Every business reaches the point where a decision must be made regarding their marketing plan. You worry over the idea of leaving part of your company’s responsibilities to outsiders, but the costs associated with hiring someone in-house are too much. So, what should you do?
There is no right or wrong answer to this question, as each company has its own wants, needs, and goals. Here, we’ll break down the difference between the two marketing strategies to determine which is right for you.
What’s the Difference Between a Marketing Agency and an In-House Marketing Team?
Marketing agencies are specialized businesses dedicated to implementing and managing marketing campaigns to help clients achieve their goals. Some agencies cover a variety of channels and industries, while others are more specific, such as a digital marketing agency. At an agency, the employees are entirely dedicated to identifying areas of improvement, implementing plans, and evaluating results in terms of marketing.
In-house marketing is generally conducted by an individual or team who knows the ins and outs of the company. These people are often specifically chosen because of their expertise within the organization or industry. However, it is rare to find an individual or small team capable of managing all of the different marketing channels with proficiency.
Factors to Consider
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Cost Efficiency
In terms of cost, it is much more efficient to utilize an agency. The salary of one digital marketing strategist will cost $66K on average. And, unfortunately, a single employee can’t do all that an entire marketing company could do for the same amount of money per year. A digital marketing agency, such as Zero Gravity Marketing, can handle all design, development, search engine optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, social media services, email marketing/marketing automation, and more. An individual in-house would struggle to do all of these things at the same cost and might simply not have the expertise to do so.
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Experience
Marketing agencies work with a variety of clients in a number of fields – they have truly seen it all! The depth and breadth of experience are unmatched compared to an in-house team. Agencies may also be experienced in different marketing tactics and every channel. An agency will typically assign multiple people to an account based on individual skill sets, so the client receives the best team possible.
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Familiarity
If one of your priorities is ensuring your marketing team knows the ins and outs of your business, you may prefer to hire in-house. An in-house team (or person) is often dedicated to the one company or brand and will fully immerse themselves in business operations, products, and more – truly becoming the expert in the industry and brand. In addition, an in-house team works solely with one company, so there is more focus on one marketing strategy. However, a good agency can also familiarize itself through research and an open line of communication. The team will regularly meet with the client to increase their knowledge and experience of the particular industry, products, or services. Outside of meetings, they will study the industry to understand their client’s needs.
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Infrastructure
An agency tends to spend more on infrastructure than an in-house department at no cost to the client. At Zero Gravity Marketing, we spend over $100K per year on software licenses alone to provide better results for our clients. Some of the software we use includes Moz, SEMRush, Supermetrics, Similarweb, Spyfu, Ahrefs, Powersuite, Grammarly, and many more. Typically, an in-house team does not have the budget to leverage all of these tools. We also have a robust reporting platform, project management system, and processes we’ve developed over the years to keep organized while providing accelerated results.
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Flexibility & Scalability
If you need more help or want to add more services, agencies have additional team members that can quickly assist. On the other hand, agencies can easily adjust account sizes, hours, and scope of work if you want to scale back. If an agency doesn’t provide you with the results you like, you can also discontinue working at any time. The process is not as simple with an in-house team, which requires employee termination.
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Speed
Agencies are accustomed to having clients that want results quickly. As a result, they develop strategies and processes that deliver results much faster than an in-house team would be able to do. In-house team members are often pulled into unproductive, unrealistic projects, while agencies tend to stick to the scope and to what will produce results quickest. The sheer size of an agency allows for work to be completed faster and made readily available.
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Accountability
Agencies will set goals with you, and there will be an expectation to hit those goals. Agencies also don’t make excuses for mistakes. If they aren’t hitting results, they should be transparent and make recommendations to pivot and change tactics or strategies. However, in-house employees will look to their managers for direction on how to improve results. Agencies are more accountable and much more self-directed and self-reliant.
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Control
If you require complete control over your marketing strategy and only want to execute your strategy one way, an in-house team may suit you better. Agencies often have several best practices to choose from and will try many to find the winning formula. However, this does require some risk, and you must trust the agency to execute the plan. In-house employees are at the mercy of the manager in terms of how the marketing will be conducted.
The Final Decision
Each business is different in terms of how it would like to conduct its marketing campaigns. There are pros and cons to both agencies and in-house marketing teams. It all depends on what your business prioritizes.
If you prefer outsourced marketing and want to hire the best digital marketing agency for your company, reach out to the experts at Zero Gravity Marketing to elevate your digital marketing efforts.
