The benefits of working with a marketing company
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- There are advantages to working with a marketing company over working with just an internal marketer.
- Agencies pool resources, including people and tools, into one place.
- Companies are also more responsive to a fast-moving industry than solo agents.
For mid-sized businesses, there’s often a point reached where the business has the money to start bringing on their own marketing people instead of working with an external agency. But, should they?
In this blog post, we’ll break down the advantages of continuing to work with an agency over internal marketing staff.
Pooled resources
One of the primary advantages of working with an external marketing company is that you’re getting a team of marketing professionals working on a campaign, often for the cost it would take to employ just one marketer internally.
The right people
Digital marketing campaigns are complex and multilayered. In most cases, the scope of work far exceeds the expertise of one person alone. After all, you’d have to hire someone locally who:
- Understands the changes currently happening to pay-per-click advertising and how to setup and manage successful, growing campaigns.
- Is able to write and edit professional website, social media, and advertising copy.
- Can diagnose campaign performance in real-time and make the right adjustments to keep things on course.
There’s more, of course. The point is that all of this—the scope of what we do here at 5 Fold—is probably too much for one individual marketer.
By working with a company like us, you’re getting access to our pooled resources for the same cost it would take you to hire one person internally. On our team, we have:
- A PPC & SEO specialist
- A content writer and editor
- A social media manager
- A local listings expert
- A website designer
- A back-end web developer
- A videographer
- A photo editor
All of these people are salaried professionals. According to one source, employing a full team of marketers in this way could cost as much as $374,000 per year.
Tools of the trade
In addition to people, digital marketing requires tools. This isn’t just computers, mice, and keyboards, but also software.
For an internal marketer at any given company to replicate the work of an entire marketing company, they’ll need access to all of these tools. The cost of this can add up quickly.
Beyond that, the internal marketer needs to know how to use the tools. That could mean spending time and money on training courses. Since new tools are debuting regularly, this means even an experienced marketer needs to keep their skills up-to-date.
An outside perspective
One of the advantages of hiring an internal marketer to work for your business is that they’re right there. In some ways, they can better understand your business and marketing needs because they’re in the building.
However, in our experience, that’s not always how it turns out. Sometimes, an internal marketer is too close to the business operations, and an important, outside perspective is lost.
For example, let’s say there’s a certain way you’ve been selling a particular product for decades. An outside voice might be able to better take a step back and critically evaluate if that way is the best way. A marketing company can provide you with research about what your competitors are doing, what’s working, and much more.
Most agencies work within multiple verticals, or industries. However, most have at least a few clients in any given vertical, which allows them to take lessons learned from one and apply them to the other—and vice-versa—until all the campaigns are strengthened.
Keeping up with a fast-changing marketing world
Digital marketing is an ever-changing field. In 2017, there were major changes to local listings, and, in 2018, there’s already been a lot of changes to Facebook.
Point being, there’s a lot to keep up with, and a team is better equipped to do just that than an individual. At 5 Fold, not only are we constantly watching out for news or trends, but we can also measure the impact of those changes on our campaigns.
It comes down to your company
Each company’s marketing needs are different, yours included. Some medium-sized businesses choose to work with an internal marketer and a marketing company; others choose just one or the other.
Whatever you decide, it’s important to remember that all digital campaigns are strengthened by the active involvement of the company in its own marketing. An external marketing company can create a campaign just as authentic and localized as an internal marketer. It all depends on how the company participates.
To learn more about how 5 Fold does marketing right, read our case studies. You can also get in contact with us online, or connect with us on Facebook. We’d love to hear from you.