Outsourcing Digital Marketing

Organizations are often fronted with a decision of if and when to outsource marketing. There isn’t a fast best answer for this. Numerous successful companies run all of their marketing in-house (SEO, SEM, Email, Social, Creative, etc.), and other highly successful companies outsource the aforementioned channels to specialists. Further, some organizations have a mixture of both, internal teams to manage strategy, and external agencies to execute the media.  In this post, I’ll share the pros and cons when considering outsourcing your digital marketing.

Pros of Outsourcing Your Marketing

• Immediate support – When an organization outsources marketing to an agency or a consultant, they immediately have serious talent. If an organization decides to bring this in-house, that will often come with a relatively lengthy hiring process, onboarding, and training which can take 3-6 months.
• Specialized expertise – Outsourcing marketing to an agency will provide specialized experience. You can quickly have a team that specializes in each digital channel you’re looking to outsource, whether that’s email, SEO, SEM, etc. Generally, when organizations bring talent in-house, they bring in generalists who are good at a lot of things, but not great at specific channels.
• Industry knowledge – Working with an agency will come with a wealth of industry knowledge from their experience, working directly with reps at the major platforms/publishers (i.e., Google, Meta, etc.), attending conferences, etc. This is especially true when you partner with an agency that has deep experience within your industry
• Cost Savings – Outsourcing marketing to an agency can typically drive some solid cost savings. For example, if an organization chooses to manage marketing in-house for 4-5 digital channels, that could be several employees, which includes salary, benefits, paid vacations, etc. Generally speaking, outsourcing will be a fraction of the cost of hiring specialists to bring on the house.

Pros of Bringing Marketing in House

Assuming budget isn’t an issue, and that the organization will bring in specialists for each channel, vs. generalists, here are a few pros of bringing marketing in-house.

• Company knowledge – Since the marketing team works for the company, they are ingrained with the company’s products and services, philosophy, differentiators, etc. This knowledge base is super helpful when marketing. Agencies can and will learn this over time, but this will be an advantage to the internal company team.
• Fast communication – Given all communication is internal, and some could involve staying by a colleague’s desk, quick communication will be a pro when having a team internal, vs. external. However, in the age of slack, this isn’t as critical as before. Agency partners can be reached very quickly, and communication preferences should be scoped out before the partnership.

If You Are Going to Outsource Marketing, This Is What to Look Out For

• Industry Expertise: Do they have strong domain knowledge within your industry? This is a big differentiator when outsourcing marketing, you want to make sure you work with a partner who has years of experience marketing within your industry.
• References: Does the agency have strong references, reviews, and testimonials? Always ask for references. Before you start a long-term engagement, it’s always good to ask other organizations that have worked with the agency.
• Cost: Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. If an agency is offering services below industry standards, chances are you’ll get that level of service. Ask for details on how they scope out engagements. This will give you a feel to ensure they’re priced accordingly, not too high, and not too low.
• Team: Often a sales team, or the agency owner, will pitch the business. However, it’s important to ask who will be assigned to the account, in order to be comfortable with who will work on the business. At Rise, we always offer any client to meet the team in advance, it’s important for both sides to feel comfortable working with each other.
• Communication style: Share how you prefer your communication with the agency. Is it weekly calls, bi-weekly calls, slack, etc.? Share this upfront to make sure the agency is on the same page. Further, talk about reports you need to review and that would be helpful.
• Out Clause: No one likes to break up with an agency, but it does happen. With that, you need to ask what their terms are, and what the out clause is. Avoid agencies with long-term commitments unless there is a very special reason for this. At Rise, we purposely have a 0-day out clause, as we would never want to force a relationship. If the client has to pause for any reason (inventory issues, bringing marketing in-house, seasonality, etc.) they can certainly pause.
• Enjoyable to work with: During the sales process, are they enjoyable to work with? Are they responsive with communication? Are they flexible to your needs and business, or are they trying to push you into their process? Do they respond when they say they will? The sales experience is often an indicator of how well they will be to work with. If it’s a great experience, chances are it could be a great experience. If it’s a very one-sided experience, that could be something to consider. However, it is still important to meet the team, as referenced before.