In this episode of Actionable Marketing In Minutes we talk about inhouse marketing teams vs. outsourced and what is best for you.
Use the player below to listen to this episode, or the download link to load it on your device for listening later. You can also find our RSS feed by clicking here, or subscribe by email in the sidebar to the left.
Download our Marketing To Millennials eBook here!
Not able to listen? Why not read the episode transcript below:
Problem:
As a business owner or manager you’ve probably already come to the conclusion that marketing is one of the most important activities to undertake in order to drastically increase your revenues. That is, at least I hope so. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best at what you do, if no one knows about you, no one will be able to do business with you.
The next question is: should you attempt to create and integrate your marketing efforts in-house or should you outsource? Many managers attempt to keep the process in-house figuring they already have staff so why not utilize them and save money?
Should you opt to take this course, there are quite a few marketing positions you’ll need to consider in order to produce your vision. This is a list I can think of off the top of my head:
* First and foremost, you’ll need a project manager to keep track of all the loose ends and to keep the team on course.
* Then, you’ll need a graphic designer – for both web and print media.
* Of course, you’ll need a website developer.
* Something you’ve probably not yet thought of: a digital marketer to plan and write the content and who knows how to set up marketing automation.
* And, you know, social media is not just a place where you talk about yourself. You’ll need a social media manager who knows how to create and engage a following and bring them to your site.
* If you don’t have a digital ad specialist, you could end up wasting a lot of money buying ads that never do get traction. This person will have to thoroughly understand SEO as well as Google analytics.
There are a few more essential positions, but I think you get the gist. Even if you have team members who pull double-duty with these tasks, that’s still a lot of work that needs to be done. Impossible? Not at all but you need to be the right size organization to support this type of headcount.
Solution:
From what I have seen in my experience, every company goes through a cycle. They start too small to hire an internal team so they outsource to an agency. Then they reach a size where it makes sense to pull your marketing in-house and do it yourself. Finally, as you prosper even more, it becomes too much for an in-house department and you need to look at outsourcing again. When you reach the stages where working in-house might not be the best course of action, consider these reasons to support your outsourcing initiatives:
* Other employee costs besides payroll go away.
* Efficient use of resources and level of expertise increase since you are not asking too much of a single person.
* You can scale resources as needed for large projects and new initiatives, and we can help you with proof-of-concept marketing.
* You will always be up-to-date with marketing tactics trends, and even ahead of the curve. You will become a digital leader.
* Data-driven and collaborative approach of a good agency will continually educate your employees so as to increase their effectiveness.
Going with a highly-energized team of experts at a masterful digital marketing agency will save money, time and overall, improve your quality of life. And, with increased quality marketing capabilities available, you will over-achieve your goals. Best of all, your business will thrive.
Benefits:
Please keep in mind, this decision doesn’t have to be an either/or. Oftentimes an agency is hired as a partner of sorts – working in tandem with a client’s marketing team. After all, the home team does have an up-close-and-personal understanding of the company’s business plan and marketing vision.
Working together creates a synergy that brings stellar results to any program.
We hope you’ve found this information helpful. Please connect with us on Twitter @DirectiveGroup or on LinkedIn. Let us know what you think and what you’d like to hear about next. And if you like our podcasts please share with your networks using hashtag #actionablemarketing.
Join us for an upcoming episode as we discuss what to look for in a good digital marketing agency.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 9:46 — 4.0MB) | Embed