Businesses and organizations looking to scale their marketing are faced with a question: should I hire an in-house marketing team or work with an agency?
Given the evolving landscape, personnel costs, technology savings, and the specialized nature of the labor, we have listed 8 key benefits of partnering with a marketing agency.
#1 You Pay Less
One of the biggest misconceptions is that hiring an agency is expensive. In fact, working with an agency usually costs you less than having an in-house team – and you have more flexibility. You save on recruiter fees, you save on training, you save on software, and you can dial the agency’s involvement up or down, according to your needs.
#2 A Wider Range of Skills
A digital marketing plan needs a multitude of skill sets. Budgeting, copywriting, social media, creative, Google, video ads, emerging platforms, managing these pieces… these are all unique skills. Building a team packed with all this talent can take months from posting a job and conducting interviews until hiring best candidates and onboarding them to their new roles and company culture. When working with an agency, you get a pre-packed team of highly trained experts who have the right combination of skills. You will have the ideal full-time equivalent (s) who can jump in quickly and get your marketing programs running in no time – without complex hiring and salary costs.
#3 Better Return on Investment
Agencies are result-driven; it is in our best interest to keep you happy (and maximize your ROI) – for the sake of the partnership and our reputation.
If you are hesitant in spending money on agency fees, take a moment to think of the monetary savings you achieve with all that agency expertise. Picture an in-house marketer with versatile marketing knowledge who may be familiar with SEO, Facebook Ads, social media, and email marketing, but only has basic understanding of each. While this person does a great job in running day-to-day marketing, you need deeper knowledge of the tools and techniques to scale a specific area and get the results you had hoped for.
#4 Fresh View of Your Brand
An agency will give you fresh ideas and opinions based on their knowledge of industry trends and competition. Yes, an in-house team will start out knowing your business better than an agency. But an external perspective from an agency can be an advantage to your business.
#5 Access to Latest Technologies & Best Practices
Agencies are continuously training and educating their staff to stay on top industry best practices and latest developments. We come to the table with not only the expertise and knowledge, but also with industry’s must-have technologies and best tools, some of which smaller in-house teams cannot afford, or simply don’t have access to.
#6 Flexibility to Choose the Right Level of Service
A good agency will embrace close collaboration, stay responsive when ad-hoc issues arise, and facilitate weekly, or biweekly, meetings to discuss results and projections.
Typically, agencies offer a range of service levels so you can choose the Service Level Agreement (SLA) that meets your communication needs. You can select an SLA with monthly meetings, or you can choose an SLA where there will be zero daylight between your agency and your team.
#7 End-to-End Project Management
Although collaboration may be faster with an in-house team, it doesn’t guarantee that the process is more efficient. Some in-house employees may be disorganized, or get distracted when other priorities come up. Such occasions have a negative impact on your results, and may cause significant delays. Agencies, however, are deadline orientated and follow a clear project structure, from planning to delivery, to ensure projects are delivered in a given timeframe and on budget. After all, your success is their success.
#8 Been There, Done That
A reputable agency has years’ of experience working with multiple businesses and organizations. To talk about Mason Interactive specifically, we have helped wholesale businesses go big with Direct-to-Consumer, eCommerce startups build a strong foundation for their brands, and dozens of colleges exceed their enrollment goals. When you want to do the same, we will bring those wins to your table so you can lean on us for our strategic expertise and tactical execution.
In the end, outsourcing or keeping your marketing in-house can both be a correct solution for your business. It all comes down to your unique situation. While the marketing technology continues to evolve, it has become easier to create and track campaigns, manage workflows and drive results, even within smaller in-house teams. At the same time, advanced use of the latest technology and tools requires constant training on new skills in order to keep up with the competition.
A hybrid approach is the most desirable option for many businesses. Getting that extra help in areas where you don’t have an in-house expert can make a huge difference to your overall performance. We’d love to talk to you more about your marketing situation, book a call with our digital marketing experts today.