Which is better: building an in-house marketing team or outsourcing marketing to an agency?

It has become increasingly difficult for entrepreneurs to do all the marketing work themselves. Marketing isn’t just about creating a website and running a blog – these days it’s also about social media, SEO, paid advertising, email marketing and much more. The question of whether to hire one or more employees and set up an in-house team or outsource online marketing to an agency is one that concerns many entrepreneurs today.

You have founded a company, have a great product or a great service. And now? There are many ways to sell your products/services to men (or women) these days. Even here, uncertainties often arise. Which paths should I actually take? Which marketing strategies are right for me? Do I have to do email marketing? Should I get an Instagram account or LinkedIn – or even both?

If you have little to no experience with the various marketing options, then it is a good idea to discuss everything with an agency. Feel free to compare the different offers here – not every agency has the same range of services. An agency can support you right from the start and discuss with you which strategies make sense for you and your company and which do not.

If you have a little more experience with online marketing and already know exactly which marketing channels you want to use, you can of course also hire someone specifically for this purpose. But here, too, it can make sense to contact an agency.

What advantages does an agency offer?

1. large network

An existing agency usually already has a large network of contacts from a wide range of industries. These include influencers, publishers and other service providers. In addition, the agency may already have customers from your industry, so that experience is already available here and you can already plan the procedure using a concrete example.

2. everything from a single source

An agency has several employees with different areas of responsibility in which they specialize. For example, a team could consist of one or more online marketing managers, a specialist for all graphic and general design topics, a social media manager and a UX expert. This means that all marketing campaigns can be adapted to each other in a wide variety of channels.

3. high innovative strength

Since an agency must always be up to date in order to acquire new customers in the rapidly growing online world and not lose touch, it must have a high level of innovative strength. Agencies regularly train their employees, follow the latest marketing trends, attend networking events, take part in lectures and do much more to stay up to date. This motivation often does not exist in in-house teams – keyword ‘operational blindness’. What has worked in recent weeks and months is often continued and rarely developed further.

4. costs

If you consider the previous points, it quickly becomes clear that an in-house team can be expensive. An experienced online marketing manager costs €50,000 – €80,000 per year. Often one employee is not enough. Not only because you should also think about vacation and sickness cover, but also because a single employee cannot cover the entire spectrum of services. Costs for further training must also be planned. With an agency, you usually pay a fixed monthly sum plus a service commission per sale/lead etc. This can be easily calculated for the year. This can easily be calculated for the year.

Summary

If you have the budget and enough time, it certainly makes sense to set up your own in-house team. These employees can focus 100% on your project and shine with their industry knowledge. If they also regularly take part in networking events and further training, you have a good basis for your marketing. But in reality, things look a little different. Marketing should be planned in right from the start – often there is not enough time to find the right people. Application processes can take forever and then you think you’ve found the right person for the job and then he/she turns you down at the last second. You don’t have these problems with an agency. You have fixed contact persons at the agency who are available to you, and a replacement is also provided in the event of illness. The agency takes care of the necessary personnel and can assist you from day 1 for a lower, easily calculable budget.