In-house or agency
by Natalia Lopez
When is it a good idea to outsource your content marketing?
Choosing how to market your products and services is one of the most important decisions for business owners.
Over the past decade, the demand for companies to invest in a digital presence as part of their marketing strategy has also ramped up, with the UK now the largest digital advertising market in Europe.
Attracting, engaging and retaining an audience via content creation has emerged as a vital tool in the success of many of the planet’s most successful companies.
To stay competitive in a digitally-obsessed landscape, the need for companies to work with a dedicated content marketing team that creates and distributes valuable, relevant and consistent content is therefore undeniable.
After recognising the value of content marketing for your business, choosing whether to keep content marketing in-house or outsource work to an appropriate agency is often the next common problem.
Whilst opting to keep things in-house can give you an unrivalled level of control and ownership over the whole digital process, outsourcing content marketing to the experts can be a more intelligent and budget-friendly solution.
Each has its benefits and drawbacks, so how do you decide which is right for you?
In-house advantages
When it comes to their content marketing strategies, many well-established SMEs keep things in-house. The benefits of this are numerous and include the following:
Greater ownership and control
Unsurprisingly one of the main benefits of having an in-house team plan and strategise content is greater control over the end-to-end digital process. This also gives you the added benefit of ownership over things like strategy, execution and management. Furthermore, with this level of autonomy, tasks associated with the creative process and future content development can be more effective, thanks to the ease of aligning content campaigns to your company values.
An effective content marketing strategy will also use data analytics to measure the impact of its offerings. In addition, having an in-house team often means a more streamlined results-based approach to subsequent content development since staff can refine strategies in real-time and respond to frequent activity analyses and significant milestones such as product launches and special announcements.
Efficient communication and coordination
Another obvious benefit of keeping things in-house is the ease and efficiency of communication. Teams working side-by-side can foster a more profound sense of community and keep staff focused on achieving common goals. In addition, holding impromptu brainstorming events and getting the creative juices flowing with employees is much easier when they’re in the same building.
Unlike agencies, an in-house team can also give you greater flexibility in timelines, changes and deadlines since decisions do not depend on exterior expertise. This can also reduce your cost over time since some agencies may charge for late changes and faster delivery.
Better alignment
Linked to the previous point on communication and coordination is the better alignment that can be expected from an in-house team.
In-house teams will thoroughly understand a business and its related goals, products and services. As a result, there can be better cohesion with your overall business strategy from a team focused 100% on your company and its marketing projects. In addition, agencies frequently juggle multiple clients and could take some time to reach the level of understanding that permanent in-house employees more quickly gauge.
In-house disadvantages
Technical expertise
Undoubtedly, digital content marketing has established itself as a particular expertise with a specific skill set. Not all marketing strategy skills are instinctively transferable to tools like social media, which demand intricate knowledge of apps and platforms to be effective.
Due to this, it is improbable that companies can find one person skilled in all aspects of content marketing, including a broad range of talents like content writing, SEO knowledge, videography etc. In addition, content marketing is changing so quickly that keeping an in-house team on top of the latest trends can take time and effort. Agency staff work on multiple projects, which can accelerate their team’s learning and refine their abilities much faster.
Depending on the point of a business's journey, the demand for content creation can manifest in peaks and troughs in labour. You may not always have consistent work for content creators with a more niche skill set, which can be hard to gauge early on in your company’s growth.
Cost
The cost of hiring a team of permanent in-house marketing staff is high; finding the best in the industry is also a burdensome task. Aside from wages, recruitment and staffing costs incur other charges like taxes, insurance, training, equipment etc.
Access to editing tools, image, video and music libraries and audio mixing technology can also be expensive and quickly add up depending on the content type. On the other hand, agencies can give you access to more specialists that you may not be able to hire otherwise. A bonus is that you don’t face the stress of replacing them if they leave.
Scalability
In-house teams also face the challenge of scaling up if they want to do something outside their team members' skill set. Having a limited number of team members means access to a limited amount of resources.
Recruiting for a new position can take months, and competition in the digital content marketing landscape is fierce.
Agency advantages
Broader experience and expertise
The most well-known benefits of an agency are its ability to provide businesses with specialists with a broad range of experience and expertise. This is often refined over years of experience from being entrenched in the industry and working with a range of clients.
Working simultaneously with various clients across a range of projects means agencies have enviable insight into common challenges, best practices and trends and opportunities in the digital content marketing industry.
The best agencies also analyse data from their campaigns to keep their finger on the pulse regarding the most effective marketing tools and what may need changing. This can give agencies the edge over in-house teams regarding data analytics and performance tracking over time.
Price and scalability
As specialists in their field, content marketing agencies often have access to a broader range of software and gadgets than in-house teams and experience managing and coordinating projects of different sizes and scopes.
As a result, they have a better ability to scale and give you solutions that do not directly affect your company roles. Content marketing and campaign work don’t often follow a specific pattern, so instead of dealing with issues of being under and over-staffed, working with an agency gives you this flexibility. Another plus is the continuity offered by this approach. Your marketing efforts are also less affected when team members change compared to the disruption this can cause in an in-house team.
Hiring an agency can also be beneficial in the long term, and many companies form stable partnerships with agencies they outsource their content to. In addition, attractive monthly or yearly retainer packages can significantly reduce your company's overheads compared to hiring permanent staff with the required skill set.
Creativity
Working with different clients and having team members with varying skill sets mean agencies are a melting pot of creativity.
Staff are often well-versed in applying fresh approaches to meet different clients' needs. This is a huge plus, given how quickly the digital landscape transforms, how fast technology improves, and how often social media platforms improve their features.
The best agencies also ensure their staff are available and trained in the latest software and technology. This means they are often the first to test and apply the latest breakthroughs in content marketing solutions.
An agency’s focus on what’s needed to keep audiences engaged means they will frequently challenge industry-standard thinking and look at problems with fresh eyes.
This can offer objective problem-solving solutions compared to in-house teams, who may get bogged down in the details of the specific campaign they are working on.
Agency disadvantages
Understanding your vision
Depending on their experience, some agencies may take time to understand your business and its vision.
This can manifest in various ways, e.g. trouble targeting the right audience or writing content in the wrong tone.
Fully aligning with a company’s goals and vision requires effective communication. This can be harder to achieve when team members are not working in the same building and can vary between agencies.
The best of both worlds
Both approaches to content marketing have their respective benefits, and some savvy organisations are taking advantage of this and incorporating both models into their businesses.
Depending on the specifics of particular marketing campaigns, some SMEs partner with agencies to bolster the capabilities of their in-house teams and inject a sometimes necessary boost of creativity.
Incorporating specialist marketing strategies on an as-and-when basis affords businesses a level of flexibility that is not limited by the skill set of their core in-house marking team.
Similarly, some businesses find it easier and cheaper to start with an agency and slowly onboard permanent marketing team members as the business grows.
For start-ups, in particular, outsourcing can be the perfect solution as it allows you to harness most of the benefits of keeping things in-house but at a reduced cost.
These are especially significant in the short term. They allow companies to test the value of digital content marketing for their business before committing to employing a full-time team.
Wrapping Up
Whether you keep content creation house-house or outsource to an agency depends on your business requirement, but each will come with opportunities and challenges.
For many start-ups, limited resources, budget, and expertise present significant obstacles to keeping content marketing in-house. Hiring a content marketing agency is a cost-effective solution a company can use in the interim before hiring a whole team.
More established businesses are likely to have the budget to employ an in-house team, but even in these examples, many still choose to collaborate with agencies on specific campaigns. This best-of-both-worlds approach is a cost-effective way of adding extra value to in-house teams and testing the viability of longer-term partnerships with agencies offering attractive retainer options.
