Digital Marketing Agency vs. In-House Marketing: Which is Right for Your Business?

Should you hire more people for your internal team or outsource? Decisions, decisions...

Marketing encompasses a range of activities, from making your target audience aware of your products or services to persuading them to commit to a purchase. It involves market research, generating leads, audience engagement, conversion tactics, building a strategy and assessing potential returns on investment. Most businesses aim to raise the bottom line, for which marketing is a catch-all concept. Two battling factors that rule most decisions must be placed at the forefront when making an informed decision for your business: time and money.

Let's dig deep into the pros and cons of hiring an agency vs. an in-house marketing team and see which strategy wins the time & money game. Spoiler: neither.

Pros of hiring a Marketing Agency

• Benefit from their established network: agencies work with clients from varied industries and acquaint themselves with industry experts, researchers, writers, and loads of media reps, both local and national. Their contacts are extensive.
• Proven Results: a good agency has "been there, done that" for over a decade. There's no replacement for hands-on experience and know how to get results - fans, followers, leads, sales, repeat customers... whatever your business goals are, an agency can deliver.
• Fresh Perspectives: agencies keep themselves updated with current trends and technologies, and businesses could be exposed to fresh marketing opportunities. Internal employees sometimes get stuck or stagnant, but agency folks are exposed to many companies and industries so they aren't trapped in a narrow mindset.
• More skills for your bills (dollar bills, that is): the best agency should represent your theoretical "dream team" marketing department. From SEO to web development to Meta Business advertising to Google Analytics, they have immense knowledge and specialization. Your project may need strategy, research, stats & analysis, creative direction, design, programming, video, photography, advertising, media planning, PR... and on and on! You can hire a whole team for the cost of a single employee. This is a massive cost benefit.

Cons of hiring a Marketing Agency

• Speed & Access: communication and collaboration might take longer than usual as conversations generally pass through several people within the company and the agency before concluding; this might delay results. If you need to walk over to an employee's desk 10 times per day with urgent requests, in-house is best.
• External Contracts: the very nature of working with an agency may create extra steps. Confidentiality of sensitive information keeps businesses from giving agencies full access to their data. In addition to this, the agency may take time to really absorb your company and industry knowledge. It's important to choose an agency that "gets you".
• Value Mismatch: any agency you hire must align with your business's culture and vision. In the event of a mismatch, companies risk investing additional time and money in switching agencies. Of course, this same issue applies to employees. It's easier to switch agencies than employees.

Pros of building your In-House Marketing Team

• Control: micro-managing is buzzword for mostly the wrong reasons, but hey, when things are new, fluid, undecided, or not-quite-organized-last-minute-sort-of-thing, having your marketing person/team right in the building is really valuable. As a result, executive decisions and processes can be made quickly, enabling accurate brand representation.
• Day-in-day-out Collaboration: as the organization works towards the same goal, communication and development of workflow synergy become smooth. This harmony leads to effective and efficient marketing initiatives.
• Knowledge: the business team would have in-depth knowledge about their industry, as they do not have to focus on multiple clients or industries simultaneously. This can surface specific industry insights your target audience will benefit from. The flip side of the coin of the breadth of agency experience, is the (potential) depth of knowledge & experience in your single industry. 

Cons of building your In-house Marketing Team

• Expensive: Hiring a whole new team is a big financial risk. It means multiple new people on the payroll and accommodating training, future development and employee benefits.
• Time-Consuming: it takes months (or years) for a marketing team to perform well together. Onboarding, and training, potential of clashing personalities, fancy tools, computers, other equipment, etc.... it all adds up to a time getting up to speed. How long will it be before you have a well-oiled machine getting results?
• Stale Ideas: the saying "it's hard to see the forest through the trees" is appropriate here. Internal people get entrenched with your product/services. They drink the koolaid, learn the lingo, and become experts, which makes it harder to be original.

Want a Win-Win? Consider a Hybrid Marketing Team

• You do what you do best.
• We do what we do best.
• 1+1=3. This is really a case of creating the best possible team that's the most efficient with time & money. In fact, most of Twin Creek Media's clients have 1-3 internal people in marketing roles. Vision, goal setting, financials, leadership, sales management - these are roles that are best kept in-house. At that point, adding an instant 10-person+ external team to create a powerhouse marketing department makes a lot of sense. Many companies need at least 1 top-level in-house person in the marketing role, say a Director or even the owner. Then a junior/admin level in-house person can meet the requirements of the million day-to-day tasks. Our agency fills the gaps in between, padding out the marketing department. It works really well. See for yourself.

If things are still hazy, we can help. We prioritize transparency and offer a full range of marketing services as an extension of your organization. Consider contacting your friendly Kelowna-based agency for some direction.

Does it seem like your business needs that “professional touch” from a reputed digital marketing agency? Click here to contact us now and experience the difference!