How to Solve a Marketing Resource Gap in Your Organisation

Marketing is a critical function for any business. It helps you attract new customers, retain existing ones, and drive revenue growth. However, many businesses struggle with a marketing resource gap. This gap occurs when the business does not have enough marketing resources, such as staff or budget, to execute a comprehensive marketing plan.

If you’re experiencing a marketing resource gap in your organisation, there are several strategies you can use to solve it.

Hire New Marketing Staff

One of the most direct ways to solve a marketing resource gap is to hire new marketing staff. This could include hiring a marketing manager, a social media specialist, a content marketer, or other marketing professionals. When hiring new staff, it’s important to look for candidates with the skills and experience needed to fill the gap in your marketing resources.

Before hiring new staff, you should evaluate your budget to ensure that you can afford the new hires. You should also consider the long-term benefits of hiring new marketing staff. For example, if you hire a social media specialist, you may be able to increase your social media engagement and drive more traffic to your website.

Outsource Marketing Tasks

If you’re unable to hire new marketing staff, you can outsource specific marketing tasks to freelancers or marketing agencies. This could include outsourcing social media management, content creation, or advertising campaigns.

Outsourcing can be a cost-effective solution because you only pay for the services you need. It also allows you to access specialised expertise that may be difficult to find in-house.

However, outsourcing requires careful planning and management to ensure that the work is completed to a high standard and aligned with your marketing goals.

Assess if your business should hire a virtual marketing manager.

Use Marketing Automation Tools

Marketing automation tools can help businesses streamline their marketing efforts and reduce the need for additional resources. These tools can automate tasks such as email marketing, lead generation, and social media scheduling.

Marketing automation tools can save time and improve the efficiency of your marketing efforts. They can also provide valuable insights into your audience’s behaviour and help you optimize your marketing strategy. However, marketing automation tools require an initial investment and ongoing maintenance to ensure that they continue to deliver results.

Cross-Train Existing Staff

If you’re unable to hire new marketing staff or outsource marketing tasks, you can cross-train your existing staff to fill the marketing resource gap. For example, employees with strong writing skills could be trained to create content for your business’s blog or social media channels.

Cross-training can be a cost-effective solution because it utilizes existing staff and does not require an additional budget. It also allows you to develop new skills within your organization and improve employee satisfaction. However, cross-training requires careful planning and management to ensure that the training is effective and that the work is completed to a high standard.

Prioritise Marketing Efforts

Finally, businesses can prioritise their marketing efforts and focus on the most important tasks. This can help them make the most of their existing resources and ensure that they are using their marketing budget effectively.

To prioritise your marketing efforts, you should evaluate your marketing goals and identify the tasks that will have the biggest impact on achieving those goals. You should also evaluate your budget and allocate resources to the tasks that will deliver the best return on investment. Prioritizing your marketing efforts can help you make the most of your existing resources and ensure that you’re focusing on the tasks that matter most.

How we can help

Generate UK offers a virtual marketing manager service to help you achieve your marketing goals without the need for an in-house marketing team.

We offer part-time UK-based digital marketing managers capable of handling all your day-to-day digital marketing. We can also provide specialists in PPC or SEO. We currently support many businesses, from SMEs to multinationals – all in the B2B space. 

All our team can also access the wider Generate UK skill set, including strategy, design, copywriting and technology, as and when needed. This gives you everything you would get from hiring in-house with the added benefit of: 

• Access to a wide range of marketing talent without any salary, NI or tax fees to consider.
• A broader skill set of specialists to tap into 
• Access to technologies and marketing tools your business may not be willing to invest in.
• No recruitment, training, managing or time off, reducing the impact on your business.
• Ability to be flexible in utilising specific resources as required.
• You can scale with your requirements if greater time is required rather than commit to further internal personnel.
• Can offer fresh perspectives and unbiased feedback, as they’re not ingrained in day-to-day activities and have wide experience.

We will work closely with businesses to understand their unique needs and develop a bespoke marketing plan that aligns with your goals and budget.

Our virtual marketing managers can help with various marketing activities, such as creating and implementing digital marketing campaigns, managing social media accounts, conducting market research, analysing data, and providing regular progress reports to help businesses stay on track.

We pride ourselves on the flexibility and scalability of our virtual marketing manager service. Whether businesses need a one-time marketing campaign or ongoing marketing support, our team can work on a project-by-project basis or on a flexible schedule. This allows businesses to scale their marketing efforts up or down as needed and stay agile in a dynamic market.

We understand that communication is key to a successful virtual marketing manager service. We utilise effective communication and collaboration tools, ensuring that you are always in touch with your virtual marketing manager and up-to-date with your marketing campaigns’ progress.