Good marketing is a nonnegotiable key to success for practically every business, but there’s more than one way to go about it. In the early stages, many business owners attempt to handle marketing on their own. But once you decide you need professional help, you’ve got two main options: working with a marketing agency on a contract basis or hiring an in-house marketing team.
As a marketing agency ourselves, we’re obviously a little biased. However, that doesn’t mean hiring an in-house team is without its advantages. And in some cases, businesses can benefit from having marketers on staff and working with an outside agency.
To help you decide which is the best path forward, here’s everything you need to know about outsourced vs in-house marketing and when each one makes sense.
The Advantages of In-House Marketing
In-house marketing means employing people directly within your company to handle its marketing. Depending on the size of the business, this could mean anything from hiring one generalist marketer to building an entire department with specialists responsible for all the different types of marketing your business conducts.
One of the biggest advantages of an internal marketing employee or team is their proximity to the business. An in-house marketer works inside your organization every single day, so it’s often easier for them to understand the business and what makes it different. It also speeds up communication and makes collaboration a little more convenient.
Arguably the most obvious benefit of an in-house team is the fact that their entire workday is focused on one company. Not every business has enough marketing work to keep a team busy eight hours a day, five days a week, but for those that do, the undivided attention of an in-house team can be beneficial.
The Drawbacks of In-House Marketing
Cost is the biggest obstacle most businesses encounter when considering an in-house marketing team. In most cases, hiring even a single employee is going to be more expensive than working with a marketing agency—and a single employee rarely has all the skills and expertise that modern marketing requires.
For example, you might need a strategist to develop campaigns, a designer to create graphics, a developer to maintain the website, an advertising specialist to manage Google and Meta campaigns, a writer to produce content, an SEO specialist to improve search visibility, and someone to shoot and edit video. Finding one person who performs every one of those jobs at an expert level is extremely difficult, and building a team that is capable of doing all of them can get expensive quickly.
The Advantages of Outsourced Marketing
Working with a proven marketing agency allows businesses to leverage the tools, skills, and experience of a complete marketing team without having to build one themselves from the ground up.
For typically less than it costs to hire a single marketer, you can work with an agency that gives you an entire team of specialists who are already equipped with all the tools for the job, versus you having to pay for those tools yourself. Software such as marketing platforms, AI tools, and video editing programs may not cost much compared to an employee’s salary, but they can add up quickly and are an expense you don’t have to worry about when you work with an agency.
Hiring a marketing agency also tends to be a much faster way to get the ball rolling. Building an internal marketing team takes time. You have to recruit candidates, review applications, interview employees, onboard them, and provide all the software and equipment they need before they can actually get started attracting customers for your business. Agencies, meanwhile, already have all the right people and tools in place and can generally hit the ground running.
Lastly, working with an external marketing team gives you access to a broader spectrum of experience. In-house employees may get to know your business inside and out, and that is certainly an advantage, but marketing teams like the one at Alpha Social Media have experience spanning many companies, campaigns, industries, platforms, and audiences. They know which strategies are producing results for other businesses, and they can put that knowledge to work helping yours. This is especially true if you choose an agency that is local to your area and is already familiar with the market your business serves.
Potential Disadvantages of Outsourced Marketing
Working with a marketing agency isn’t automatically the right choice for every business, and which one you partner with matters a lot.
A poor agency relationship can lead to slow communication, generic content, and marketing that isn’t aligned with your brand and business goals. Some agencies also operate using standardized packages that may not reflect what your company actually needs to grow.
You should always do your research and get to know the people behind the logo before you sign on with a marketing agency. And remember that communication, transparency, and accountability matter just as much as technical ability.
The Hybrid Approach
It’s not necessarily an either-or decision for businesses considering in-house versus outsourced marketing. There are many businesses that have marketing employees on staff and also choose to work with an agency to supplement their in-house efforts.
For example, a company might employ an internal marketing coordinator who understands the organization deeply and manages communication while outsourcing specialized work such as paid advertising or website development. This provides the organization with an internal point person while still giving the company access to specialists when needed.
There are a lot of cases where this approach delivers the best of both worlds. Say you already have employees handling your social media marketing, for instance, but you need a new website. There’s not enough work there to justify hiring a full-time web designer to join your team, but it’s still an important job that needs to be done professionally. This is just one example of the many instances where utilizing both internal marketers and an outside agency can be the ideal solution.
The Right Marketing Structure Should Help Your Business Grow
You don’t want to choose in-house marketing just because it sounds more professional or outsourced marketing just because it sounds easier. The goal should always be to build an approach that gives your business the best possible chance of growing, whatever that might look like.
For some companies, that means building an internal team. For others, it means partnering with the right agency. And, in many cases, the strongest solution is a mix of both.
At Alpha Social Media, we help clients with a wide range of marketing needs, from web design and SEO to social media marketing to paid ads and beyond. Whether you are looking to supplement the expertise of your internal team or want someone to take over your company’s marketing entirely, we have the tools and experience to help.
Contact us today to learn more about what Alpha Social Media can do for your business, and let’s find the best solution for helping you grow.
