A quick look at the two approaches to get you thinking
Picture this… You have just published a post on your company’s Facebook page. 3 days down the line it has only received 11 likes; 7 of those from your immediate family and another 4 from your friends. On top of that, the post did not result in any website traffic or immediate increase in sales. Not so great, right?
What could be going wrong? A multitude of things, such as: your post was not effectively boosted, the creative may not have been up to standards, your content was not compelling enough or optimised, and perhaps you did not include a link or call-to-action leading back to your website/product/service.
This is perfectly normal…you can’t be expected to know all of this, right? However, an agency or an in-house marketing team should.
Now, you’re probably wondering well which is the right option for me? A quick look at both will hopefully shed some light on which best fits your brand’s budgets and needs.
The In-house paradigm
An In-house team is one which undertakes all the marketing efforts of a brand and works for that specific brand and only that. Large companies can probably afford to hire a designer, a content writer, a PPC specialist, a social media manager, a developer and so forth. These experts (and owned talent) will then be responsible for your brand’s online marketing efforts on a daily basis. Fantastic, right?
However, if you cannot get all these people on board, then you’re probably failing your marketing strategy, true potential and desired results, because let’s face it, a designer alone can’t manage a Facebook page, write a blog post and optimise ads at the same time – if you know such a #superdesigner please send them over asap! On a more cynical tone, perhaps jacks of all trades are probably masters of none.
Enter the External agency: a cheaper alternative?
An agency usually hires people with a diversity of marketing skills. The team usually comprises of individuals with a wide range of specialities: from AdWords pros to creative designers. Each member is great at what they do and working together as a team allows them to better adapt to each client’s needs, making them far more valuable as a team rather than an individual.
As a company you probably won’t be needing a full time AdWords expert and designer, whereas an agency would have both in their team, given that they would be required to handle a variety of client accounts. Small to medium companies that cannot afford their own in-house digital experts can then turn to agencies and benefit from the skillsets available for a far more logical price.
Agencies also have the capacity to produce more creative work since their staff usually handle a range of projects for different clients, thus never allowing talent to lose that spark or get bored.
Advertising agencies also get some perks from platforms and publishers given that the volume of work they do is too large to be ignored by the big players in online advertising. Aside from the latest industry insights and developments, agencies also enjoy quicker support, earlier access to new products and further account supervision regarding ad platforms. All this has an immediate effect on their clients’ accounts, giving brands that work with agencies an advantage over their competition.
Ultimately, before deciding on which path your brand will embark on, it is always good to assess your marketing strategy and goals, your budget and current capabilities. If you feel there is room for improvement, give us a shout and we can draw up a cost-effective marketing solution tailored to your needs and budget!
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