Top 4 Signs You Need to Outsource Creative Services

It's said that creative teams "have to wear a lot of hats"... and that's certainly one business truism that's proven to actually be true. That's partly because the cluster of services under the umbrella of "creative services" resembles a hydra with hundreds of heads, and businesses need a hat to cover every single one of them. Read on to learn about the abundantly clear signs you need to outsource your creative services.

"Creative services" encompasses a lot: creating print and out-of-home advertising, or microsite, website and graphic design. Add in anything having to do with brand identity – logo design, social media graphics and videos, reputation management and even SEO – and you've got a haberdashery on your hands.

Finding a BPO to shoulder at least some portion of this workload just makes sense, and most businesses are already outsourcing creative services in some form another. That's because while it would be fantastic to have an expert for each and every creative service your company needs or offers its clients, few organizations could realistically handle the expense and logistics of such a thing.

Businesses contract with graphic designers, copywriters, web developers and videographers all the time to support in-house teams. Outsourcing with a BPO simply takes that common practice a step further – and offshore. It's the closest thing you can get to making the fantasy of a powerful team of expert talent on-hand a reality.

More: Outsourcing Vs. Offshoring Vs. Nearshoring: What's The Difference?

Here's what to look for if you've been wondering if the time is right to outsource creative services:

1. You Need to Cut Costs

2. Your Company Is Growing

3. You Need to Increase Production

4. Your Internal Team Is Overwhelmed

You Need to Cut Costs

One of the biggest reasons that creative companies choose to outsource is that they need to cut costs to remain competitive. Digital marketing and the creative infrastructure that keeps it running – websites, digital advertising and the like – is here to stay. With the decline of the print industry, rising competition and an innovation cycle that only gets faster, making sure that your dollars are flowing in the right direction is critical.

That's true more now than ever before. In a time where it's critical to contain costs with a strategic resource allocation plan, outsourcing creative services reduce your usual spend significantly without sacrificing quality or derailing your relationships with clients. The savings you'll see – often ranging from 50-75 percent – can be used for reinvestment. Put them toward growth opportunities, new technologies and the facets of your business that add serious value.

Your Company is Growing Beyond Just Creative Services

Whether it’s acquisitions, mergers or organic growth, when your company expands, so do your needs. As a senior leader, this means hiring more designers and shouldering a heavier workload.

This is an excellent example of the perfect time to outsource.

By allowing a BPO to hire, train and retain qualified talent at a time that you'd normally be navigating that anyway, you can focus your time and efforts into areas where they're needed most.

Read More: Scaling Quickly: How To Build Back Office Teams Fast

For instance, during periods of heavy growth, it's imperative to hone your focus on your clients. They are, after all, how you get to where you are! Don't allow yourself to get bogged down with tasks that can successfully and easily be delegated when your focus should be on innovation in customer experience.

You Need to Increase Production

Another great time to outsource creative services is when your workload increases. Maybe you're faced with the prospect of handling more work in the wake of a client's growth or because you've recently welcomed more clients aboard.

Trying to do twice the work (or more!) with the same amount of resources you need to maintain your current output rarely works. You risk making mistakes and missing deadlines needlessly. At the same time, without the infrastructure in place and support waiting in the wings to handle the influx, getting enough boots on the ground can prove to be extremely challenging. When it becomes necessary to rapidly increase production, you need a nimble, scalable solution.

Listen: The Reality of Doing More With Less [PODCAST]

This is what a reputable creative services BPO provider does best: they find, train and effectively manage the qualified talent you need at an average of 50 percent of your current costs. While they do, you can return your attention to what you do best, seamlessly and at scale.

What's more, the kind of talent that seasoned BPO providers can supply is on par or even better than what your local market can offer. With the right partner, "seamless" doesn't just refer to uninterrupted output. It also means uninterrupted quality. One of our clients, Lamar Graphics, stresses the importance of consistency when it comes to aesthetics and output:

Your Internal Team is Overwhelmed and Headed for Burnout = The Right Time to Outsource Creative Services

You have a marvelous team in place, but they are overwhelmed, overworked and generally stressed. Productivity can't thrive in an atmosphere like that, let alone creativity. One study in 2017 found that the average manager loses a day a week to digital correspondence and two more to meetings. Even the most engaged, loyal employee on the payroll can't do it all, all of the time. Overcrowding their plate will only demonstrate that loyalty and employee engagement have real limits.

When burnout takes hold, the costs are high. Attrition and error rates – along with their respective price tags – skyrocket, while productivity and morale plummet. It creates a negative feedback loop that costs much more than outsourcing creative services ever could. Outsourcing gives your team the help they need to succeed, the time to think creatively and the freedom to focus on what matters.

There's never been a better time to leverage offshore support, either. The global labor force is rapidly shifting to remote work, so adding resources to lessen the load looks much the same as it would if you were exploring a freelance, full-time or firm-fulfilled solution.

The difference here is a significantly lower price point.

At Personiv, we've spent more than 35 years creating solutions to challenges just like these. We have a proven track record of outsourcing creative services for clients with custom solutions that deliver quality, efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

If you're exploring outsourced creative, we'd love to help. Take a look at our white paper, Creative Services Outsourcing: Is It Right For Your Business? Or get in touch with one of our creative services outsourcing experts today.