Wichita, Kan., Aug. 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- When managing partners Bruce Rowley and Mike Snyder began RSM Marketing Services, they knew they wanted to do something different. Something that would fundamentally change how companies "did marketing."
"From the start, we didn't want to be the same old 'advertising agency' or 'full-service marketing firm,' dependent on one or two big accounts," said Snyder. In fact, he joked, just using the term "full-service marketing firm" around the office is apt to elicit a chorus of groans.
Instead, the partners developed the concept of a subscription-based Outsourced Marketing Department, or OMD. The RSM Outsourced Marketing Department subscription enables a company to access a full team of marketing specialists and technologies all led by a Marketing Director. The flat monthly subscription rate covers access to all the varied skills needed on any given day and is often less than the cost of a single marketing FTE.
The idea quickly gained traction with local and regional companies. RSM took over as the Outsourced Marketing Department for a large local healthcare system (a role that RSM still fulfills eight years later).
Now, RSM is seeing their Outsourced Marketing Department concept take off nationally in a big way.
"Over the past 12 months we've added on average two OMD clients per month every month," said Snyder. "That's double the number of the year before, when we were mostly relying on referrals to get the word out. 60% of these new OMD clients are out of market. Companies across the country are taking notice."
Subscribing companies come from a wide spectrum of industries and range from small startups to market leaders with thousands of employees. They include a home services company in Chicago, a controls and automation engineering firm in Northern California, a textile company out of California and Belgium, a haircare company out of Miami, an environmental services tech company based in Dallas, an IT company in Houston, a natural gas company in Atlanta, an automotive negotiation services company out of California, and an animal training company based in Massachusetts, among many others.
Some of these clients specifically noted the Outsourced Marketing Department model as their deciding factor. Others came to the table with challenges that the OMD model was uniquely positioned to address.
"The major driving factors are scarcity of talent, complexity and speed," said Rowley. "What's interesting is that these companies are from all over the United States, big metros and small, all different industries—but they have the same challenges. They can't find people to hire in their market who have the specialized skills needed for digital marketing in particular. When they do, it takes too long to get new hires up to speed. Many try freelancers and automation vendors to fill in the talent gaps, but they end up acting like a switchboard between all these outsourced resources—it's frustrating and really, really inefficient. Quality control is a problem. An Outsourced Marketing Department meets all those challenges."
RSM's expansion into national markets shows no signs of slowing down. If anything, Snyder said, the challenge is keeping up with demand. Earlier this year, RSM acquired Unravel, a Kansas City based digital marketing firm, adding significant talent to the team. Scott Schaper serves as President of RSM Kansas City and matches Snyder and Rowley in enthusiasm for the Outsourced Marketing Department model.
"It's a game-changer in the industry," Schaper said. "We're looking forward to working with many amazing businesses looking to reduce their marketing department expenses and improve their marketing activities to grow their businesses."
About RSM Marketing Services
RSM Marketing Services started in 2010, when co-founders Bruce Rowley and Mike Snyder saw that many companies were overwhelmed by the rapid expansion of marketing tactics required to compete and succeed. RSM developed the Outsourced Marketing Department to enable companies to lower the cost of getting a full range of marketing specialists by charging a flat monthly fee that is often about the cost of a single FTE.
RSM employs marketing specialists across every service that clients need, including video production, photography, web design, online marketing, public relations, media planning and buying, copywriting, design, social media, blogging, aerial drone video and more.
RSM has twice been named to the Inc 5000 list of fastest growing companies in America and has been a Google Partner since 2011. RSM employs more than 40 marketing professionals in offices in Wichita and Kansas City, supporting a wide range of subscriber businesses across the United States.
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