In-House vs Agency Marketing: Which is Right For You?

Whether you’re an e-commerce retailer, restaurant owner, manufacturer, or contractor, you need marketing. It’s a surefire way to get your name out there and generate leads – helping your business to grow.

You know marketing is inevitable; the question is, how are you going to implement it? Are you going to do it yourself, hire someone, or work with an agency?

What’s The Difference?

When you choose in-house marketing, you either hire a new employee, give the responsibility to someone who already works for you, or do it yourself. Ideally, this individual’s sole responsibility will be marketing your company.

When you hire a marketing agency, you work with a team of marketing experts – this team will develop and implement marketing strategies to help you reach your company’s goals.

In-House Marketing

In-house marketing is best for anyone who wants immediate contact with their marketing support or wants to have their eyes on every project. This is achievable, whether you hire a new employee or opt for handling your company’s marketing all on your own.

It’s important to note that immediate communication doesn’t necessarily translate to fast turnaround, especially if there’s only one or two people handling the workload.

Digital Marketing Agency

For the company that wants a comprehensive marketing strategy, a digital marketing agency is the better option. Agencies have a team of specialists who handle everything from SEO and ad campaigns to social media and content development. If you’re looking for expert advice in all areas of marketing – working with an agency is an excellent way to get access to that kind of expertise.

And with the added capacity of a digital marketing agency, you’ll be able to implement a wider range of marketing strategies faster than a single or two-person in-house team could. If agility is essential to you, hiring an agency is the way to go.

Decisions, Decisions

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When it comes to deciding who’s going to handle your company’s marketing, there’s no right or wrong answer. There are several factors to consider to determine which option is right for you:

  • Onboarding Time
  • Expertise
  • Keeping Up With The Latest
  • Communication
  • ROI

Onboarding Time

When deciding between in-house marketing and hiring an agency, you’ll want to consider how long it’ll take to onboard and see results. The process of hiring a single employee or an agency takes time, but once that process is complete, a marketing team will be able to get to work much faster than a single marketer would. This is especially true if your single marketer is someone with little experience.

In-House Marketing Onboarding

If your plan is to hire someone new, you’ll need to advertise the position, schedule interviews, and eventually hire someone. That individual will need time to get up to speed on everything and begin implementing marketing strategies.

Usually, an in-house marketing team starts with one person – whether you’re hiring someone new or taking it on yourself. You may get the benefit of having immediate interaction with your personal marketer, but remember, one person can only do so much so fast. It takes time to implement marketing tactics and strategize each new campaign.

Marketing Agency Onboarding

The process of hiring a marketing agency takes time just like hiring an in-house marketer. However, once the initial hiring process is complete, your marketing team can get to work right away. You’ll have more manpower behind your company’s marketing efforts too, so the set up time for each new campaign is much less – which ultimately leads to quicker returns for you.

Expertise

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It’s no surprise that we’re going to tell you that when it comes to investing in marketing, you want someone who knows what they’re doing. In-house and agency marketing offer different types of expertise.

In-House: One Specialist

When you hire someone as your in-house marketer, they should be totally invested in your company and your brand. This individual will have to apply their knowledge across a wide range of marketing strategies, and their expertise will only stretch so far before running into something they aren’t familiar with.

Marketing Agency: A Team of Specialists

When you hire a marketing agency, you’ll gain instant access to a team of marketing professionals with different specialties. From SEO and ad campaigns to content and social media specialists, there’s no shortage of expertise when working with a marketing team. The only thing your marketing team will have to learn is your brand, just like an in-house marketer would have to do.

And if you’re attempting to do marketing all on your own, keep in mind that you’re entering an arena filled with professionals who’ve been doing this for years. Marketing trends are always changing – real professionals will understand these trends and know how to keep up. Ask yourself if you really have the time to learn and understand the ever-changing world of digital marketing.

Speaking of trends…

Keeping Up With The Latest

When it comes to marketing, as soon as you have a strategy in place, a newer, better strategy is being used. You’ll want to make sure that whoever you hire can keep up with the latest. That way, you can ensure that your marketing support is following the industry’s best practices, keeping you ahead of the competition.

Your in-house marketing team likely consists of one, maybe two people. With such a small team handling your marketing efforts, they may not have enough time to learn the newest industry trends. Another drawback to being their only client is that, over time, creativity may begin to stall.

Your marketing team is filled with individuals who all specialize in different facets of marketing. One of those specialties is keeping up with the latest marketing trends. So you can take comfort in knowing you have a team of forward-thinking professionals behind your marketing efforts. When it comes to creativity, a marketing agency works with a broad range of clients, forcing them to break new creative ground all the time.

Communication

Communication with your marketing support plays a major role in the success of your marketing efforts. Whether in-house or agency, your marketing team needs to understand your business, your brand, your audience, and last but not least, your goals. A clear path of communication with your marketing support will ensure the right strategies are being implemented.

Communication With Your In-House Team

When you have in-house marketing support, you have direct access to your team. You may be able to get a message to your marketer quickly, but that doesn’t automatically translate to quick turnover – especially if you have a one man team.

Communication With An Agency

When working with a marketing agency, you’ll communicate with your account manager – this individual will be your main point of contact. Whenever you have a question, concern, or request, your account manager will relay this information to the team. You may have to go through another person to get to your marketing team, but once that information makes it to them, they can get to work immediately.

Return On Investment

With in-house marketing, you’ll only return what your in-house team is able to put in. If you have a one man team, it’ll take time to set up your website and ad campaigns, develop content, and keep up with SEO. So your ROI really depends on the rate and quality of their output.

With a marketing agency, the greater the capacity, the greater the results. An agency will deliver results much faster than an in-house team because they have more manpower and are more specialized. And the greater the ROI, the quicker you’ll be able to grow.

The Takeaway

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of in-house vs agency marketing. Although in-house marketing has its benefits, agency marketing checks more boxes in terms of what will get you results. One of the major benefits of working with a marketing agency is that we scale our services to best serve your business needs.

If you’re interested in learning more about working with an agency, don’t hesitate to reach out. We’re here to answer your questions and offer you guidance.

Thanks for stopping by and happy new year!

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