Online Marketing Specialist Vs. Marketing Agency – Which is best for you?
Online Marketing can’t be ignored anymore. Before making any purchase decision, the consumers are doing online research and are getting more informed than ever. Just take a look at the following charts.
Source: www.consumerbarometer.com/en/insights/?countryCode=RO
That’s why your company needs a good online presence. If you want to have good results there are two options: have an Online Marketing Specialist in-house or work together with a Marketing Agency.
Online Marketing Specialist Vs. Marketing Agency
Let’s see what are the pros and cons for each option:
Online Marketing Specialist (OMS) in-house
Pros
– The OMS will get to know everything about your business, even the inside jokes;
– If you want to change something very fast (like at that moment), your OMS will be always there for you;
– The OMS can help you also with other minor things that need to be done and that are not necessarily his responsibility;
Cons
– If your OMS will leave your company, you will have to hire and train a new one. That will take some time and money to get the same results the previous specialist got;
– It’s hard or almost impossible to have an Online Marketing Specialist that has all the skills that you will need for implementing your Online Marketing Plan: HTML, design, SEO, Pay Per Click campaigns, Social Media Marketing, blogging, email marketing, Analytics, CRO etc.;
– Some tasks will take a lot of time to get done, because of the learning curve;
– You only get one perspective for your online presence, and that can lead to a shortage of creativity;
– You pay a lot of extra salary taxes and benefits;
Marketing Agency
Pros
– You have a team at your disposal that can cover everything you need for your Online Marketing;
– The Online Marketing Specialists from the agency know many insights from other industries, and can use this knowledge to improve your business results;
– You will benefit from improved instruments (such as reports, industry analysis, etc.) that an in-house marketing specialist can’t develop by himself;
– You pay only for the services you get without any salary taxes. This can lead to a more efficient investment on the long term;
– If the agency has other offline capabilities also (like we have) it can help you with more than just Online Marketing;
Cons
– The OMS from the agency won’t get to know your business as good as an in-house OMS;
As you can see, there are some advantages and disadvantages for both options. But do you really have to make a choice? The truth is that those options don’t have to exclude each other. It is a good practice to have an in-house Marketing Specialist or Brand Manager that coordinates the collaboration with the Marketing Agency. This will help your company get the best from both sides.
If you have a business that affords to have its own Online Marketing Team (2 to 6 specialists at least), not just an Online Marketing Specialist, then a Marketing Agency can help you with an outside perspective on how you can improve your Online Marketing Tactics and Strategy.
Our advice is to choose wisely and find out all your options. Try not to miss out on good opportunities to grow your online presence.
Yours dedicated,
Călin Biriș
