Keep your brand vision sharp: Five things you shouldn’t outsource

Creating a brand is thrilling, but as you grow it’s easy to lose sight of your original vision. Whether from doubt, comparing yourself to other brands or lack of time, many entrepreneurs turn to outsourcing. Unfortunately, if not done right, this can waste valuable funds and dilute your brand voice.

Here are real-life tips for drowning out that doubt, and maintaining the authenticity of your original brand idea.

1. You don’t need to outsource your social media advertising

Social media is your unique bridge between your customers and your brand. If your brand has a unique point of difference, your voice and your views (or your close team) can communicate that best. Once you outsource, it’s very difficult to create that ‘unique’ connection with customers.

Taking charge of your social media advertising means you can share that personalised and meaningful communication with your target audience. Plus, it’s not hard to learn. There are countless free videos and articles out there to help you learn Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest ads. Yes, it takes time — but the return on investment is immeasurable.

Plus, Tik Tok is an exceptional free resource for any entrepreneur, and it’s the ultimate platform to learn how to make your own media.

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Facebook Blueprint is a free resource for marketing, online advertising and learning everything about advertising on Instagram and Facebook. Facebook Blueprint is available with your ad account on Facebook; plus, they assign an account manager to support you for free. 

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2. You don’t need to outsource your Google Ads

As a business owner, you’ve likely been targeted by firms offering to manage your advertising via emails, DMS and even LinkedIn messages. They’re incredibly expensive, and the returns they promise are poor.

For example: say one of these companies guarantees 300% returns. That means for every $1 you spend, they’ll guarantee $3 of customer spend. Bear in mind they don’t calculate their fees in this equation, and that you are also paying for your ad spend.

If you have a small business, that’s a really poor return, and it can’t sustain your business with all the overhead costs. If you don’t see a return, your Google Ad company has probably suggested you discount your products too far, diminishing your business profitability and product value. 

Instead, build this capability yourself. Learn how to do your own Google ads and you will get far greater returns on your investment. If you have an e-commerce platform like Shopify, Big Commerce, Woocommerce or Squarespace, you’ll find they make it easy to install Google Shopping on your store. Plus, they offer free online support if you get stuck during the installation process. 

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If you use Google Ads, you get free product listings too. Google Ads accounts are fully supported with online chat to help with any issue you might have. Additionally, Google also offers more than 150 accredited courses in the Google Digital Garage for free. You can also check out this SmartCompany Plus piece on how to improve your ROI on Google Ads.

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3. Understand how to interpret analytics before outsourcing anything

Delegation and outsourcing can be really useful for certain aspects of your business, but it can also be a huge risk. Many companies will promise the world, and if you’re not careful, you won’t notice the results ever actualised.

Solidify as much knowledge as possible to minimise your risk of getting ripped off. Understand your current position, agree on the indicators that will be used to gauge performance, and compare the ‘before’ and ‘after’ statistics. Here are some tips to protect your business:

• Back up all your data, including your entire website, photos, product descriptions, structure and layout;
• Discuss expectations before hiring, and get everything in writing;
• Request a written detailed proposal that outlines who is responsible, what works will be completed, the date for each activity, and when you’ll receive the deliverables — essentially, a program schedule;
• This should go without saying, but never give anyone the admin password to your website, especially an e-commerce website; 
• The SEO world is rife with scammers. Tread with caution when hiring ‘SEO Professionals.’ If you do, during the project I recommend viewing the user activity logs to ensure the work schedule you agreed on is actually being completed; and
• Read the fine print on exit clauses; if you don’t like the termination conditions, ask for them to be changed.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of outsourcing and trusting someone else to take over business tasks completely. Unfortunately, this puts you at risk of being scammed. When you understand your analytics, you can discuss them with these companies and professionals, and ensure your numbers improve. Unfortunately, if you do get ripped off and the results were never achieved, there are little avenues for recourse. This is a cost and concern you don’t need as a business owner.

4. Stay true to your authentic vision despite the competition

When you started your brand, you had a small following and you were probably really confident in sharing your voice through your posts, right? Now your brand has grown, you have probably started to look at other brands in your niche and tried to emulate them. This is where that voice of doubt that plagues most entrepreneurs can ruin your authenticity. 

Instead of wanting to be the biggest brand, especially if that was never your initial goal, step back. By developing yourself and learning skills you may otherwise outsource, you’re helping your authenticity shine through multiple avenues. 

Your customers will notice this too. When you respond to their queries on social, and you (or your small team) write the ads; your unique voice becomes synonymous with your brand. You may find you don’t have as many followers as the big brands, but your customer base will be more engaged and loyal, which means more sales. Emulating the competition dilutes your authenticity.

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By engaging with your customers directly you better understand what they want and need, which will fuel your communication and product development strategies. Your customers will love being part of the journey and it really alleviates the stress around new product releases.

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5. Drop shipping isn’t an authentic way to connect with customers

While it may work for some companies, if you have a meaningful brand, drop shipping is the enemy of authenticity. In reality, dropshipping is nothing more than a logo. You’ve given away control of all the elements that make your brand ‘special.’ Someone else manages your products, inventory and customer experience. This doesn’t build an authentic voice and can absolutely dilute your brand, diminishing your product value in the eyes of your customers.

Building your brand authentically can be tough in today’s competitive marketplace. Stopping to consider what your brand voice should be will allow you to create an authentic and loyal customer base. Let them see your passion, and they’ll love you and your brand for it.

Remember, the most valuable and truly unique selling proposition is you. Embrace it.