Whatever industry your company operates in, marketing plays a pivotal role. The 2020 coronavirus crisis, though, has meant that many businesses are now faced with budget constraints. This also affects their marketing spend, alongside other areas of their operations.
So, can you still be competitive, successful, and productive in this ever-challenging scenario? If so, should you choose to hire marketing people in-house, or seek help from an external agency? And what are the benefits of choosing in-house vs outsourcing marketing services?
You’ve come to the right place. Read on to get the lowdown on this all-important topic, and get ready to choose the type of marketing approach that best suits your company.
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What Is in-House Marketing?
In-house marketing, as you might have already guessed, means having all the marketing resources within your own company. Depending on the size and scope of your business, your marketing resources may consist of one individual or a full team.
When you choose to build an in-house agency to look after your marketing needs, you get to pick and hire the best and most gifted talent for your industry. This enables you to develop, share, and strengthen marketing-related skills within your business.
What type of businesses usually go for this approach, you might wonder? It is more common for companies with a sizeable budget to hire marketing people in the house. For this reason, this seems to be the preferred approach of medium to large businesses.
And What About Outsourced Marketing Services?
At the other end of the spectrum, we find outsourced marketing services. When a company prefers this option, they delegate a third party to look after all-things-marketing about their business. This can be one single professional or a marketing agency that handles content creation, social media, video content, and more.
So, who benefits from this type of approach? In general, smaller companies and start-ups tend to go for the outsourced marketing style. This can be due to a series of factors, as we are about to find out.
Choosing Outsourced Marketing Services
As we hinted at, there are some trends to consider when deciding whether to opt for in-house or outsourced marketing services. Small, bootstrapped companies that are starting out on their marketing journey, tend to prefer outsourced services.
This is understandable, as their marketing needs might not be as regular and pressing as those of their bigger counterparts. Working with a marketing specialist or with a marketing agency can also give smaller companies the chance to get new skills. This new knowledge can be then used in the future if these companies decide to build an internal marketing team.
There are some downsides to this approach, though. The main one is the fact that companies run the risk of losing control of their own creative process and marketing requirements. Companies that rely on external help are also more exposed to potential data confidentiality issues.
This shouldn’t discourage you from using an external agency, though, if you believe that it might be the ideal option for you. It simply means that you are going to need to secure your data and be extra careful when sharing information with your agency.
Opting for in-House Marketing
Keeping your marketing in-house is often the preferred approach of medium and large companies. This is, again, due to a variety of factors.
First of all, these businesses can count on a more consistent budget allocated to marketing spend. This enables them to hire people, pay them wages, offer them sick leave, and create a vacation policy. Another reason why these companies seem to go for in-house marketing is data security.
By keeping sensitive data within the business, companies of larger sizes are more protected from potential cyber threats. Data loss and theft, in fact, can be more common when sharing data with third parties, such as a marketing agency.
Just like outsourced marketing services, in-house marketing can also present some challenges to businesses that decide to go down this route. For starters, it tends to be more expensive. Companies that hire marketing experts in the house are generally faced with higher costs.
Salaries, sick and vacation leave, and sometimes even bonuses or paid expenses are all managed by your company. Another possible disadvantage of in-house marketing is the retention of talent and knowledge. When someone from the marketing team leaves, it can sometimes mean that they leave a knowledge gap.
And, in order for a company to fill that gap, they need to hire someone else with that set of skills. This can take a long time, during which the company is suffering from a lack of skills that might impact its marketing efforts.
Are you still on the fence? If you would like to delve deeper into the topic, then you should check out Studio MFP’s blog about marketing in 2021.
Weighing up in-House vs Outsourcing Marketing Services to Help Your Business Thrive
Choosing in-house vs outsourcing marketing services can be tricky. It’s very important, though, to pick the approach that’s best suited to your specific needs. Only by doing so can you make the most of your marketing services.
Most importantly, this can be the key to sharpen your competitive edge at a very challenging time. Are you a small business owner, sole entrepreneur, or start-up founder? Then, chances are that you’ll choose outsourced services.
Do you run or manage a larger company? It’s more likely that you will achieve greater results by building your own marketing team in-house.
Which approach will you choose?
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