The 5 most Important Lessons I Learned in an Outsourced Marketing Agency

Communication

The founding principle of marketing is understanding the wants and needs of the consumer and developing a marketing strategy that accurately communicates a brand's message to the consumer. Similarly, within the office environment communication between employees is just as important.

As Marketing Eye operates as an outsourced marketing agency (the third party to perform marketing services) communication within the team helps to ensure an organised and coherent work environment across the different departments and levels of employees. Learning on the job is an expectation particularly when working with several clients on different tasks throughout the day. The questions I asked I found to be the most educating parts of my internship.

Similarly, I learnt the importance of communication between client and employee. The fluctuating goals and ideas of clients means often your first idea or draft will not be the final product. I’ve learnt that that is perfectly okay, if you maintain a regular line of communication with the client and work to fulfil their needs you will achieve success and a strengthened relationship.

The importance of a cohesive marketing strategy

I’ve heard throughout my time at university how important is to conduct market research, segment the market and devise a tailored marketing strategy to achieve success for a business. However, through my internship, I have been able to experience and understand this process in a real-life business scenario.

A well-defined marketing strategy serves as the building block for the operations carried out by a business. This requires a thorough understanding of the business's long-term goals, the industry, budget, and a variety of other factors. Working throughout my time on each stage of a marketing strategy provided me with valuable insight each team member holds in crafting together a final product that can help to optimise business performance. As well as the benefits of operating as an outsourced agency which creates a firm with vast experience across different sectors to best develop the most appropriate strategy for the business.

Efficiency is vital

In all things we do, our time is precious and this is certainly the case in a business as time is money. Throughout my internship at Marketing Eye, I was exposed to a wide range of technology, tools, and techniques that minimise time spent on tasks and promote efficiency.

We were constantly looking for ways to provide the highest quality content for clients through the most efficient means. Tools that help to automate the EDM process such as MailChimp or manage social media calendars such as Hootsuite serve as vital components to forming a well-versed marketing strategy.

The streamlining of internal marketing processes requires a great depth of self-examination and analysing the efficiency of current methods, particularly in an outsourced agency. All facets of marketing seek to improve efficiency whether it be for a client or within your agency. The key lesson I learned about efficiency is that you must put time and effort into creating a more productive environment and develop your marketing efforts around this.

Establish clear goals

The best thing to consolidate and execute a marketing strategy is with clear goals for the business in mind. A client should not only have established goals they wish to achieve from your marketing efforts but a metric that defines whether these goals have been achieved whether that be qualitative or quantitative. Goals can be flexible and mould to the ongoing environment and situation, but all actions you take must directly correlate back towards the client’s company vision.

Much like the rest of my experience interning, I found a lot of marketing principles I could adopt back into my own life. I established a clear set of goals I hoped to achieve from my internship and exceeded far beyond what I had initially deemed capable to achieve during my time at Marketing Eye. 

Figure out what you like and pursue it

The ultimate lesson I learnt during my time at Marketing Eye was who I am and not only the type of marketer I want to be, but who I as a person aspire to become. Interning at an outsourced agency provided me with a wide range of opportunities to engage with different industries and undertake different tasks for clients. I would strongly recommend any marketing students to spend time at a marketing consulting firm that has a wide cliental base to best develop their skills and gain valuable experience by interacting with a wide range of different businesses.

Ultimately, the three months I spent at an outsourced marketing agency provided me with a skill set that I know will be applicable throughout the rest of my career. I was exposed to a wide range of industries and businesses to which I had little or no knowledge before, which forced me to become more creative and well versed in my approach to marketing.

But moreover, I learned a lot about myself and my capabilities and the importance of being passionate about what you’re pursuing and working towards.