Digital agency VS in-house marketer. What to choose?

In our digital era businesses must go online to reach out to their target audiences. Digital marketing is essential to ensure your business growth, building brand awareness, attracting customers, and increasing conversion rate. At the same time one of the most challenging questions when it comes to digital marketing is whether to create an internal marketing team or delegate digital marketing to an digital agency. Let’s go over pros and cons of both options to get some insights.

What is the difference between in-house and agency marketing?

In-house marketing relies on an internal marketing team, which your company maintains, to market your business. In comparison, agency marketing uses an external or outsourced marketing team, which you pay to use, to market your business.  

The advantages of in-house marketing unit include:

– Familiarity with your brand

An internal marketing team is more brand aware which positively impacts their marketing decisions and materials. It takes time for agencies to learn about your company’s values, tone, and overall brand.

– Narrow focus

In-house marketing teams are entirely focused on your company. While agencies will learn about your brand and devote time to its marketing strategy, they will also pay attention to other clients and their marketing requirements. Depending on your company, you may prefer to have your own team.

– Better control

When you outsource your marketing, you share the marketing strategy’s responsibilities. Working with an agency can be difficult in some cases because businesses prefer to have complete control over their marketing. That is why, if you value that level of control, it is best to hire an in-house team.

Cons of an internal marketing unit:

– Resource-consuming recruitment process

Whether you hire one person or several, establishing an internal marketing department takes time. Your human resources department, for example, will need to create and outline the listing, as well advertise the vacancy. They will also need to schedule interviews and will most likely need your input before selecting the new team member. Building and maintaining an internal marketing team is a significant investment for your company.

– Employee costs and software expenses

Maintaining an in-house marketing team is not cheap. Marketing agencies are usually a better choice in terms of cost-effectiveness. Besides the cost of hiring and maintaining an in-house marketing team, you also have marketing software expenses. These expenses can range from SEO tools and marketing automation tools.

Agency marketing

Agency marketing provides your business with an external marketing team, which uses various online marketing strategies to grow your company. The question, however, is whether an Internet marketing agency is your best option.

Pros

– Expertise

While working with an agency, you can select from the most experienced companies in your industry. This benefit enables your company to hire agencies with a background in your business, or a strong focus on your preferred strategy. Working with such an experienced partner can help your company get the most out of digital marketing in terms of value and return on investment (ROI). If you want to make the most of your marketing budget, an experienced agency can often help.

– Capabilities

A digital marketing company often brings in specific skills that in-house teams particularly at small to medium-sized companies, lack. These skills can range from broad-based digital marketing capabilities to highly specialized ones.

– Software and tools

With an online marketing agency, your business doesn’t have to worry about purchasing paid subscription for marketing tools. Your agency will have access to such tools already.

– Scalability

Compared to an internal marketing unit, an agency can scale quickly to your business. Whether you’re looking to increase your paid advertising efforts during a peak season or improve your presence across social media networks, an agency can meet your needs. For an in-house marketing department, it’s challenging to adapt so rapidly.

Cons

Working with a digital marketing agency includes some disadvantages and some of the most significant ones are:

– Location

You can find the ideal agency for your business needs, but it will be in a different time zone. This situation can make it difficult to align schedules. As a result, if you decide to work with an agency from another country, make sure they are prepared to deal with such issues.

– Multiple clients

Digital marketing agencies have a diverse client base. This fact may cause some businesses to feel neglected. When working with your account manager, you should feel as if they are a part of your company and team. That’s a sign and quality of an experienced digital marketing agency.

– Control

Companies that prefer complete control over their marketing campaigns may find working with a digital marketing agency uncomfortable. Agencies will require you to sign off on your strategy and various campaign decisions, allowing them to make strategic decisions. Trusting your agency can also help your company reduce the bottlenecks associated with marketing outsourcing.

Tips to Hire the Right Digital Marketing Agency

There are some hacks that can be helpful in finding the right agency.

– Find out about the agency’s work from its clients. Find their previous and current clients and inquire about their experiences working with the agency. Examine the reviews and testimonials for the agency. They will give you an idea of what it’s like to work for the company and whether it’s worth your time.

– Review the company’s website. You want to hire a marketing company that’s already implementing what they’re selling you on their website. If their website doesn’t look impessive, think twice before assigning them to work on yours.

– Don’t ignore the warning signs. Consider how realistic their promises are and whether they can be kept.

– Make a trial commitment. Begin with the shortest timeframe possible before committing long term.

Klik Digital is a full-cycle digital marketing agency

We create marketing campaigns that increase brand awareness allowing you to get much more loyal customers. By blending data-driven insights, unique content and modern digital tools we help companies to gain leadership in their market segment.

Let’s work together!