According to Forbes, with the economy in general under intense pressure, marketers can expect a familiar litany of constraints this year; tighter budgets, more urgency, greater demand for measurability and accountability. They will need, says Forbes, ‘more support from their partners and platforms’ to produce positive outcomes and deliver that accountability.
While there is a wide disparity in levels of optimism for what 2023 will bring the industry – particularly among B2B marketers – there is no doubt that agile and cost-effective solutions are going to be needed to weather the storm. While simply cutting marketing budgets may look like a viable “quick fix,” can you risk being even less visible in such a saturated marketplace? New content-production frameworks are going to have to be implemented if marketers are to navigate an uncertain landscape successfully.
Different models to address new challenges
There are, of course, pros and cons to the different models of content creation. In-house production offers deep customer knowledge, tight relationships with clients and cost savings over agencies. It’s a trusted model – according to the World Federation of Advertisers, 80% of advertisers have an in-house agency offering – but it’s difficult to scale quickly, and in-house teams can’t be available 24 hours a day.
Offshoring offers that 24/7 availability and rapid scaling. The key to success is the right offshoring partner; excellent communication and local project management are critical to maintaining quality and understanding of your own or your clients’ brands. You have to know you can trust your offshore partners when offshoring production, but when done right it’s an extremely attractive model that’s grown hugely in recent years; already 20% of all production spend is being managed offshore.
That growth has come about partly because leaving content production to external agencies carries significant budgetary consequences. When you’re looking to scale Tier 3 and Tier 4 content production, the costs involved can make it unworkable, and how do you measure ROI on agency spend? Once you’re past the point of producing original creative work, this model can be difficult to justify in straitened economic times.
The most effective solution to keep up with the current industry challenges will blend the best of each model to provide a competitive edge. Smartshoring® offers the positives of all these models without the negatives: speed; scale; constant availability; cost savings; local-market talent and management; and rigorous quality control.
The Smartshoring® model also has a proven capacity to work alongside your own teams to maintain the consistency and turnaround speed you need to drive growth. It places content production in the hands of proven talent, with local, culturally sympathetic managers in place to ensure industry best practices from brief to delivery, retaining the quality you expect in your work.
Creative Operations London 2023
Retention of quality and industry best practices will be on the agenda on March 10th, as Europe’s leading creative ops event – co-sponsored by We Are Amnet – brings sector experts and thought leaders together in a deep dive into the hot topics dominating an evolving industry. Creative Operations London 2023 is a chance to network with industry peers, talk about content production and a host of other topics from the front lines of the discipline.
David Pritchard, Managing Director EMEA of We Are Amnet, will speak at the event. With over 20 years of experience in the creative production space, he’ll address the different commercial models available for content production, explore emerging trends in the marketing ecosystem, and look at the future of offshoring, among other matters.
If you’re looking for production solutions that will keep up with the demand for content and stand up to the pressures the industry finds itself under, Creative Operations London 2023 is an essential event. Register now to secure your place.
To see how We Are Amnet can help you stay competitive in such a challenging ecosystem while increasing your organization’s growth and profitability, get in touch. We’ll show you how Smartshoring® can work for your business.
