In-house marketing team or agency? Here’s why growing businesses are choosing option C
You’re at the helm of a growing business. Sales are rising, new opportunities are emerging and the next stage of growth is just beyond the bow.
But the growth ahead demands more than just operational efficiency. It demands a marketing engine that can fuel your continued success. But you’re struck with a challenge—you’ve never had a dedicated marketing team or a structured strategy and you’re not sure where to start.
With uncharted waters ahead, the essential question bears heavy on your mind: hire and train your first in-house marketing team member or invite an external agency aboard?
The stakes are high. The choices you make now will have a lasting impact.
We’re here to help you get it right.
Hiring an in-house team is an incredibly specialised task and it’s far too easy (and expensive) to hire the wrong person. But agency land also has its drawbacks. And hiring a mix of both can be incredibly difficult to orchestrate.
Here’s our ultimate guide to the strengths and weaknesses of both, and why growing businesses are choosing a third alternative—a hybrid service like MarketingMayd.
Is an in-house marketing team right for your business?
Pros
Deep brand understanding: When you bring marketing in-house, you create a team that breathes your brand. They know your ethos, your products, and your audience like the back of their hands.
Focus and commitment: Your in-house team is invested in the success of one brand only—yours. That’s hugely beneficial to your business.
Control and transparency: Want to know exactly what your marketing dollars are doing? With an in-house team, you have total control over strategies, campaigns, and budgets.
Lower long-term costs: While the initial investment might be steep, over time, having an in-house team can be cheaper than agency fees. Once you’ve built that team, you’re essentially a marketing machine.
Cons
High upfront costs and overhead: Hiring a marketer will cost you around $70,000 a year. And that’s just for one inexperienced member.
Limited skillset: Your team may lack the diverse expertise needed for various marketing strategies.
Lack of objectivity: An internal team may be too close to your brand to see it from a customer’s perspective, potentially leading to biased strategies that lack critical outside insight.
Scalability issues: As your business grows, so will the marketing workload. Keeping up with growth and hiring new members while avoiding team burnout can be a tricky balancing act.
Huge potential to hire the wrong person: One bad hire can throw a wrench in your marketing machine, wasting time, money, and resources.
Is an external marketing agency right for your business?
Pros
Access to a wealth of expertise: Agencies are filled to the brim with specialists in various marketing fields. From social media gurus to SEO experts—you’re sorted.
Scalability and flexibility: Agencies can ramp up their services as your needs and budget grow, providing you with flexibility that an in-house team might not.
Access to advanced tools: Agencies often have access to cutting-edge marketing software and analytics platforms that can provide deeper insights, optimise campaigns, and drive better results.
Fresh perspectives: Sometimes you need an outsider’s view to shake things up. Agencies can bring innovative ideas that your in-house team might overlook.
Cons
A wrong brief can cost you big time: With agencies, you need to know where you’re going to give a good brief and get a good outcome. If you don’t communicate your needs clearly, it can be very expensive.
Intelligence that disappears: When you part ways with an agency, you often lose the knowledge and strategies they developed for you.
Expensive siloed activities: Agencies can be costly, and you might find their work is disjointed or lacks cohesion with your overall brand strategy.
Less control, more coordination: Working with an agency means you may have to rely on their timelines and processes, leading to less direct oversight of projects compared to managing an internal team.
Hard to track progress: If you’re not well-versed in marketing, it can be hard to gauge what’s working and what’s not. You could be throwing money down the drain without even knowing it.
Option C: A new hybrid marketing service
To navigate these challenges, growing businesses are opting for a hybrid marketing model like MarketingMayd. This approach combines the strengths of both in-house teams and agencies, without the financial risks.
Benefits of the MarketingMayd hybrid model:
Full team of experts for the cost of one hire: Access a full team of specialists (who’ve worked on some of Australia’s most infamous brands) without the financial burden, risks, and time commitments associated with staffing a full team.
Committed to building your marketing blueprint: We’re not just here to answer your brief. We’ll help you craft a comprehensive strategy tailored to your marketing needs and help you walk it out.
Sets you up for long-term and short-term success: We incorporate both brand building and sales activation techniques to foster sustainable growth.
Helps you build your in-house marketing team: Once we’ve laid the foundations, we’ll help find and train your ideal marketer, ensuring you're well-equipped to take the reins in the future.
Ready to bolster your brand to match your ambition?
Setting the groundwork for marketing success is no easy feat, especially when you’ve never done it before. The MarketingMayd model is built to help people in your exact position.
Let’s discuss how we can help you build a marketing powerhouse that will drive your business toward the sustainable growth it deserves.