Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
The Irony of Outsourcing Growth
4 Plays10 months ago
In this episode, Ashley Monk discusses the paradox of outsourcing growth in marketing. She emphasizes that while agencies can assist in achieving growth, the core belief, ownership, and transformation must come from within the organization. The conversation explores the importance of clear expectations, the role of belief in driving growth, and the distinction between renting tactics and achieving true transformation. Ashley provides actionable strategies for organizations to effectively partner with agencies while maintaining ownership of their growth outcomes.
Takeaways
- You can't fully outsource growth; it requires internal belief.
- Partnerships thrive on clear expectations and outcomes.
- Belief in a vision is crucial for growth.
- Outsourcing ownership can lead to relinquishing outcomes.
- Tactics can be rented, but transformation is unique to the organization.
- Growth requires time, consistency, and monitoring.
- Understanding the 'why' behind growth goals is essential.
- Sharing outcomes with partners fosters collaboration.
- Creating reasonable expectations is key to successful partnerships.
- Growth is a journey that involves course correction and alignment.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Anya Mike Podcast
00:00:03
Speaker
Welcome to the Anya Mike podcast, a podcast where we discuss the ins and outs of marketing, running a business and tips and tricks the industry may just not be telling you, but we will.
00:00:14
Speaker
If you're looking for inspiration on exactly how to grow your business with ambition, innovation and confidence while creating maximum impact to influence your clients like never before, you're in the right place.
00:00:26
Speaker
Grab your AirPods, pen, paper, or laptop, and let's get on your mic.
00:00:31
Speaker
Get set and grow.
00:00:33
Speaker
And now, here's your host on the mic, CEO Ashley Monk.
Can Growth Be Outsourced?
00:00:43
Speaker
All right, everyone, I've got a really exciting episode that I've wanted to record for a long time, and it is on this topic that you can't outsource growth.
00:00:52
Speaker
And as a growth marketing agency, it kind of feels ironic sharing on this topic because when we partner with clients and organizations, we partner to help them grow.
00:01:02
Speaker
We help them exceed and create outcomes and do what even they couldn't imagine.
00:01:08
Speaker
And yet here I am behind the mic saying, actually, this isn't something you can fully outsource.
00:01:14
Speaker
Now it's interesting to me because I have been on both sides of this growth outcome as an agency owner and as a strategist and basically partnering with clients to help them achieve growth.
00:01:24
Speaker
Now that's the key word we'll come back to later, partnership.
00:01:28
Speaker
I've also been on the receiving end of hiring our own vendors from an accounting, from a coaching standpoint, from a branding standpoint to where, you
00:01:36
Speaker
What I have found sitting in both seats is that oftentimes we have expectations.
00:01:43
Speaker
Some cases we have known expectations and we know what we need to expect from our partners.
00:01:48
Speaker
Other times they're hidden.
00:01:50
Speaker
And I always find that the best outcomes, growth included, come from those known expectations.
00:01:56
Speaker
Because if we don't know what our criteria are, if we don't know where we're going and we don't know, and I want to be clear, I'm talking about outcomes, not tactic.
00:02:04
Speaker
And this is something whenever we partner with a client, we try to get so clear and so honed in on before we even start working together to make sure we're on the same page as the
Growth Journey: GPS Metaphor
00:02:13
Speaker
outcome.
00:02:13
Speaker
Because at the end of the day, if we, this is from the book, who not how, which is sitting behind me, great book.
00:02:19
Speaker
If we know where we're going and we know what the result is we're driving for and we are all in agreement, it should not matter how we get there.
00:02:27
Speaker
Even if you're like me, I kind of like to use the analogy like of the GPS.
00:02:30
Speaker
My husband and I always go back and forth on if we are a Google Maps family or if we are an Apple Maps family.
00:02:36
Speaker
And at the end of the day, if we're going to the same destination, we're going to the same destination.
00:02:39
Speaker
And we have partnered together to decide he's driving.
00:02:42
Speaker
I'm in the passenger seat, manning the kids.
00:02:45
Speaker
He, we are in agreement.
00:02:46
Speaker
We're going to the same place, but sometimes there's different routes.
00:02:49
Speaker
Now I might have a preference on stops that we bring up, but we're getting to the destination.
00:02:54
Speaker
And I have found that great partnerships are similar to where we are set on the destination.
00:02:59
Speaker
We know where we're going.
00:03:00
Speaker
There are going to be detours and we're going to have to course correct.
Outsourcing Limitations
00:03:03
Speaker
But if we have alignment in the expectations on how to get there and
00:03:06
Speaker
ownership pieces of who knows what, it's going to be so much easier, but you can't outsource it.
00:03:12
Speaker
You can't fully let go of growth.
00:03:15
Speaker
And I have found this, I have had failed expectations of others to where it's just unreasonable to expect a fractional partner to have the same time, passion, and go-getterness that I do as something.
00:03:27
Speaker
And I have found clients doing it to us to where
00:03:29
Speaker
They expect us to own everything.
00:03:31
Speaker
And that's just not possible.
00:03:33
Speaker
And we're going to talk about why it's not possible and what we can do to move forward to make sure that if we are driving for growth, we have a pathway to achieve it.
00:03:41
Speaker
So first reason number one on why we can't outsource growth.
00:03:46
Speaker
So reason number one, why can't we outsource growth?
00:03:49
Speaker
It's because you can't delegate belief.
00:03:52
Speaker
You can't delegate belief.
00:03:54
Speaker
I know for me, when I have believed something so firmly or been around somebody that does, there's just this conviction that rubs off.
00:04:01
Speaker
And I think this is really true in organizations where you've got a really strong or an active founder, but also for the marketing side where you've got a really strong VP of marketing, director of marketing, that is beating the drum.
00:04:12
Speaker
And that is the role of marketing in any organization.
00:04:15
Speaker
But when you have a vision and a belief, that's something that
00:04:18
Speaker
When you're outsourcing and you're relying on someone outside of your organization, that is so hard to translate, let alone to do it in a short period of time, like when you hire a marketing partner or even a new employee.
00:04:31
Speaker
If you are a marketing director, VP of marketing, and you hire a marketing coordinator, say, for one to two months, and you expect them to grow your social media account by 20K followers,
00:04:43
Speaker
Is that really a realistic expectation of someone that is getting oriented to the workplace that is trying to understand your mission and core values?
00:04:52
Speaker
Of course not.
00:04:53
Speaker
And yet we have this expectation all the time of people that we bring in, but at the end of the day, your belief and your vision of where you're going is what allows you to grow.
00:05:02
Speaker
And that is something that really over time and over a great relationship and a great partnership can be developed and can be cultivated, but it is not going to happen on day one, nor should we
00:05:12
Speaker
expect
Risks of Outsourcing Growth
00:05:13
Speaker
it to.
00:05:13
Speaker
Okay.
00:05:14
Speaker
Point number two, why you can't outsource growth.
00:05:18
Speaker
If you outsource ownership, you outsource outcomes.
00:05:21
Speaker
And while we want to be deriving for mutual outcomes, we can't fully release that.
00:05:27
Speaker
I'm here to tell you that as much as we would like to delegate, you can delegate tasks.
00:05:31
Speaker
You can delegate ownership to an extent.
00:05:33
Speaker
But we can't fully let go of the outcomes to someone else.
00:05:37
Speaker
Like if we have an organization and we're driving these goals and we are employed and we are tasked to do this, we can't fully release that.
00:05:46
Speaker
Now we can create ownership by both parties and create a series of expectations that are win-win.
00:05:50
Speaker
But when we outsource ownership, we are giving away the outcome to someone else.
00:05:55
Speaker
And that is just too risky for most of us to let go.
00:05:58
Speaker
If our outcomes are tied to where we are headed, where our vision is going, we cannot release that.
00:06:04
Speaker
So if you outsource ownership, you also outsource outcomes.
00:06:07
Speaker
And that is not okay.
00:06:10
Speaker
Finally, reason number three why you can't outsource growth is that you can rent tactics, but you can't rent transformation.
00:06:17
Speaker
Right?
00:06:17
Speaker
You can run tactics and that's what you're doing.
00:06:19
Speaker
When we partner, you can borrow them, you can use them, you can deploy them and they will work and work.
00:06:24
Speaker
But at the end of the day, the transformation is going to take time, consistency, repetition, monitoring, tweaking, and knowing what is going to work for you and not work.
00:06:33
Speaker
And that is mastery at any level.
00:06:35
Speaker
It's kind of like with cooking where you've got a recipe, you're borrowing the recipe, you're rinsing and repeating it, but you've got to marry it to your context and there has to be a bridge there.
00:06:43
Speaker
And that bridge is you.
Steps to Effective Partnerships
00:06:45
Speaker
So if we can't outsource growth, what can we do?
00:06:48
Speaker
How can we drive results?
00:06:49
Speaker
Because I do firmly, firmly believe that we can drive outcomes, but we need to have a partnership.
00:06:55
Speaker
So step one is know what the outcomes are.
00:06:58
Speaker
So often I hear marketing directors say, well, we want to grow our following or we want to post on social media.
00:07:05
Speaker
Why?
00:07:06
Speaker
is what I ask.
00:07:07
Speaker
Why?
00:07:08
Speaker
So it's like, we want to grow on social media.
00:07:10
Speaker
Why?
00:07:10
Speaker
I'll ask.
00:07:11
Speaker
And it's like, because we want to grow our followers.
00:07:12
Speaker
Why?
00:07:13
Speaker
And what I'm trying to do when I ask this question is what business outcome or what outcome for your organization does this drive?
00:07:19
Speaker
Is it tied to a core value?
00:07:21
Speaker
Do you really think followers are going to produce more sales for you that gets you to a revenue goal?
00:07:25
Speaker
Maybe, but oftentimes when I'm talking to certain organizations, social isn't the best way to do that.
00:07:31
Speaker
And let's take, for example,
00:07:34
Speaker
I don't know, a B2B tech company that wants to grow on social media, but they need to buy, they need to get demo users as fast as they can to try to hit a revenue goal or a revenue target.
00:07:48
Speaker
Well, social is probably not the fastest way to do that, nor are people really going on social media in all cases to grow tech.
00:07:53
Speaker
So followers, a good goal, but is that going to produce a 25% increase in revenue?
00:07:58
Speaker
No.
00:08:00
Speaker
Maybe, but maybe not.
00:08:01
Speaker
There might be better ways to get there.
00:08:03
Speaker
And so step one is have clear outcomes.
00:08:05
Speaker
Step two.
00:08:07
Speaker
Share them, share them.
00:08:08
Speaker
It's one thing to know them.
00:08:09
Speaker
It's another to share them and invite someone in the process to help you drive them.
00:08:14
Speaker
So share those.
00:08:15
Speaker
And then finally, create reasonable expectations and check and verify.
00:08:20
Speaker
You might have expectations in your head.
00:08:22
Speaker
And if you don't, they're probably there, but you need to unearth what they are so that you and your team can be on the same page and you need to share and validate that they're going to be reasonable.
00:08:31
Speaker
I find myself doing this anytime I bring in a new teammate, I bring on an employee, I bring on a new vendor.
00:08:39
Speaker
It's really important that even if I worked with another organization before that was doing, let's say my accounting, that I go in and I check with the new person to make sure, hey, is this going to be reasonable?
00:08:49
Speaker
Should we?
00:08:50
Speaker
Or even should we do it the same way?
00:08:51
Speaker
I know when we have transition, like we find better ways to do things and that's great.
00:08:55
Speaker
And we're still getting and exceeding the same outcome.
00:08:59
Speaker
So these are the reasons why you can't outsource your growth and what to do about it.
00:09:03
Speaker
I hope this was helpful for you.
00:09:05
Speaker
We'll see you next time.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:09:08
Speaker
Thanks for joining us this week on the Anya Mike podcast.
00:09:11
Speaker
We'd love to hear from you.
00:09:12
Speaker
Make sure to visit our website, anyamark.com, where you can subscribe and never miss a show.
00:09:18
Speaker
While you're at it, if you found value in this episode, be sure to drop us a five-star review on iTunes and share the show with a friend to help us to continue to influence more people to create maximum impact.
00:09:30
Speaker
Tune in for next week's episode, and we'll see you then.