5 Rock Solid Reasons Not to Hire a Marketing Agency
Hiring a digital marketing agency takes more budget than you can free-up by discontinuing your free-coffee-for-the-office program. You know you need help, but would it be more cost-effective to hire an in-house team instead? We hate to sound wishy-washy, but … maybe.
There are plenty of reasons to hire a marketing agency, but in some cases it might make more sense to hire employees to fulfill marketing roles. Here are some reasons you might not want to hire a marketing agency:
1. You find an employee who does it all.
These marketing unicorns do exist. Occasionally, an employee comes to you with expertise in marketing strategy, graphic design, web development, SEO, copywriting, certified Google Ads management, and social media management. If you find that person, consider yourself lucky (and consider buying a lottery ticket). Plan on paying a premium salary because of that extensive skillset, and then multiply that number by three to factor in training and benefits. Even then, this person could still be a bargain, compared to outsourcing your marketing.
2. You have deep pockets for marketing.
If you’re positioned to make a big investment in marketing, having an in-house team may serve you well. You’ll need to hire a team that covers the skills described above. Most marketing professionals have one to three of those skills if they are true experts. A team offers additional value through added collaboration, idea generation, and capacity, and that bonus creativity will serve your marketing strategy well. As you build your team, don’t forget to hire a good manager with experience leading creative types, or be prepared to add that to your own task list.
3. You like managing subscriptions.
After you hire your team, you’ll also need some tools. A digital marketing agency brings the latest technologies and premium tools as part of the deal, but you can absolutely get your own subscriptions.
Sample Monthly Subscription Costs
- Marketing Automation – $800 - $5,000
- SEO Rank Tracker – $100 - $800
- Digital Ads Rank Report – $200 - $800
- Competitor Keyword Analysis – $200 - $500
- Project Management Software – $100 - $800
- Website Uptime Tracker – Free - $500
- Email Marketing – $50 - $200
- Password Management – $50
- Content Calendar Management Tools – $50 - $250
- Social Media Aggregator – Free - $250
4. Your marketing needs are static, consistent, and predictable.
You don’t want to invest in finding and training new employees, only to find your workload can't keep them consistently busy. You also don’t want to scramble to add team members during the surge of a busy season. Fluctuating needs are one of the key reasons to hire a marketing agency. But if you know that your marketing needs are roughly the same throughout the year, and consistent year to year, you’re in a better place to know how many people to hire.
5. Your existing team has lots of extra bandwidth to devote to marketing tasks.
If your current team is underutilized, it makes sense to try to fill free hours with marketing tasks. As long as you’re not diverting time from sales, product development, or other core competencies of your business, you might be able to train employees on specific marketing tasks.
Bottom line: It doesn’t always make sense to hire a digital marketing agency.
In spite of the reasons to hire a marketing agency, such as getting an A-team ready to work right out of the gate, easily scaling up or cutting back to fit fluctuating demands, and offering fresh ideas and valuable insights, your structure and needs might make hiring an internal team a better alternative.
But if you need more marketing agility, want to augment your existing team with additional skills, or just want a fresh perspective, BoxCrush is ready to help you step out of your comfort zone. Let's talk about your strategy, and figure out which approach makes the most sense for your organization.