Your company is growing and your marketing needs are changing. In order to succeed, you need well-planned and executed campaigns that may be larger in scope than those you’ve managed in the past. Here’s where you need to decide if outsourced vs in-house marketing is the way to go.
As your business expands, how are you going to make sure your lean, mean marketing machine continues to run smoothly? While it may seem like your in-house team will be able to rise to the challenge, you may quickly learn that outsourcing is actually the better choice to help ensure your success.
How could it be that hiring a team of complete strangers will be better for your marketing than relying on and perhaps growing your in-house team?
While your in-house team does have the best knowledge of your brand, target audience and their pain points, they might not have as much experience handling the new types of marketing challenges you’ll be facing as you grow. When you outsource online marketing, an agency comes equipped with specialized marketing experience; they’ve tested various tactics and channels and can more efficiently pinpoint the ones that will work best for you.
Here are six benefits of hiring a marketing agency over an in-house marketing coordinator when you decide that it is time to globally expand your B2B company:
1. Saving on office space and overhead costs
Hiring in-house marketing vs. outsourced agency means paying for office space and overhead costs. In addition to rent and utilities, these costs will include equipment such as desks, phones, computers and office supplies, as well as fees for software licenses and subscriptions, and training for each of your in-house marketers. These are all costs you’ll be able to bypass and save when working with an agency.
2. Saving time on recruiting and training the right people
The trouble you’ll save on recruitment doesn’t only revolve around monetary expenses, though those are also significant.
Recent studies show that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find marketing talent that embodies the needed mix of both creative and analytical skills. This means it’s now taking longer to find the right candidates who can effectively and successfully execute marketing campaigns, and that more time is wasted screening resumes and interviewing candidates.
The financial burden involved in recruiting also shouldn’t be overlooked. According to Deloitte, it costs an average of $4,000 to fill a position.
3. Saving on salaries and social benefits for full-time employees
While you might be able to afford a mid or senior-level marketing employee, you need to remember that his or her salary won’t be your only expense.
In addition to the salary, you’ll also need to manage other employment expenses, namely taxes and benefits. Payroll taxes, including Social Security, healthcare, and unemployment taxes, will come out to around 10% of the employee’s base salary. As for benefits, you’ll be spending roughly 30% of the employee’s overall cost, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
What does that look like in hard numbers? Well, for a content writer who comes with some experience, you’re looking at a base salary of anywhere between $67,000 to $97,000 annually, plus an additional $30,000 to $43,000 for benefits. That’s somewhere between $97K to $140K a year—for only one of your marketing team members. Your content strategist’s salary will likely be higher than your web writer’s, and you’ll also need to include salaries and benefits for a graphic designer, for a specialist to perform outreach services, and for a project manager. All in all, these expenses can easily reach half a million dollars annually. Working with an agency significantly reduces the amount you spend on human resources.
4. Easily scaling your marketing efforts
There’s a certain level of work that your in-house marketing team will be able to manage successfully. But when you expand your company, there’s a good chance you’ll reach a point where it’ll be time to take on a number of larger-scale marketing campaigns. Will your in-house team be able to handle those?
An important benefit to working with an agency is that most will have an arsenal of qualified workers who can be relied on if ever you decide to push forward with bigger, more complex campaigns.
5. Keeping up with B2B marketing trends and tools
We’ve already mentioned that software licensing fees and training account for some of the costs you’ll incur if you rely on an in-house marketing team. But, it’s important to remember that the technologies and tools for entering new markets that professionals rely on most these days are constantly evolving, with new rules and approaches popping up regularly. An approach that works one day might become irrelevant in a matter of a few short months. This makes it more challenging than ever for even the most tech-savvy marketer to navigate and dominate current B2B marketing trends.
Moreover, your in-house marketers will be too occupied with their day-to-day tasks to spend enough time learning about and mastering the latest B2B marketing trends, meaning it’s better to outsource SEO, outsource social media activity, and outsource content marketing.
With an agency of skilled and experienced marketers, you can rest assured that the people running your B2B marketing machine are not only informed about current trends and strategies, they’re equipped with the skills and technological know-how needed to successfully lead your B2B marketing efforts forward. After all, it is their job.
6. Get an outsider expert opinion
It’s true that no one in your company will know your brand, audience and voice more intimately than your in-house marketers. They’ll also be most familiar with your company vision, goals and competitors.
While these are important benefits to having an in-house marketing team, they also come with a flip side: It can often be difficult for an in-house marketer to see beyond any biases or fixed ideas about your brand when attempting to identify new content types or opportunities that will resonate with your target audience.
An agency, however, isn’t impacted by these types of biases. In addition to their extensive marketing expertise, the agency team working with your company will know enough about your target audience’s interests and pain points as well as your company’s offerings and goals to make them best equipped for pinpointing areas where you can improve your content and successfully embrace new strategies.
Of course, choosing between an in-house marketing team or outsourced marketing doesn’t have to be black and white. Many companies are opting to use a mix of in-house marketers with the help of an agency. Or, they’re outsourcing the work that requires the specialized skills they don’t have in-house. This is because B2B marketing can no longer be a one man show. In contrast to the past, one person can't handle:
- All aspects of SEO such as, onsite, offsite and tech, outreach, and social
- Content management (for SEO and other purposes)
- PPC
These B2B marketing activities require teamwork, which an agency can provide at a lower cost and with higher expertise.
Still not sure if you need to outsource marketing to an agency like KeyScouts or not? Download our free benchmark comparison “The Four Metrics to Measure Success in a New Market” to learn how KeyScouts compares to the industry standard – understanding that will help you make the right decision for your company!
