.  You can’t complete, focus, and prioritize the whole world at once. Remember that marketing your private practice takes your time, and outsourcing it will free it up to focus on other important areas in your business, and in your life.

Marketing outsourcing is something to be done as a partnership

Marketing outsourcing does not mean that the marketing function could be outsourced and you forget about it.  The term "outsourced" is misleading, because marketing, even when done externally, is a partnership between the client and the external marketing agency.  Both share common goals and a common desire to grow their business.  Ideally, this partnership is a thoughtful, planned, and often long-term partnership with a carefully selected party.  Both parties need to keep motivated to succeed together.

Not everything in marketing can be outsourced.  A strategic marketing partner can be retained, but some responsibilities still remain with the client, whether it is one person practitioner or an entire practitioner team. A marketing partner can support, focus on the right things, and ask the right questions, but it's the client's job to make timely approvals and be accessible to prompt communication and questions.

Price is rarely the best indicator of whether an outsourced marketing partner is a good fit

If the marketing agency cost is the only thing being considered, the decision is being guided by the wrong things. The most expensive is not automatically the best, while the cheapest is frequently a "you get what you pay for", or worse.  So look at the price, but make sure that your marketing partner is compatible with your private practice and your goals, that you like them (after all, you'll be working with them on a regular basis!), that you feel a sense of commonality, and that you're comparing apples to apples when examining the marketing agency services and quotes.  What looks good initially may come with many caveats and hidden fees.

Outsourced marketing for private practices, in summary

Marketing is demanding, time-consuming and strategic. In many cases, private practitioners do not have time to invest fully in marketing because running the practice itself takes a lot of time.  It's often a good idea to outsource all or at least part of their marketing.  If you think you're ready to take this step, we invite you to have a look at our outsourced marketing services for private practitioners.  Our team is ready to assist with all of your marketing tasks, whether you're in Canada or the U.S. Curious if our outsourced marketing services would be a good fit? Contact us.