If you are a business owner, it can be a tough call deciding whether to employ a marketing team in house or to outsource your marketing. It’s no secret that as a full service agency ourselves, we vote for the latter! Full discretion. It’s a common footfall that businesses will often blanket their ‘marketing’ under one role, maybe combining social media and PR roles or merging development and design.
But we recently stumbled across a job advertisement that really took the biscuit. It asked for the following, and bear in mind, this is for just one, we repeat, ONE person:
- Digital marketing experience including SEO, link-building and content creation
- A professional design portfolio and experience of using the Adobe creative suite
- Ability to manage a WordPress website and make developments
- Ability to pitch and strategise business growth
- Experience in creating social media campaigns, feed management and targeting
… Are you kidding? Good luck finding all that in one human being. What you’ve just read there is not one role, but probably about four or five. One bullet point per person. Consider this, the new national minimum wage is around 19k… Even at that rate, that’s a 95k salary job that you’re squishing into one job. Madness.
Do you know what a job description like that says to us? Is that the business posting it, doesn’t appreciate the nuances, expertise and many different (and advanced) skill sets that it takes to make digital marketing genuinely worthwhile. So you might think you’re being savvy by employing just one person, but really, you’re gonna fall short, and pretty quickly. Not only that, but you don’t want your new hire to burn out in a month. Recruitment costs, training costs and your time all go down the pan if that person jumps ship.
There’s no I in team, but there is in extra pickles…
When we first meet new clients, we are often asked “What’s the point of using an agency when I have someone in-house that can handle all of the digital marketing?”
Well, we believe that the most-skilled digital marketers in the business tend to gravitate towards an agency. Because, if you truly love what you do, you’ll want to be surrounded by other creatives that share your passion in the same way. So, although your in-house marketing manager might be very good at what they do and very knowledgeable about your company, their skillset (and time) will be limited. We actually love having a strong marketing connection to liaise within a business, it creates a brilliant connection between our place and yours, however, it’d be near enough an impossible task to manage all elements of marketing for your business on their own.
The beauty of an agency is that you don’t just get the expertise of one person. You don’t just get a burger. You get a burger with an extra patty, double cheese, onions, relish, and a side of fries. And, if you’re happy with a plain burger, maybe you’re just not that hungry!
Over the top metaphors aside, let’s break it down. Why should you choose an agency over hiring in-house? For the quick version, take a look at our video. You’ll soon see why one person can’t take on all aspects of your marketing!
Sought after skills
Some industries are starting to recognise that ‘digital marketing’ takes more than a one hit wonder. And to further that, recognising the financial benefits of outsourcing. We know the skills we have as an agency are niche and highly sought after, and it’s extremely rare that you can find someone that can tackle everything needed to implement a successful digital strategy. Ever heard of anyone that fits the bill?…We’ll wait…
More experience, more Scope
If that question above was NOT met by a resounding silence, your fabulous in-house marketer should have a wealth of knowledge about your industry and your competitors. That’s great. What an outsourced team brings to the mix is a variety of different skill sets, personalities and approaches to problem solving. This prevents tunnel vision when it comes to strategy and means as a group they have more experience in their field. This is a valuable edge. Our previous dealings with other industries and collective years of experience across all areas of marketing (years that certainly outweigh just one persons’) can bring you something fresh and different, with a proven track record that will set you apart from your competitors. You and your team provide the industry knowledge and your outsourced agency will bring the rest to get your business noticed.
A great agency will work to your budgets and timescales, in order to have a happy customer at the end of it. As creatives, they are likely to be as passionate about their campaigns as you are about your business, and will love to see you and their advert or marketing campaign succeed. Far from the doldrums of working a 9-5, the variety they experience in their working day will keep the fire in their bellies going. Giving you the best concepts to choose from, every time.
Time to focus
It happens only too often, due to staff shortages or busy periods your employees don’t always end up carrying out the tasks they were employed to do. We’ve all been there. Whether it’s covering another colleague or taking minutes, employed marketing executives aren’t always given the time they need to put their full focus into marketing your business, delivering SEO tactics or networking. A leading SEO agency will continually revisit your stats, offer regular clear reporting and tangible results. They will form a marketing strategy for your business and stick to it. If for any reason they don’t see the result they were expecting to straight away, they have the time to take stock, get creative and use their knowledge to get you back on track – before you even notice a downturn.
It’s cost effective
It may seem on paper that the employment of an internal member of staff is a cheaper option than utilising an agency, and if you choose a junior with little experience, it may well be the case short-term. However, if you are looking to employ a member of staff with the same calibre of skills that you’d find in a well established and professional agency, you will be hard pushed to find someone that can be bought for a song. An agency only charges you for the actual work carried out and their fee includes their software overheads and the purchase of fonts, that you would otherwise have to invest in separately. As a business owner you will know that employment comes with its own set of costs too, such as initial recruitment, national insurance, pension and sick pay to name a few. In addition to this, an agency is always on hand and a good one will be there for you whenever you need them, without annual leave or absence being a factor.
They get you out there
Agencies shout about their clients from the rooftops. Whether it’s from a blog on their own website or in a conversation at a networking event, if an agency values you as a client (as they should) they will spread the word on your behalf. Not only that, it’s common that agencies will be only too happy to put you in touch with their other clients should they spot a potential collaboration there.
Wide range of skill sets
A full service digital agency will offer you the complete package of developers, designers, copywriters, marketing executives and SEO experts all in one place. No one person can be an expert across all areas of offline and online marketing unless they have eight arms (and as many heads). To make it successful you need a team, which quickly becomes expensive and by outsourcing your design, development and SEO work you can find these skills all under one roof.
Nu Image, for example, is first and foremost a melting pot of creatives. We are a proud collective of people who genuinely love what we do, and are the reason we have organically evolved over the past 15 years into a full service digital agency.
With you not against you
If you already have a member of staff in-house that can manage some of your marketing or you want to keep your hand in with the direction your marketing takes, that’s great. Don’t chuck them out! A professional agency will help with as little or as much as you need. They will liaise with your existing staff, advise them on how to get the best from your marketing efforts and support them to drive your business forward.
Staying ahead of the game
If your target is to be the best in your industry, you need to have an understanding of the ever changing market that is SEO and online marketing. A well appointed SEO agency will be only too aware of Google’s latest changes to its algorithms and will ride the wave of the digital revolution. Amendments to Google’s rules could see your rankings plummet if you don’t make the right changes – and fast. An agency worth its salt will keep its staff up to date with any new updates. As for graphic designers and developers, if they are working within an inspirational and creative agency, they will have the desire to research the latest trends and have time allowed for them to be innovative. When it comes to your work, they can develop concepts that hit the mark promptly or transform your initial ideas into an effective campaign that works for your business.
Ultimately, if you have the ambition to make your business a success (and you’re hungry enough for that extra patty and pickle), the right agency will feed your passion and help you achieve the best results possible.
If you are considering trusting an agency with the digital marketing for your business, talk to us, we’d love to help you out!
Social Media Management