During my day-to-day, I meet with many CEOs and entrepreneurs who think that marketing comes down to running social media channels, or deciding what color the company’s logo will be.
But in fact, marketing is much more than that – choosing the company’s marketing strategy is going to determine the future of your startup.
No pressure, huh?????
Hiring a marketer for your startup is always a big decision.
But when it comes to early-stage start-ups, it’s a strategic one. There is no room for mistakes – you must maximize every Dollar and show investors profitability.
So you have 2 options: in-house or outsourced:
- The first option is to hire someone in-house to manage your marketing.
- The second option is to hire the services of an outsourced marketing agency.
Both options have their pros and cons, but in order to make an informed decision for your business, you need to understand the bigger picture, so there won’t be any surprises along the way.
Not what you thought!
Many startup leaders believe that having an in-house marketing team will save them money in the long run. They think that by hiring their own employees, they can avoid the high costs associated with hiring vendors or agencies.
But is this the reality? And is it the right thing for your organization?
Let’s talk about hidden costs that the in-house team can have:
An in-house marketer, no matter how talented and experienced, can’t master all the aspects of marketing (from strategy and branding to SEO, PR, lead generation, channel marketing, content and messaging, social media to PPC.)
You may find that your in-house team does not have the expertise or experience needed to effectively execute your full marketing strategy.
Marketing is like a rainbow – you need all the colors to make it work!
At the end of the day, it may be necessary to hire external vendors to fill any gaps and ensure that your marketing strategy is comprehensive and effective. The result?
The decision to go in-house ends up being way more expensive than you thought.
In addition, you need to take into consideration costs associated with the recruiting process, equipment and training, salaries, and benefits.
Not to mention the most expensive resource you have – time.
The price of choosing the wrong person can be expensive, especially in the early stages, when it is extremely important to build a smart GTM strategy and to deliver it as quickly as possible.
The consequences of choosing the wrong strategy or the wrong person can be devastating, delaying the time to market.
An in-house marketing person has held in their career two or three company positions on average. Agency-managed marketing has under its belt at least 80 different companies, verticals, personas, knowledge of best practices, and a real benchmarks, that take the guesswork out.
When you weigh all these factors together with the time it will take the marketer to deliver, it is no longer certain that the in-house option is the most profitable.
Let’s talk about outsourcing.
Hiring a marketing agency gives you the ability to scale quickly since agencies always have more employees ready to jump aboard and ramp up marketing efforts.
You get access to a diverse team with a full range of skills, including creative, design, performance marketing, content development, data analysis, marketing automation, and growth tactics. This can be more advantageous than hiring a single marketing professional who may not have expertise in all areas. In cases where you do need vendors, the agency will connect you with good service providers so you won’t have to waste time on trial and error.
Since outsource marketing companies have a lot of experience, they can deliver from day one and cut the learning curve.
Don’t leave your outsourcing out of the loop.
When you start working with an outsourcing company, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- When choosing an outsourcing company, you must be vigilant and constantly check that they’re delivering results.
- They need to be constantly connected to what is happening inside the organization – from hallway conversations to the KPIs and priorities.
This is why we come to work from our client’s offices – and function as part of the company.
Adjusting the plan for your needs:
An outsourcing company can provide the flexibility of services based on your budget and your needs. They can offer you a customized marketing package that maximizes your budget, and they are experienced working with limited resources.
When you sum it up, an outsourcing company not only gives you the best practices but also saves you time and money. Let’s look at the table below –
| Features | In-house | Outsource |
| Payment | Salary + compensation + benefits + holidays | Only the marketing hours + extra vendors if you need |
| Delivery | Delivery from Day 1 | Delivery from day 1 |
| Marketing Skills | 2,3 marketing skills | 360 holistic marketing skills |
| vendors | Paying many different vendors | Many services are included in the package |
| Experience | A few fields from their last previous jobs | A wide range of fields from the agency portfolio |
| Flexibility | May take time to adjust strategies and tactics | Can adapt quickly to changing marketing needs |
| Scalability | May require hiring or reallocating resources for scalability | Can easily scale up or down based on business needs |
In conclusion, while bringing your marketing efforts in-house may seem like a cost-effective option, the reality is that it can often be more expensive in the long run.
By outsourcing your marketing to a professional agency, you can benefit from their experience, expertise, and resources, while also enjoying better costs, greater flexibility, and scalability. Don’t let hidden expenses drain your marketing budget; consider outsourcing your marketing.
