This article is meant to be an unbiased guide on whether you should grow your internal marketing team or hire a marketing agency or ad agency.
There are two parts to the question. The first part is “when/why should I outsource my marketing”, and the second part is “what are the pros and cons of each scenario” either outsourcing or growing your internal team. Let's start with why/when you should outsource and move on to the pros and cons of each approach.
The “Why” is relatively straightforward. You should outsource your marketing to an expert for the same reasons that your customers should buy a product or service from you.
I’ll explain what I mean.
Businesses exist to help solve problems. At a basic level, that is the reason why you start a business and why you can continue doing business. Customers are willing to pay for solutions to problems when they don’t have the expertise or time to handle those problems on their own.
Think of your business. Whatever you do, you probably help people in some way, shape, or form. Marketing agencies do the same thing.
The “When” is a little trickier to answer. Here are a few scenarios where you might hire a marketing agency.
Outsourcing Scenario 1
Maybe you are a small business owner or somebody who is just starting to try to expand your marketing efforts. You own a business but don't have any expertise in that area or don't have the time to dedicate to that particular space. You might also be part of a company that is looking to grow your marketing efforts, but you aren’t sure where to start.
Outsourcing Scenario 2
Maybe you have a crystal clear idea of what you want to do with your marketing. You have fully formed ideas and a well-defined strategy already in place, but nothing is getting done. Outsourcing your marketing can help you more effectively leverage your time. In a situation where you know what you want to do, but other tasks are taking up most of your time, hiring a marketing agency can bring those great ideas to life and start generating the revenue that would otherwise go unrecognized. As an added benefit experienced agencies can provide advice to make your ideas even better.
Outsourcing Scenario 3
You come in every single day and start getting work done. As you knock down task after task maybe you notice that anything “marketing” related keeps getting pushed further and further down your to-do list until it's time to go home. Then the next day the process starts all over again. The simple fact is that maybe marketing isn’t getting done because you just don’t like doing it. It's not everyone’s cup of tea, and if it's not yours there’s nothing wrong with that. But that doesn’t mean you should completely ignore tasks that might help your company generate more revenue. Again, hiring a third party to do the things you flat out don’t want to do is just as good of a reason to outsource as anything else.
So there are a few examples of when you might consider hiring a marketing agency Hubspot has a few more examples here, but what about building your team? Well, here are some scenarios you might encounter where keeping things internal might be a good option:
Growing Your Team Scenario 1
You want control. If you work with an agency you will ultimately decide what direction you want them to be working in and what direction your marketing efforts are going to take, but you probably won’t be speaking with them daily. If you want your finger on the pulse every day, then hiring in-house might be the move for you.
Growing Your Team Scenario 2
Hiring an agency can be difficult. Specifically, finding a good agency can be tough. Just like with most businesses, there are several bad companies for every good company, so finding the right fit for your business can be tough. A good way to avoid that situation altogether is simply to build your team.
Growing Your Team Scenario 3
You want a team of industry experts. If your goal is to have a group of marketers who eat, drink, and sleep your product or service then you will want to consider building your team. Don’t get me wrong, agencies can dedicate a significant amount of time to your account if that is what you want, but ultimately they will likely be working on at least two projects with your company being one of them. To have a team that focuses solely on your company, going in-house is likely going to be the better route for you.
To break things down further, let's look at some of the pros and cons of each strategy in more detail.
Pros of hiring a marketing agency
Gaining a competitive advantage
If you are in a market where your competition isn’t advertising, the advantage is clear. If you’re marketing and they’re not there is a good chance you’ll win. If the industry you are in is marketing, though, you can still gain a competitive edge. The most notable advantage you will see is experience. By bringing on an agency you will likely work with a strategist and an entire team that is dedicated to helping you succeed.
2. Potential for lower overall costs
Hiring an internal marketing team can be expensive. We’ll touch more on this later, but by the time you hire several employees, including a senior individual to lead the team, your costs will outweigh what you would spend on a marketing agency.
3. Freeing up your time
Outsourcing can allow you to take one more thing off your plate and free up your time to work on other aspects of your business. The benefits here will compound over time as your agency starts to deliver results and build trust that helps you reach your business goals.
Pros of hiring in house
More control over the day-to-day operations
Being able to freely share ideas on a day-to-day basis is hard to measure, but it can generate a more creative and productive team atmosphere in some cases.
2. Avoid the difficulties of searching for the right marketing agency
For every good agency, there are several who just want to take your money. A common problem we see are agencies who claim that they have found a “growth hack” or some other secret that will magically make you rich. Marketing isn’t easy and you know that, but finding a partner who agrees can be a real pain, and hiring an in-house team can help.
3. The ability to dedicate all of your marketing resources to your company’s products and services
With an agency, the team assigned to you will most likely be working with other clients as well. While this can help provide perspective, there are many benefits to having individuals dedicated to your business all the time.
The Cons of hiring a marketing agency:
You have to be diligent to ensure that they are meeting their deliverables
The same can be said when you are managing an in-house team, but until a performance record and trust have been established it can be difficult to make sure your agency is following up on the actions that were initially agreed to at times.
2. You will get a list of monthly or weekly deliverables, but not
much more (if you hire a bad agency)
Again, a lot of agencies out there will pitch a “model” or a “program” that is billed as a one-size-fits-all solution. Agencies that provide that type of service will perform tasks, but not much else in the way of recommendations or advice.
3. The cost for individual services can be high
Outsourcing for individual services like ads management or social media management can be expensive depending on what you are looking for. If you want to bring on a full slate of services, outsourcing can be cheaper, but taking an a-la-carte approach might end up costing you more.
The Cons of growing your in-house team
Groupthink can creep in and cause stagnant, uninspired marketing campaigns
Just like being in the office together can help promote ideas and creativity, it can also breed groupthink and complacency. This boils down to management and your team. If you have the time to cultivate the right team this may not be a problem. If you don’t you could be headed for a slippery slope.
2. Hiring can be very difficult in today’s labor market
The labor market is tight these days and ghosting is at an all-time high. Staffing can be a nightmare that you would just rather avoid. Outsourcing can help you overcome this particular pinpoint.
3. Building a team can be extremely expensive compared to hiring an agency
If you want to add a few people to your team it is going to cost you a lot. According to Salary.com the average Marketing Manager's salary in the US is between $95,000-$125,000 and Marketing Coordinators make between $46,000-$76,000. Factor in benefits and employment taxes and it starts to add up fast.
Before you make any decision it is important to understand what you are trying to accomplish with your marketing dollars. Every business is unique and has unique needs, so making sure you are finding the solution that works for you is vital.
JSX Marketing is based in St. George, UT area and services clients across the United States. Our team has years of experience helping companies get the most out of their marketing budgets. If you are interested in a free 20-minute marketing consultation send us an email at info@jsxmarketing.com.
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