In today's fast-paced landscape and uncertain economic outlook, businesses continually face the challenge of effectively managing their marketing efforts. As organizations strive to enhance their online presence and reach their target audience, a critical decision arises: who is going to do this work? Should I hire a marketing director, or should I partner with an external agency?
This decision is not just about resources and budget - it's about aligning with the right strategy that complements your business goals. There's no one-size-fits all answer. But there are a few questions to ask that will help you decide on the right tactic for your business.
Let's delve into the pros and cons of hiring a full-time employee (FTE) or engaging a marketing agency. Both paths offer distinct benefits that can align with different business needs and goals.
Hiring a Full-Time Employee
An FTE offers the advantage of having a dedicated team member who is fully immersed in your brand's culture and objectives. However, there are also drawbacks to hiring an in-house marketing employee. It largely depends on the size of your organization, the scope of your marketing, what your overall budget is and what metrics you'll use to measure success.
Pros of Hiring an FTE Marketing Employee:
1. You have someone on-site for faster communication
Having someone at your organization will make it easier to reach them when you have quick questions or need a fast update. They'll also be more familiar with your team's capacity and workload since they'll be working alongside other employees.
2. You can cultivate a strong relationship and strengthen your team
A full-time employee is naturally going to have a much deeper dynamic within the rest of your team than a marketing agency will, just from being on-site and interacting with the rest of your team daily.
3. An FTE will be focused only on your brand
A marketing agency will focus on your brand among other clients, whereas an FTE's only client will be your organization, so they will be able to have a deeper insight.
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Cons of Hiring a FTE Marketing Employee:
1. It's expensive
Hiring an FTE is by far the most expensive option for marketing. The salary of one employee can easily equal or exceed the cost of hiring a marketing agency, especially when you factor in other expenses like benefits, health insurance, taxes, equipment, vacation, etc.
2. You need to take more time for onboarding and training
Since an employee will be in your business for the long haul, that also means you'll need to do more training and onboarding to get them up to speed. This delays the start of your marketing efforts.
3. Limited skills and time
It's not reasonable to expect that one person will be an expert in all areas of digital marketing - from SEO to PPC, website design, inbound marketing and content writing. Your new FTE will likely have a few areas they excel at, and just as many where they don't.
Likewise, it's not reasonable to expect that only one employee will have the time to execute all aspects of marketing by themselves, particularly if you throw traditional marketing like print materials or event promotion into the mix. You'll have to pick and choose areas of marketing or hire more FTEs, which will increase costs further.
When is a FTE Marketing Employee a Good Fit?
A single FTE is best suited for an organization with a larger budget that plans to do very limited marketing, but expects to grow in the future. Hiring an FTE early means that as your organization grows, you can hire on a digital marketing agency in the future to support the FTE - in this case, the FTE can act as a coordinator and focus on other in-house marketing tactics.
Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency
Hiring a digital marketing agency is a big leap for organizations. However, it can be the best strategy for those who want to invest in marketing, accelerate growth and have a clear return on investment.
Pros of Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency:
1. Specialized team members
When you work with an agency, you'll have one (or more) people on a team exclusively focused on one area of expertise. This means that you get the benefits of multiple employees, through one program - usually for less than the cost of an FTE hire.
2. More structure, planning and clearer results
Because most agencies need to plan ahead, your agency will work with you to create a structured content calendar and plan to ensure that marketing never lags.
An agency will also provide you clear reporting and metrics on all marketing efforts so they can attribute leads to their efforts. In turn, this means that you have more data without having to do analysis yourself.
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3. Less time spent on your end
One of the biggest values of outsourcing marketing to an agency is the time it frees up for your teams. It's obvious that a marketing team will free up time currently spent on things like making ads, writing blogs or sending emails, but they can also take on some unexpected timesucks as well - such as keyword research, competitive analysis or keeping your CRM up-to-date.
A good agency will handle every aspect of marketing - from research to execution - which means that all you need to do is provide approvals or feedback.
Cons of Hiring a Digital Marketing Agency :
1. Harder to do things on the fly
When you work with an agency, your business will be one of several that their team works with. This means it's harder to make sudden, last-minute changes.
With an FTE, you can more easily catch them at their desk to do a quick update. With an agency, you'll need to give them more time to make any sweeping changes.
2. Less of your involvement at every step
One of the main advantages of working with an agency is offloading time, but for some owners or managers who like to be very hands-on, this can be a challenge. You'll still have final say on all marketing materials, but you won't be as involved in every step of the production process.
3. Less familiarity with your internal process
An agency won't have the entire history or insight into your business like an employee will. They can still understand your business, target market and goals but there will likely be a learning curve as your team and their team first learns how to work together and mesh processes.
When is a Digital Marketing Agency a Good Fit?
A marketing agency is the best fit for a medium or large-sized organization that really wants to accelerate marketing results. A digital marketing team can work alongside your internal team to support traditional marketing efforts or work independently.
Should You Hire an FTE or a Digital Marketing Agency?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution for every organization. When making a decision, consider:
- Your digital marketing needs
- Your current budget
- Your future growth
- Your current team's capacity
An employee makes the most sense for an organization with a large budget that's looking for long-term stability with a narrower marketing scope. A digital marketing agency is a better fit for an organization that wants to boost revenue now and make plans for future growth.
The decision between hiring a full-time marketing employee or partnering with a digital marketing agency hinges on your organization's unique needs and goals. Both options offer distinct advantages and challenges, and the right choice will depend on factors such as your budget, marketing scope, and growth aspirations.
By carefully evaluating these elements, you can align your marketing strategy with your business objectives. Whether you choose to bring someone in-house or collaborate with an agency, the key is to remain flexible and open to adapting your approach as your business evolves.
Free Guide: Beginner's Guide to Digital Marketing
This in-depth guide covers everything you need to know about digital marketing and what it entails. If you're trying to decide between an FTE and an agency, this guide can help you get a picture of everything involved in an effective digital marketing strategy.
BizzyWeb is a Minneapolis-based digital marketing and web design agency that helps companies get the high-quality leads they need to grow and thrive. Our tactics include inbound marketing, SEO, advertising, web design, content creation and sales automation. We are an accredited HubSpot Platinum Partner and we offer full-service HubSpot onboarding, enablement and strategy for new and current users.
