A business stands on various pillars, and if one falls, the business will collapse. Marketing is one of those pillars which can make or break your business. So that means you need talented and expert professionals who know how to market your brand. However, the next question is, how are you going to solve your marketing needs? Do you want to outsource it to a marketing agency or have your in-house marketing team?
Well, that is a tough decision to make because both have their own perks and drawbacks. But, in this article, we will talk about in-house marketing, its pros, and cons, and why you should have your in-house marketing team. Shall we begin?
Table of Contents
What is In-house Marketing?
In-house marketing means your business has a specific department/team that deals with the marketing activities of your business. However, that does not mean that a company cannot or doesn’t hire any third party for marketing purposes. An organization with its own marketing department may hire external individuals for a specific marketing task. But generally, the in-house marketing team provides all the marketing solutions.
How Much Does an In-House Marketing Team Cost?
Alright, so you have been thinking of hiring an in-house marketing team. Fair enough, the next thing you need to assess is how much does an in-house marketing team cost? Yes, this is the question you must ask yourself, and here is what you need to know about the costs of hiring an in-house marketing team.
Recruitment Costs
First of all, you have to consider the recruitment costs. You are the one who needs marketing personnel, so you have to advertise it. You have to pay advertising costs, and you have to pay the recruitment personnel as well. That means you must have an HRM department or have to outsource the recruitment process.
Training Costs
Every business has its unique marketing needs, and that means the marketing team you are hiring may need training before getting into the act. On a general note, it almost takes three months for any employee to get on board with the company in the true sense. If we talk about the average salaries, you have to pay $50K per annum as the payroll cost and $12500 for those first three months.
Salaries
This is where the actual movie starts because, so far, we had been watching the trailer. As mentioned above, the average basic annual salary of a marketing position is $50. The average range starts from $42K and ends at $83K per annum. Don’t forget, it is the salary for one marketing position, and you will need multiple personnel to make a diverse team.
Additional Benefits
The $50K figure was sort of a basic salary excluding employee benefits (which is a compulsion for businesses). As of September 2020, the employee benefits costs (on average) were $10.72 per hour for one employee in the private sector. If we bring mathematics into the equation, you will have to pay $90K (more or less) per annum for one marketing position. That’s a lot of money.
Subsequent Training and Retention Costs
Imagine you have had a bad hire somehow, but you have spent three months and a lot of money on training. What are your options now? You can hire a new one, but the hiring cycle and costs will start from zero. Even if you had a good hire, you would have to keep your marketing team enrolling in the latest courses and training to keep them updated with futuristic marketing techniques.
Factors You Can Compare In-House Marketing Vs. Agency
An analysis is incomplete if you don’t compare the subject matter with other possible options. Apart from hiring an in-house marketing team, you have other options on the table, such as hiring a marketing agency. Here is a short comparison between both.
Access To Latest Tools And Platforms
What is the primary role of a soccer player? Indeed, he/she needs to develop the latest and long-lasting skills. Marketing agencies always have the latest tools and must-have technologies needed for different marketing practices. On the other hand, you will have to invest a lot in your in-house marketing team to keep them ahead of the game.
Communication Ease
Well, this one will go to the in-house marketing team because it is easier for them to communicate with each other (intra-department) and with other departments (inter-department) in the organization. In-house teams can arrange brainstorming sessions, meetings at the earliest possibilities. Can you do that with your marketing agency? Not really.
Workplace Politics
No one can deny workplace politics and how it can pollute the whole organization. Conflicts always arise when there are people with different mindsets. These conflicts cause distractions and affect the work quality. Interdepartmental or intradepartmental conflicts are common in organizations. On the other hand, marketing agencies have just one major goal- developing an effective marketing strategy for your company.
Organizational Culture, Values, and Vision
This is a point where a marketing agency may fall behind. In-house marketing teams spend all of their time in the organization and are well aware of their culture, values, and vision. Marketing agencies have to deal with multiple clients at a time, and it is simply impossible for them to continuously adapt to every organizational culture.
The Pros of In-House Marketing Team Over Ad Agency
In-house marketing has been gaining immense popularity again, especially after this pandemic. We have already discussed the communication ease in in-house marketing teams and how they understand the company culture better. Here are some other worth mentioning benefits of hiring an in-house marketing team.
Creativity. You can easily associate creativity with in-house marketing teams. A marketing team has a pool of differently skilled marketers who can bring their own creativity to the table. In fact, 58% of in-house marketing `teams have reported that their creativity increased during the pandemic. The in-house team knows how to utilize the available resources most effectively and creatively.
Better Understanding of The Product And Brand. An in-house marketing team has a better understanding of a brand and its products or services. They channelize all their energies for a common cause. Yes, marketing agencies are also briefed about the company, product, and its culture, but they have to deal with multiple organizations simultaneously.
Better Control Over Marketing Activities. When something gets in multiple hands, it becomes difficult to control it. Similarly, when you outsource your marketing tasks to agencies, you have lesser control over outcomes. But an in-house marketing team gives you better control over your advertising expenditures and marketing strategies.
A Better Chance to Attract Talent. The more the sugar, the sweeter it is. You can build an in-house team of talented and expert marketers if you can afford them. In-house teams can be really effective if you know how to hire the right person and have enough resources to do it.
The Cons of In-House Marketing over Ad Agency
In-house marketing teams usually have lesser access to the latest marketing tools, and workplace politics can hinder collaboration and productivity. Here are some other disadvantages of having an in-house marketing team.
In-House Marketing Teams Are “Expensive”. In-house marketing teams are expensive in comparison to hiring a marketing agency. From the recruitment costs to hefty salaries, employee benefits, and training costs, in-house marketing is not an attractive option if you don’t have enough resources or if you are just launching your startup (small business).
Old Or Common Perceptive. In-house marketing teams deal with a single organization and its products or services. That means they are accustomed to it. Now, this is something great because they have enough time to focus on specific things. However, on the other hand, they start developing a limited perceptive. In fact, many in-house marketing teams fail because they fail to think out of the box.
Limited Experience. Let’s just compare the experience of an in-house marketing team and a marketing agency. A marketing agency deals with multiple clients of the same and different types simultaneously. These agencies have hands-on experience in different kinds of companies or even industries. They are like an ocean of knowledge. On the contrary, an in-house team is limited to a specific company.
When Do You Need to Hire In-House Marketing Team?-The Takeaway
So now you know the “good” and the” bad” sides of hiring an in-house marketing team. It is possible that you may have developed some confusion. If you are thinking, when should you hire an in-house marketing team, here is a simplified answer?
When You Have Enough Financial Resources to Build a Powerful Team
If you really want to get maximum benefits from hiring in-house marketing experts, you must have enough financial resources. Why? Because when you can afford to hire “the bests in the business,” they will surely repay dividends on your investment. If you think you have enough resources to develop a larger pool of differently skilled marketers, go for it.
When You Are Not in Favor of Spending Time in Coordinating with External Parties
As mentioned earlier, it is easier to communicate and coordinate with an in-house marketing team rather than external parties (marketing agencies). If you want regular briefings, stronger coordination, better and real-time communication, having an in-house marketing team is a better option for you.
