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Lower costs, faster turnaround, concerns about transparency, and a desire to control one's data have all resulted in more businesses moving their marketing efforts in-house.
Many businesses are moving different marketing aspects in-house to cut costs. However, this hasn’t proven to be the best move. Take Hopper, for example. The flight-booking app decided to build its own Facebook buying tool to avoid paying service fees. After the tool was built, the company realized that the cost of maintaining the tool wasn’t worth the return and that they weren’t saving as much money as they thought they would. They eventually had to turn to an agency for help.
The NHL moved its creative and media business in-house because “the benefits of having the agility, control, and visibility into our creative [process], our performance and our audiences outweighed the benefit of having an agency for us at this time,” said NHL CMO Heidi Browning.
Deciding whether to hire an in-house team or a marketing agency can be a tough decision. Price is a significant factor to consider when hiring an agency, but agencies also bring experience, resources, and industry knowledge that an in-house team won’t possess.
While an in-house team needs to be paid a regular salary, agencies can either be hired as a constant partner or on a case-by-case basis. If you have one large project that needs to be completed or if you just need help developing a marketing strategy, agencies are used to having both long- and short-term client work.
An agency can help you develop a strategy to ensure you’re making the most of your marketing efforts. If your current employees have the availability and skill, you can implement the strategy in-house. If not, hire the agency to manage it for you.
Hiring an agency can seem costly at first, but if you compare it to the cost of hiring a full marketing team, it’s a steal.
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Even if you’ve been doing SEO for a while, it helps to get a fresh perspective. If your results aren’t where you want them, a new opinion may be beneficial. Also, an experienced professional may be able to pinpoint issues more efficiently. Most agency employees have exposure to multiple industries. In-house teams don’t benefit from the knowledge that agencies get from other categories, performance, and strategies.
Agencies are creative environments that foster innovative thinking and collaboration. Most agencies strive to create a fun, open, and relaxed environment to encourage creative brainstorming.
According to the Association for Psychological Science, a positive mood allows your brain to think more creatively in the workplace. Environments that successfully foster problem-solving and communication are hard to replicate.
Many businesses believe that doing all of their marketing in-house will save them money. But this is usually not the case. Along with affording full-time marketers, companies also struggle to find the right talent. Expect to dedicate time and patience if you plan to recruit, screen, and hire a full-service, in-house marketing team.
For many in-house marketing employees, daily responsibilities include managing social media, creative work, copywriting, analytics, SEO, and more.
Few in-house marketing hires come equipped with everything you want or need. Today’s digital world is simply too complex for one person to be an expert at everything. Hiring the right marketing people is difficult, particularly for smaller companies hoping to hire one person who can handle multiple responsibilities involving multiple digital channels.
Also, if you were to pursue a long-lasting relationship with an agency, you wouldn’t have to worry about training new employees. While your in-house team may require training and readjusting when you experience employee turnover, agencies will always have people on hand who are familiar with your account and brand.
While there are many free tools available online, an in-house team may not have the expertise to use them effectively. Hiring an agency will give you access to premium-level services, software, and analytical data reports without paying full price.
Interested in working with a digital marketing agency?