Internal marketing staff is essential to most organizations. Someone needs to take the lead on advertising and communications strategies, and the work ain\u2019t going to do itself. But most businesses don\u2019t have the resources to tackle every task on the marketing checklist – and even when an organization has a large internal team, some jobs are better left to third parties. Enter agencies like tdg<\/strong>. So how do you decide when to keep a project in-house and when to call in someone from the outside?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are a few important reasons your company might consider bringing in an advertising agency partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Get Depth of Knowledge<\/strong>
That\u2019s where agencies can provide a little extra expertise. Even very small agencies often have dedicated specialists in specific areas of digital marketing, public relations, or creative production. At tdg<\/strong>, for instance, we\u2019ve got people on our team with experience in consumer research, strategic messaging, and media relations tactics for public utility rate cases. Other staffers specialize in creating targeted online campaigns to increase bookings for campgrounds. They\u2019re very narrow niches of expertise, but that knowledge can be incredibly valuable to clients tackling those challenges for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Get A Reality Check
<\/strong>If an organization relies too much on its internal marketing team, it runs the risk of creating an echo chamber. Exhibit Number One: Pepsi\u2019s ill-fated Kendall Jenner ad from 2017. Their in-house shop took most of the blame for the commercial, which flopped very hard (and very publicly) just hours after being released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be fair, agencies have been responsible for their fair share of tone-deaf creative catastrophes, but organizations can reduce the risk of advertising failures by bringing a little external perspective to the table. Because agencies work with multiple clients and spend their time across a broader cultural backdrop, they can be a better check against ideas that won\u2019t land well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Keep Your Strategy On Track
<\/strong>Your organization is a well-oiled machine. You\u2019ve done the research, you\u2019ve had the executive retreats, and you\u2019ve got great short- and long-term strategic plans. But even the best internal marketing staff can get bogged down and distracted with everyday tasks, and pretty soon those planning documents can become neglected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An agency partner can help your team stay focused on the big picture. They\u2019ll take your marketing plan off the shelf, work with your staff to keep it updated, and make sure new initiatives are in line with your broader business goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Save Time
<\/strong>Your internal marketing team may have the expertise to tackle a new project. But do they have the time? Often they\u2019re so busy handling the day-to-day marketing concerns of your organization (which is, after all, their job) that they can\u2019t quickly shift gears. And even if it\u2019s justified, hiring a new staff position will take too much time for a project with a looming deadline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve got a good relationship with an agency partner, they\u2019ll likely be nimble enough to scale up quickly for fast-turnaround projects. That extra agility can create a measurable competitive advantage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Save Money
<\/strong>Occasionally an executive will assume it\u2019s more cost-effective to hire new in-house marketing staff than it is to partner with an agency. Sometimes it is. Often, it isn\u2019t. The costs of recruiting, onboarding, and training new hires can be easy to overlook, but they\u2019re steep, to say nothing of the benefits packages that come on top of regular salaries. Larger staffs require greater overhead (everything from office space and equipment to HR support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agencies, on the other hand, are self-contained units. They often work on flat retainer fees that cover a set scope of work. The costs are stable and predictable. And in the event that your organization needs to scale up or down quickly, it\u2019s often cheaper (and easier) to increase or decrease your agency\u2019s retainer than it is to hire or fire new staff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, because agencies often work with multiple clients in a local market, they\u2019re usually able to negotiate better rates for media services and marketing support products. It can be less expensive to buy media through an agency – even after their markup – than it is to buy it directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, agency partnerships don\u2019t happen overnight. You\u2019ll need to identify a firm that\u2019s right for your organization, and the agency will want to learn everything it can about your business. That all takes time. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a good idea for your organization to build a relationship with an agency even if you might not need their support right away. Then, when you need a hand, you can quickly call in reinforcements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An internal marketing staff is essential to most organizations. Someone needs to take the lead on advertising and communications strategies, and the work ain\u2019t going to do itself. But most businesses don\u2019t have the resources to tackle every task on the marketing checklist – and even when an organization has a large internal team, some […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-1397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-perspective"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n