Marketing has been, and always will be, one of the main pillars of a well-run business ever since the introduction of its concept in the late 1950s. Before the internet was invented, the corporate world invested significant amounts in marketing strategies to keep afloat among an ocean of competitors.
The internet's invention and the world wide web's arrival paved the way to the birth of Digital Marketing in the 1990s. The internet and technology were growing together at a progressive rate. Subsequently, a good marketer knows that anyone who wants to be on top of their marketing game should grow together with the rise of technology.
People's attention slowly gravitated towards the digital world, and as part of any company’s marketing strategy, they too have to follow where the people’s attention lies. Otherwise, they lose one of the primary goals of marketing - brand awareness.
Not so long ago, Digital Marketing was optional. But today, it is a necessity if you want your business to thrive in the 21st century. The current pandemic forced numerous companies to go digital on a global scale. And this movement highlighted the importance of having a
Digital Marketing team to look after the marketing strategies online.
Now comes another dilemma for companies, or perhaps business owners like you. Today, a dilemma exists between acquiring an in-house digital team or outsourcing it to a digital marketing agency. You’re here because you’re gravitating towards the decision of having an in-house digital marketing team for your business.
Read on, and find out about the top five reasons why you’re about to make the right decision of acquiring an in-house digital marketing team for your company.
Cost-Effectiveness
The financial strategies of any business are vital in any decision-making process. Investing in a digital marketing talent pool comes at a cost, of course, but the return of investment is effective in the long run.
As a business owner, you want to take the least risk as to where you put your money. You’re not going to spend away in different agencies that may involve some trial-and-error phases. And if you just started a company, then chances are you’ll be mindful of your costs. You want to optimize those costs, and having an in-house digital team helps you attain that goal.
Besides, you want the value of the money you spend. Spending on a digital marketing agency that turned out to be a mistake because of unsatisfactory results can be considered a waste of money. You want to prevent that from happening and as encouragement on your decision - yes, having an in-house digital marketing team can help you reduce that risk.
Information and Technology Security
Humans need to feel secure, and so do companies. Or at least the people running them. Every business has its data unique to them. You need to keep that data safe. Switching different marketing agencies for every change in marketing campaigns puts your data at risk of floating around various hands. In the first place, you should look after your data.
The event of data floating around doesn’t happen with an in-house digital marketing team.
Having your team means you have your data protected within your circle of creative talent. Yes, non-disclosure agreements exist in the professional world. However, a company can sleep better when it knows that its data is safe in the hands of its in-house team and not handled by different agencies.
Moreover, company-owned technology is safer in the hands of an in-house team. Your company should consider this aspect too when you have thoughts of outsourcing marketing strategies to agencies.
On another note, your in-house team’s quick access to the results of marketing campaigns is an advantage to your company. Your ability to measure advertising performances efficiently can help you cater to your marketing strategies well enough to fit your target customer’s preferences.
Fluidity in Communication
You know time is valuable not only to humans but to business entities as well. Communication plays a vital role in running a company too. And to ensure the effective and efficient execution of tasks, timely communication is essential.
Imagine the waiting time of the correspondence between your company and a marketing agency. This amount of time will reduce to a significant amount if you work with your in-house digital marketing team.
The time it takes for correspondence between your company and an outsourced agency can affect the timeliness of ideas presented to the market. But having an in-house team working constantly can have a positive result when it comes to introducing products to the market on time. The timely presentation of ideas to the market is a result of the reduced time between an idea conceived and the action it needs.
Improved Control Over Strategies
Control of company strategies is done by the people running it and not the other way around. With marketing strategies at hand, you want to see the proper execution of these strategies and ensure things go the way just as they are planned.
This idea does not mean micromanaging since doing so harms the team. But having improved control over your marketing strategies means easy accessibility to the plans because your team is accessible, especially if you are working during the same office hours. For any doubts that may come up during the strategy implementation, the team is just a cubicle away. Or maybe nowadays, a chat away.
Besides, having an in-house digital marketing team means you can measure the impact of your marketing campaigns easily since you have them at an accessible and trustworthy range from your team. There’s a risk in trusting the results coming from outsourced marketing agencies. It’s wise to trust the one coming from within the company.
Employee Focus and Brand Familiarity
When you hire people to join your in-house digital marketing team, it is normal that the brand familiarity among the team members is still at a base point. But that’s what an online course is for. Allowing your team to learn from an online course to get the gist of your brand is a favorable decision to make in the beginning.
As your business grows, so does the brand familiarity of your team. Sharing a deep passion for your company’s values with your in-house digital marketing team is a wise move that cannot be acquired by hiring an outsourced marketing agency. You hire your pool of talent, who already have a sense of the company’s mission from the beginning. Allowing them to focus on what they do best within your team can have a positive effect on the marketing campaigns your company will make.
Outsourced marketing agencies will tend to be juggling between different marketing campaigns among several companies. Your company doesn’t have to be one of the juggled tasks if you have your in-house team looking after the marketing campaigns and make sure they align with the marketing strategies your company wants to implement.
Your in-house digital marketing will be able to focus on your mission alone, and their strong brand familiarity will enable each member to deliver their best creative ideas without distractions.
Extra Reason: Reduce Risk from Cost Spent on Incompatible Agencies
Managing your in-house team allows you to address incompatibility issues at an early stage resulting in less time spent on arguments due to differences in opinion.
Imagine if you outsourced to a marketing agency, and incompatibility arises in the middle of the campaign. The solution will be to hire another agency or deal with the incompatibility until the end of the campaign. Both situations are uncomfortable and a waste of the company’s time. And you know that time is valuable when running your business.
A business will always have risks to take but you don’t want to risk costs spent on an outsourced marketing agency that may turn out to be the wrong one for your business. An in-house digital marketing team has passed through filters during the hiring process. As a result, your team will be filled with creatives who are more likely to be compatible with your company’s opinions and ideas.
Before You Go…
If you need confirmation for your decision of acquiring your in-house digital marketing team, then this is the confirmation you’re looking for. Yes, there are numerous digital marketing agencies out there who come from a mix of talents. But you know by now that having your team brings advantages you know are beneficial to your company.
You want what’s best for the company so you know the kind of talent you want to exist in your in-house digital marketing team. When you have your team of creatives, you will have their focus on your brand, your mission, and your company’s goal. This kind of focus cannot be acquired by hiring different agencies for different campaigns.
If your company has long-term marketing plans, then having an in-house digital marketing team is a wise decision for your company. You’ll have a pool of talent who will share your goals, with whom you can foster a positive relationship too. And most importantly, you’ll have customer-focused creatives in your team who can and will look after your marketing strategies online.