What’s better? Hiring a marketing agency or create an internal growth team?

As a small business, good marketing is what will elevate you above your competitors. Your choice of strategy is critical to your success. When it comes to picking a plan, you have two options.

The first is to hire a marketing agency and outsource your work. In this modern, hybrid work environment, many companies choose to save money by hiring an external team. Your second choice is to create an internal growth team. An in-house marketing team has its fair share of benefits.

Ultimately, your decision must rest on which factors you prioritize. But first, let's compare the pros and cons of working with an external marketing agency vs. hiring an employee.

Hiring a Marketing Agency

Pros

Level of Expertise

When you hire a marketing agency, you know what you're getting. And that's a team of experts with a range of talents that can see to your business's every need. Frankly, this is a crucial thing to consider when you're weighing the pros and cons.

If you just need an email specialist, then you may as well hire an employee. However, if your company needs content creators, email marketers, web designers, social media personnel, and ad experts, you're better off hiring a team. You'll never find one person qualified to do all these tasks. With a marketing agency, you have a specially curated team who are used to working with each other.

Cost

As a small business, you have to stick to your budget. And when it comes to comparing prices, hiring an outside marketing agency is just more cost-efficient. Usually, you negotiate a one-time rate before the project starts. Standard rates run between $2500 - $25,000 a month.

The process is very different from an in-house marketing team. First, you have the difference in base salaries. The cost of running a small in-house team can be upwards of $337,000. You also have to make room for supplies, equipment, bonuses, raises,    sick leave, training, insurance, and benefits. All of that adds up to around $9 per hour.

Timeline for progress

A marketing agency will require little if any oversight once they get started. Since all your marketing goals are safe in the hands of experts, this leaves you more time to focus on other tasks. Overall, an outside team can help you meet short-term goals more quickly.

Depending on the timeline you've set for your company's progress, it may be worth your while to outsource your marketing efforts. Additionally, this allows you the option to upgrade to a bigger team without delay. So, if your company grows, your marketing efforts will evolve seamlessly. There won't be any learning curve, mishaps, or loss of customers.

Cons

Impersonal approach

The most significant disadvantage of hiring a marketing agency is that they're not a part of your company. Simply put, they don't understand your vision. To market successfully, your marketing experts need to know your company's brand image. Many third-party agencies don't spend time getting to know their clients. As a result, they risk coming across as impersonal.

It doesn't matter how brilliant a design strategy is, if your marketing team doesn't understand your customers, it won't work. When it comes to marketing, everything, down to the last dot must be curated to meet the client's needs.

Divided attention

Your marketing agency is a freelance company. That means you are one on a roster of clients. When you hire an agency, you do with the understanding that you won't have their round-the-clock attention. However, if an agency prioritizes another client's work over yours, then your company will suffer. Before you hire a team, you need to vet them thoroughly and make sure they're invested in your company.

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Hiring an in-house marketing team

Pros

Familiarity

The more time your marketing expert spends with the rest of your team, the more familiar they will become with your company's brand. Attending weekly meetings and brainstorming sessions will help them get a better feel for your business vision. You can even have one on one sessions to discuss objectives and goals. The better your marketing specialist understands your company's voice, the more their campaigns will hit home with your customers. This level of familiarity isn't something you can get with an agency.

Personal pick

When you're building an in-house marketing team, you get to pick each member. This means more than just their credentials on paper. You also get a feel for their personality and skills. On the other hand, a marketing agency will come with a ready-made team. Even though you're the client, you don't have the power to modify the team.

Availability

While a marketing agency works for any number of clients, your in-house marketing team only works for you. That comes with dedication and personal investment in your company and loyalty to you. So, you can contact them at any time, whether for updates or to discuss ideas. It also lets you be a lot more involved in the marketing process. If you want to be involved in each step, you'll have better luck hiring a full-time employee.

Cons

Costs

The costs of handpicking an in-house marketing team are a lot. As a small business, you don't want to spend your entire budget hiring staff. You want to leave the majority of your money for actual marketing costs. At the end of the day,    if you can get the same quality of work at less cost, it's better to outsource. This way, your marketing team has more resources to work with.

But, what if you could have your cake and eat it too? Project 100 is a hybrid model that combines the expertise and cost-efficiency of a marketing agency with the personalized approach of an in-house marketing team. Our experts will make an effort to get to know your company, vision, and customers. And they have the skills to incorporate that into a strategic marketing strategy that fits your budget. We only work with a few clients at a time, and our cap is 100 clients a year. This allows us to prioritize quality and give each client the attention and care they deserve. We will treat your business like our own and grow it with you.

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