Weighing the Pros and Cons: In-house Marketing Team or Hiring an Agency

Should you have an in-house marketing team or hire a marketing agency? It’s essential to have a dedicated marketing team to help build your brand.

Sometimes, the size of your company plays a huge role in which marketing team is required. Smaller companies most likely can’t afford an entire in-house team but could affordably hire an agency to handle the tasks of creating online advertising to grow the brand. These marketing teams help your business grow, but you’ve got to make the costs, time, and requirements of these teams lead you down the right path.

What are the differences between these two marketing teams?

The key differences are pretty straightforward. If you build an in-house team to market and advertise for your company, your company is the only client. This is a team of people that work only for your company as part of the overall team. The in-house team has one focus; to grow your brand through marketing and advertising campaigns. You won’t compete with other companies for their attention, which makes for a strong marketing push from a team that’s entire focus is on your company. Of course, the cost is much greater than with an agency.

If you hire an outside agency to handle your marketing needs, the cost is generally much less because the salaries required for this team are spread over several clients. With an outside agency, the team focuses on multiple clients, which means your marketing might not be at the top of the list but it is still important. Some marketing agencies are agile and versatile enough to focus on multiple clients and deliver excellent results. One of the best ways to have a great outside agency that can truly focus on what your company needs is to hire an agency focused on the industry your company works in.

What are the pros and cons of an in-house marketing team?

When considering an in-house marketing team versus hiring a marketing agency, it’s important to weigh the pros and cons. Here are the pros and cons of an in-house team:

Pros

To build an in-house team, you’ve got to build this internal marketing team to focus on the needs of your company. This means your in-house team will offer:

• Brand Familiarity – This team knows your brand and only focuses on your company’s needs
• Accessibility – Your in-house team works in your offices, and it’s easy to sit down and talk about specific needs
• Focus – The entire focus is on your company
• Control – This is your team and part of your company, giving your business the desired control over this team

Cons

Like anything else in life or business, there are positives and negatives to building an in-house marketing team. The downside of this team are:

• Talent Recruitment – It takes nearly two months to hire a team, and they have to be able to work together
• Employee Costs – Hiring an in-house team isn’t cheap; a team of four marketing professionals costs an average of $52,000 each per year, which is $208,000 per year
• Software Expenses – Providing the tools required for your team to be successful comes at a cost
• Employee Turnover – When employees leave your in-house team, it can take a while to replace them, putting more pressure on the remaining staff

What are the pros and cons of hiring an outside marketing agency?

If you’re willing to give up control over an in-house marketing team, hiring an outside marketing agency could be the right answer for you. This comes with its own set of pros and cons as well. Here are a few of them:

Pros

What makes hiring an outside agency attractive to so many companies?

• Expertise – Marketing agencies are typically comprised of highly experienced professionals that understand the marketing world
• Capabilities – Digital marketing agencies might have several members focused on various clients but filling similar roles. This allows the team to continue to focus on the data and push marketing strategies forward
• Diverse Specialties – Team members in marketing agencies often cover several areas of focus to provide excellence in all areas
• Cost – One of the most important differences between an in-house marketing team and a marketing agency is cost. Your company could spend up to $24,000 per year for marketing with an outside agency instead of $200,000 or more for an in-house team

Cons

A digital marketing agency comes with a few drawbacks as well, some of which are:

• Location – Agencies are located around the world, which removes the local feeling of an agency compared to an in-house team
• Multiple Clients – Your marketing strategy isn’t the entire focus of this team at all times, this can be frustrating for some, but most companies don’t need a team 100% focused on their needs 100% of the time
• Control – This is the greatest drawback. Your company doesn’t have complete control over the marketing when you turn it over to the experts at a marketing agency. Still, these teams are comprised of professionals that understand digital marketing.

Based on the pros can cons of either, will your company utilize an outside digital marketing agency or build an in-house marketing team?