Deciding on whether to hire a marketing team in-house or outsource to an agency can be a daunting task. There isn’t a clearcut answer as there are benefits and downfalls for each.
If you’re looking for points for or against either choice or need help deciding, read on for tips and advice.
Hire a Marketing Team Internally or Outsource an Agency?
So, you’re ready to make the leap into advertising? Congrats! Whether you want to invest in online ads like Google Ads and social media, dive into traditional advertising in magazines and newspapers, or both, choosing the right team is integral to your success.
First, let’s weigh the pros and cons of both in-house marketing teams and outsourcing a digital marketing agency.
Knows the company and product. An in-house team is solely focused on building your company’s brand and will therefore know the products inside and out.
Experienced in various industries and verticals. An outside agency has likely worked with many companies in different fields. This gives them the ability to pivot quickly to best serve your companies needs.
Manageability and control. You know these employees because you work with them every day. You can increase or decrease ad spend, run A/B tests, and switch out graphics or ad copy easily.
Knows SEO and ad trends. Hiring the right talent with SEO and online ad know-how can be a tough call. With an agency, you can trust they already have these skills.
Vested interests. An in-house team shares similar goals to promote the company.
Out-of-the-box-services. Ad agencies are equipped with the right tools to start ad campaigns practically from day one, or at least within the first week of signing on.
Consistency in design and copy. In-house employees can present in the same voice as they have access to old and current campaigns.
Ability to scale. Unlike in-house teams, you can’t easily add or delete members. With an outsourced agency you can scale to your needs for specific projects with ease.
In-House Team vs. Outsourced Team Challenges
Costly. Salaries, tools and software purchases, and training add up to an expensive out-of-pocket cost for companies when hiring new employees.
Client lists. Sometimes a ball is dropped or many. Working with an agency can mean you’re not always top priority if they have many clients.
Time-Consuming. Hiring team members to fill each marketing role takes searching for qualified candidates, interviewing them, checking work histories, and training. Not an effective strategy for starting ad campaigns right away.
SEO and keywords. No one truly knows search engine optimization and the hottest keyword searches top to bottom, inside and out. An agency can know a lot, however, but not everything.
Inexperienced in digital marketing trends. Generally, in-house marketing employees have a specific set of skills. As they do not work with ad agencies, they don’t stay on top of evolving marketing trends.
On top of trends. Working with an ad agency means they must stay on top of the digital marketing landscape as well as their competition. Each project infuses them with more knowledge and more know-how.
Turnover rate. A project may be near completion but if a key employee resigns, it could now mean an undefined amount of time to complete.
Varying schedules and locations. An out-of-state agency can work at contrasting times to your own business. Even local agencies run on their own schedule, causing a roadblock.
Why a Choosing an Ad Agency May Be Right for You
Now that you’ve read about the various pros and cons for both routes, you may wonder what the next best step is. This is of course highly individualized and there isn’t a clearly definitive answer.
But since you’re here with us, let us provide some pretty convincing data on why selecting an agency like us would be worth your time and ad spend.
Our team is made up of a carefully curated group of individuals who have worked in every type of marketing role you can think of. Our decades of experience in various verticals and markets make us leaders in the field.
As a boutique media agency, our focus is you. Large agencies can’t guarantee this but with our full staff and selective sponsor process, we can. We want to ensure you get the MVP treatment every time.
If you’ve been clamoring for ways to access sports fans, especially if your business caters to this demographic, then it behooves you to advertise in sports. This is by and large, why we hold the edge on the competition. Because of our exclusive contracts in major league baseball (MLB), national football league (NFL), and a catalog of local sports and recreational venues, your brand is guaranteed to be seen by sports fans all over the country.
Not only do we offer sponsorship within venues, we are backed by a digital marketing team that knows their stuff. They have all worked with multitudes of clients that spans decades across numerous industries and sectors.
