A lot of business owners believe that marketing is just an expense. But in reality, marketing is a critical part of business success that should never be taken for granted.
Marketing can drive visibility, build trust, and connect your business with the right customers. It can help you grow and increase your revenue. It can also help you effectively stand out in competitive markets, establish your value, and even nurture long-term customer relationships.
Marketing is really important and should be part of any business. But the real question is, what is the best and most efficient way to integrate marketing in your business? Having an in-house team or outsourcing experts?
If you understand the importance of marketing for your business but don’t know which way to go, here are some things to consider.
In-house or outsource marketing? Which is better?
1. Cost of talent
To launch an effective marketing strategy for your business, you need marketing experts. Marketing professionals vary depending on their specialties. You can hire a marketing manager, digital marketing specialist, content strategist, (Search Engine Optimisation) SEO specialist, social media manager, pay-per-click (PPC) expert, among others.
Having all of these people in your business is really amazing. But it also means you need to invest a lot. The cost of marketing talent can be expensive and can vary depending on hiring in-house or outsourcing.
If you are hiring an in-house talent, you may be spending around AUD 120,000/year on average for a digital marketing manager. Not to mention their benefits, training costs, tools, and software, among others.
Outsourcing marketing experts can be a game-changer. It can provide you access to an entire team of specialists for the price of one in-house talent. In fact, according to Deloitte’s Global Outsourcing, 59% of businesses outsource to reduce costs, making it one of the most ROI-driven reasons to outsource. Thus, if you are looking for ways to outsource marketing experts for lower costs, outsourcing is the best way to go.
2. Access to skills and expertise
You need marketing experts who have the skill to actually execute an effective marketing strategy to grow your business. So how can you get it? Which is a better move? In-house or outsource?
If you decide to hire an in-house team, you need to know that you will hire limited set of skills. One marketer can be strong in social media but weak in pay-per-click. On the other hand, you have the option to upskill your team. But this means that you need to invest money and time in training and upskilling.
With outsourcing marketing talents, you have access to professionals or experts who can do a lot of marketing activities. A lot of providers have a pool of specialists such as SEO, content, PPC, design strategy, among others.
3. Scalability and flexibility
Marketing is a must for every business. This means your marketing team will be with you for the long run. Thus, your marketing department should be flexible. Which one is easy to scale or is flexible?
We all know that when you scale an in-house marketing team, you will undergo hiring, onboarding, training, and even increased payroll. This can be a big burden on your company especially, if demand fluctuates.
Since you are hiring an outsourcing provider, you don’t need to worry about scaling your team. Your outsourcing provider can take care of that for you. Ask them what you want, and they can give you what you need. No need to worry about hiring, training, onboarding, or even downsizing when the demand changes.
4. Technology and tools
Another thing that you need to consider when building or hiring your marketing team are the technology, tools, and equipment that they will use to be efficient in their work. This can be an added expense on your end.
In-house hiring of marketing specialists means you need to subscribe to marketing software, acquire computer units, and other tools. If you are a startup, you might not be able to afford enterprise-level tools or subscriptions.
Good thing about outsourcing is that your provider already have these subscriptions and tools that their experts are using. You get all the benefits from enterprise-grade analytics and automation without paying extra.
5. Speed of execution
Another crucial thing that makes marketing strategy effective is the delivery time. In this fast-changing economy, being first or fast matters. So which one can give you a fast turn-over time – in-house or outsourced?
Internal teams can face conflicts from competing priorities, office politics, or limited headcount. With this, campaigns can take weeks to roll out.
With outsourcing, you have a dedicated specialist who will assure you that campaigns will be launched in time. According to Clutch, 37% of small businesses outsource specifically to improve efficiency and speed.
6. Brand knowledge and alignment
Your marketing team should know your brand by heart. They need to spend a lot of time to learn about it. They should live and breathe the company culture and everything that your brand entails. So which one is capable to live out your brand?
No one knows your brand like your internal team. In-house marketers live and breathe the company culture, which often leads to messaging that’s more authentic and aligned.
Outsourcing marketing team may need time to learn your brand voice. Without strong communication, there’s a risk of content that feels “off.”
7. Innovation and fresh perspectives
In a fast-paced economy today, we need to keep up with the changes that include marketing your business. If you don’t keep up with these changes, chances are you are going to be left behind by your competitors. Considering this, which one is better when it comes to innovation and fresh perspectives?
Being with brands long enough, internal teams can sometimes get stuck in routine campaigns. They also lack exposure to new trends and fresh ideas. On the other hand, outsourced marketers work with different clients across multiple industries. They have wide experience, innovative ideas, and strategies.
8. Data-driven results and reporting
One of the things that makes a marketing campaign effective is if you can get data-driven results and reporting. So who is better to get that? An in-house or an outsourced?
In-house teams are often focused on execution than analytics. Smaller teams often lack advanced reporting capabilities. On the other hand, outsourced marketers prioritise results to justify their contracts. They have more accountability and data transparency.
9. Long-term growth potential
Another thing that you need to look for when getting a marketing team for your business is to look at it in long-term growth potential. In-house teams provide stability and deep brand immersion over time. This can translate to stronger long-term brand building and storytelling. On the other hand, outsourcing offers rapid scaling, cost efficiency, and expertise, but if not managed well, long-term brand consistency may suffer.
If you are choosing between the two, it will depend on your growth strategy. In-house wins for brand depth while outsourcing wins for scaling.
Which delivers better ROI?
When measuring ROI, you need to look at cost savings, scalability, speed, and access to expertise. And these can be achieved by outsourcing your marketing team. When you outsource, you save money, gain access to advanced tools, and benefit from specialised talent that delivers results faster.
However, if ROI is measured in brand alignment and cultural integration, in-house teams may hold the advantage.
That is why, the best solution for many companies is often a hybrid model. This means keeping a small in-house team for brand direction and outsourcing execution-heavy or specialised tasks like SEO, PPC, and design, among others.
If you are still thinking of hiring in-house team or outsourcing is for you, we, at SOS Global Smart Outsourcing can help. Just book a consultation with us today.
