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by John Daters on Wed, Nov 20, 2024 @ 09:53
Marketing is no one-trick pony. It’s a complex mix of tactics, deliverables, and strategic initiatives that require unique skill sets to master positive business outcomes. From SEO to paid search, from generating value propositions to identifying ideal customer profiles, from content creation to website design, and all the myriad other elements that go into modern and effective marketing, it’s a complicated mix of need, opportunity, and staff capabilities to run it all. With the massive segmentation of marketing and the need for ever-more-sophisticated understandings of tools, channels, data points, and the fast pace of digital change, it’s incredibly difficult to stay up-to-date and relevant, not to mention competitive within a discerning marketplace.
How is a company with limited resources and historically diminishing marketing budgets expected to keep up with the lightning-fast pace of digital marketing? Simply put, you only have a few options:
- Hire in-house, dedicated specialists who are experts in specific tactics and channels, such as social, SEO, paid search, content, design, development, etc.
- Rely on in-house marketing generalists to hopefully be good enough at everything to be effective, in all channels.
- Outsource expertise to an agency that holds all the risk and overhead of a full-staffed army of specialists.
If you’re a small- to mid-size company looking to grow as a result of your marketing efforts, and you don’t have the budget or time to hire, train, and manage a stable of in-house experts, then utilizing an outside agency to provide direction and know-how is the way to go. Often, a single agency engagement covers the expertise of an entire marketing department for the cost of a single in-house hire - if you can find the right partner.
The Challenges of In-House Digital Marketing Teams
Let’s look at what the ideal staffing mix of experts any in-house marketing department should have.
We often see a single, in-house agency consisting of a marketing generalist sometimes supported by one to two marketing support staff, typically junior clones of the marketing head. There is expertise represented almost by accident rather than plan, with marketing staff often becoming glorified trade show support staff and sales associate assistants — reacting to requests as opposed to planning for growth.
In a perfect world, where successful marketing activities are acknowledged through integrated, omnichannel marketing that follows a strategy and uses data to drive decision-making, we see a much different dynamic — one that very few small- to mid-market companies can effectively employ. A truly effective in-house marketing department should typically include a Marketing Manager/Leader, Content Strategist, SEO Specialist, Graphic Designer, Social Media Manager, Marketing Data Analyst, Brand Manager, and potentially dedicated specialists for email marketing, PPC campaigns, and web development, depending on the company's needs and size.
Let’s take a look at what each of these jobs should cover:
Marketing Manager/Leader: Oversees overall marketing strategy, sets goals, manages the team, and reports on performance.
Marketing Coordinator: Assists with day-to-day marketing tasks and project management.
Content Strategist: Develops and executes content marketing plans, creating valuable content to attract and engage customers.
SEO Specialist: Optimizes website content and structure to improve search engine ranking.
Graphic Designer: Creates visual assets like logos, graphics, and marketing materials to maintain brand consistency.
Social Media Manager: Manages social media accounts, engages with followers, and develops social media strategies.
Marketing Data Analyst: Collects, analyzes, and interprets marketing data to inform decision-making.
Brand Manager: Protects and promotes the company's brand image across all marketing channels.
Email Marketing Specialist: Manages email marketing campaigns to nurture leads and drive conversions.
PPC Specialist: Creates and manages paid advertising campaigns across platforms like Google Ads.
Web Developer: Maintains and updates the company website.
Not all companies will need each role, and some positions may be able to take over two or more of these duties, but even with doubling up or eliminating non-critical tasks, the list of needed skills adds up fast.
The Benefits of Partnering with a Digital Marketing Agency
So what’s the solution? How can a company stay relevant by marketing itself to potential buyers in an ever-complicated marketing landscape? Between complex staffing needs, staying up to date on marketing techniques, and being able to scale without overspending, using an in-house-only solution has become less appealing. Outsourcing all or some of your marketing team to a partner like SyncShow is a cost-effective and strategically minded way to enhance a company’s capabilities while reducing risk.
Let’s look at the benefits of outsourcing your marketing:
Access to Specialized Talent
Leveraging the agency's pool of experts in various digital marketing disciplines allows you to respond to the highly segmented needs and abilities within today’s marketing demands. Full-service agencies, like SyncShow, offer access to a diverse pool of marketing talent, from developers and designers to content creators and paid search specialists.
Often, better than a grab bag of specialists where a company is still responsible for selecting the proper tactic and then utilizing an agency to activate that channel, is a more robust strategic engagement — which is where companies like SyncShow succeed. Here, the agency plays a key role in strategic oversight that instructs tactical activation. Meaning agencies like SyncShow help companies understand what channels they should activate and in what way to drive measurable results. Tactic-first agencies can be somewhat beneficial if you already have a documented and robust marketing plan and are just looking to fill skill gaps, but rarely in the SMB space is there a cohesive strategy beyond reactionary and recycling of years-old strategies. The benefit of working with a full-service, strategy-first agency is that it helps you uncover areas and activities you may not have been aware of and provides expert collaboration and direction from marketing experts.
Cost, Management, and Risk
The challenges for building a bulletproof and robust marketing team in-house on an SMB budget are obvious, but other hindering factors include management, training, and turnover. Most people think of the budget as the problem, but an equal impact is parting ways with underperforming staff or those that self-select and leave you with a gap, not to mention knowledge loss.
According to some metrics, the cost of replacing an employee is equal to the cost of six to nine months of their salary — a significant investment.
Because of this, the cost of hiring and replacing a worker is a significant risk factor in hiring for in-house roles. Because of the lack of critical hires, or the delay or gap in filling the need, in-house activities are often piecemeal and disconnected, meaning a company leaves unrealized leads and sales on the table due to lack of time and ability to capture them.
Scalability
Additionally, once a company can properly staff marketing departments and see success, it now faces a scalability problem. Marketing should be a division that supports its growth through leads and sales support, not through direct sales. This means that marketing success is often a leading indicator where revenue is not realized until later in the sales cycle. As a result, companies often have to hire ahead of the curve to instigate growth for the division instead of after the extra revenue is available. Anticipating growth is always a big gamble in hiring. The last thing an employer wants to do is spend capital and effort on hiring staff just to lay them off because revenue or profitability numbers didn’t come in as anticipated. Furthermore, scaling for such a diverse department means you have to be very careful in which areas you want to scale up — adding on to every job function with an extra hire is generally overkill, but knowing which division is providing results means you have a deep understanding of goal attainment attribution — which role is driving results, and which division is critical to supporting any last click conversions?
Outside Perspectives
Having an outside agency also provides you with outside perspectives. Very often in-house staff are not exposed to enough of a diverse marketplace to see what others are doing, stifling creativity and idea generation. Working with a company that has access to insight from other engagements allows you to leverage their knowledge of what does and does not work, as well as any emerging ideas and tactics that you should consider activating.
The benefits of supplementing your marketing team with an outside resource like Syncshow are many, but how do you reduce risk to ensure you’re choosing the right agency for you and not wasting time and money with a bad relationship?
How to Choose the Right Digital Marketing Agency
Hiring an outside agency can come with risk, and one of the biggest reasons people decline to hire an agency is because they’re worried about spending time and money on an ineffective partner — this is a very valid concern, but one that can be overcome with the right mindset and research. Here are a few ways to help ensure you choose the right agency.
Define Your Goals
Clearly articulate your business objectives and marketing needs. Don’t modify your goals to fit the way an agency works. Your goals should be your North Star and all efforts need to drive toward that direction. Too often, companies choose agencies that are one-trick ponies. What happens when the couple of tactics they offer don’t work, can they pivot their efforts and be agile enough with the right capabilities to try something different, or are they going to tell you just to do more of the same hoping for a different outcome? Ensure your goals are clearly articulated and have the agency you’re vetting detail efforts on how they’ll get you there. Don’t just sign up for tactics and wait at the end of the funnel hoping leads come out. Engage in a full-funnel solution with an agency that can offer a strategy with wide capabilities in achieving your goals.
Research and Shortlist
Identify agencies with a strong track record and relevant expertise in your type of business. If you’re a B2B company, then it’s best not to engage with a B2C-centric agency. If you’re in a specific business space, like manufacturing or transportation/logistics, then you’ll want an agency with expertise in those areas as the terminology, buyer needs, and market trends are very specific to those businesses. For example, an agency that advertises exclusively on Facebook is likely not a strong fit for a B2B industrial company looking to reach potential clients. Look for an agency partner that has proven success in your industry and has client testimonials to prove it.
Once you’ve identified a potential agency that fits your business needs, it’s time to assess the agency's experience via interviews, reference/testimonial reviews, and reading their case studies that closely align with your business.
Communication, Collaboration, and Culture Fit
Ensure effective communication and seamless collaboration between your team and the agency. Ask about their process, especially as it relates to your preferred communication style. One of the main reasons agency relationships break down is poor or misaligned communication. Make sure they share the same urgency and desire to show results and engage in meaningful activities as you do. Ask to meet your account team and get a feel for the dynamic between the experts they align with you. These relationships are going to be critical to results and trust-building throughout your engagement, and you want to be sure you can communicate effectively and promptly at every step.
The Path Forward
The dynamic and ever-evolving digital marketing landscape presents significant challenges for businesses, especially those with limited resources. In-house marketing teams, while offering a sense of control, often struggle to keep pace with rapid changes. This necessitates significant investment in hiring, training, and management. Outsourcing to a digital marketing agency is a strategic solution, providing access to specialized talent, cost-effectiveness, scalability, and fresh perspectives. By carefully selecting an agency that aligns with your business goals and communication style, you can leverage their expertise to drive growth and achieve sustainable marketing success.
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