The marketing department and agency: pros and cons
The marketing department is an obligatory division of a company, regardless of the field of activity or its size. However, if previously the only option for organizing such a department was to hire a staff of specialists, now you can use outsourcing services, and if necessary, ask for help from a partner. Both options have their pros and cons.
One of the factors of the successful work of marketers is the specialists’ devotion to the project, and their desire to get a high result. And in this sense, staff marketers win. They are more familiar with the niche, they understand their target audience and the goals of the company. In addition, when selecting specialists the employer has the opportunity to select the most worthy candidates, to form the right structure of the marketing department, which will be most effective for the specific objectives of the company. Also, in-house specialists will be able to participate in various projects, developing their skills and helping to achieve better results in other areas of business.
An important point is a financial component. In-house marketers will cost the company less than paying for the services of a specialized agency. In addition, the employer can raise the qualifications of in-house specialists by investing in their training. And after some time, they will be able to solve complex problems no worse than outsourced experts.
Despite the advantages of having an in-house marketing department, there are situations when the best solution is to bring in outside specialists. Outsourcing can be a way to strengthen your own staff. Or a business can entrust the implementation of a project entirely to a marketing agency. In this case, the latter can boast a rich list of successfully completed tasks and broad competencies in various market niches. Agencies provide services not limited to one area or country, it employs specialists who solve various issues. In addition, outsourcing has more resources and established patterns of interaction. For example, the agency can involve famous bloggers or a large community in the promotion, which in-house marketers are not always able to do. We should not forget about networking, which is often much wider in the case of attracted specialists.
It should also be said about motivation. If your own staff has to be regularly incentivized in one way or another, there are no such problems when cooperating with an agency. The fact is that the partnership here is on a contractual basis, and the service provider must complete the task clearly in time, or else he will face penalties or even legal action. Deadlines, in this case, the specialists involved are much better than those of the staff marketing department.The listed pros and cons show that both options for organizing marketing processes can yield excellent results. Before determining an acceptable job format, you need to start by understanding what marketing department’s functions are a priority for you. It is this knowledge that will help you decide if you need your own marketing department or if it is better to outsource your project. However, in both cases, it’s important to set clear goals for your marketing staff.
