So your startup has decided that an accelerator is going to help your company grow. You’ve done your research, filled out the application, and congratulations! You’re accepted. Now the work begins. While most startups join an accelerator for the financial backing, many programs also offer incredible networking opportunities with like-minded peers as well as mentorship from key industry leaders. However, getting the most out of an accelerator does require a significant amount of time and effort from your team. Often, there just aren’t enough hours in the day to stay on course with the development of your product, attending the inspiring events, and then implementing all of the ideas and feedback you’re receiving on a daily basis. To avoid being pulled in too many different directions and wasting your valuable time during the few months you have in an accelerator, outsourcing some of the day-to-day tasks, especially when it comes to marketing tasks such as writing content and managing social media, is a great way to lighten your team’s workload so you can focus on actually growing your company. So for startups taking the plunge and joining an accelerator, here are six benefits of outsourcing your digital marketing tasks while you’re going through the program. 1. SAVE $$$ As an early-stage startup, you probably can’t afford to hire a full-time marketer. Not to mention, the entire interviewing and recruiting process can waste a great deal of your team’s valuable time. By outsourcing your startup’s marketing tasks, you can often get the same amount (or more) work done by an entire team of marketing experts for the same price as hiring one person. Not only can you get the support of more than one person, but you also won’t have to worry about lengthy team discussions on whether or not an interviewee is a good fit for your team. You also won’t have to waste valuable time training a new full-time, in-house team member so that he or she is entirely up to speed on your product or service. Ultimately, if you’re trying to optimize your startup’s limited budget, outsourcing your marketing efforts can significantly reduce your overall operating costs. You’ll be able to scale your startup without worrying about scaling your in-house team and taking on the additional costs that come with hiring a new employee. 2. QUICKLY TURN INSPIRATION INTO ACTION When you enter an accelerator program, you’ll attend lots of events and hear from many mentors and industry leaders. There will be discussions on new trends, cutting edge technologies, strategies to use, business best practices, and an endless stream of valuable information to absorb. There’s no doubt you’re going to feel inspired to put a lot of these ideas into action. Unfortunately, too often startups in accelerator programs simply return to their desks without the capacity to turn all of these ideas into action. Outsourcing can give you a marketing team that can help you take all of these ideas and implement them quickly. 3. SAVE TIME Posting a single article on your company website can take much more time than you might think. It may require an hour or two to research and write the post, but it also requires formatting, designing images, proofreading, editing, and a distribution strategy to get eyes on your content after it’s been published. All of these tasks can be outsourced. The result: your team can save hours to focus on doing the things that you do best. Taking the marketing tasks off your plate will free up time to focus on perfecting your product with the incredible resources you’ll have available to you during the accelerator program. 4. ALL HANDS ON (THE PITCH) DECK Most accelerator programs host a demo day for startups to showcase their companies to prospective investors and the local startup community. Demo day is usually a day-long event featuring back-to-back pitches, usually between 3 to 5 minutes each. No matter which industry your product or service is for, it can be challenging to communicate so much information in such little time and truly make your mark during your pitch. With an outsourced marketing team, you’ll get the help of an entire team to make your pitch deck presentation perfect. Not only can these extra sets of hands assist in creating the content for your presentation and give you feedback before you present, but they can also help you organize the key metrics to include in your presentation about your target market and how you’re effectively reaching that target market. 5. SOCIAL CUSTOMER SERVICE = COVERED Social media and customer service have become entirely intertwined. It’s no longer an option to ignore comments or mentions of your company’s on social media channels. In fact, research shows that responding to a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy as much as while failing to respond can reduce customer advocacy by as much as 50%. 25% Your product or service is going to be far from perfect while you’re still in the early stages, so engaging with your audience on social media and answering all of their questions or concerns will be critical. By outsourcing your social media management, you can be certain every inquiry will receive a response. And while your outsourced team may not be able to answer every technical question, they will be able to direct your customers, or potential users, to the right support team member. 6. SHOW POTENTIAL INVESTORS YOU’RE SERIOUS When you find the right partner to help market your startup, you’ll quickly see just how much outsourcing can help you grow without the normal instabilities and setbacks startups often face during the acceleration phase. Potential investors will notice this too, and they’ll know that you’re serious about building a lean startup that allocates its team members’ time and resources wisely. Nowadays, implementing an active marketing strategy during the early stages of your company is required to stand out. However, it can be a daunting task to take on in-house in the early stages of your company, especially if you’re participating in an accelerator program. So before you consider delaying your marketing strategy, or hiring another full-time employee, consider outsourcing your startup’s marketing efforts. Outsourcing enables your team to focus on the things that are within your expertise, all while driving your startup forward with a solid plan to spread the word and capture your target audience. This article originally appeared on The Next Web .
