Digital agency vs in-house team is a common dilemma for businesses. The choice can significantly impact a company’s success and daily operations, and no answer fits all needs. The decision depends on several factors, including marketing strategy, the size of the current team, and budget.
Whether you need help with content creation, campaign strategy, or managing multiple social media accounts, you’ll see advantages and challenges in both paths.
I’ve seen all sides of the story as an agency creative, freelancer, and in-house marketer, so I’ll help you decide which option fits your business needs — with a little help from nine expert friends.
Digital agency or in-house marketing team: what’s the difference?
The difference between a digital agency and an internal marketing team refers to whether the marketing expertise is provided by an outside firm hired to provide services or by in-house staff dedicated to marketing within the organization.
An in-house team works solely for their employer, while an agency serves multiple clients, bringing an outside perspective and specialized skills across various projects.
When considering an agency, businesses often look for established expertise, scalability, and the power to execute a wide range of marketing tasks efficiently.
An in-house marketing team is a longer-term investment. Over time it offers the benefits of deep brand knowledge, direct communication, and more control over the content creation process.
To make the best choice, take some time first to understand your needs and analyze your options.
Samantha Savory at Savory PR, says:
Make sure to get a thorough portfolio and proposal from the agency or candidates to make sure they know what they are doing – have a plan of action, understand social media marketing as it relates to your industry and know the best ways to optimize your social media marketing efforts.
Pros and cons: digital marketing agencies vs in-house marketing teams
What’s the best way to make a decision? With a pros and cons list, of course. If you’re not Monica-Geller-level organized, don’t worry. I’ve got you covered with an outline of the key pros and cons of each option.
Marketing agency pros
- Expertise and specialization — Digital marketing agencies bring specialized skills and knowledge from working with diverse clients across various industries, ensuring a more versatile skill set.
- Cost-effectiveness for SMBs — For companies that can’t afford or don’t want to commit to hiring in-house marketing experts, agencies provide a broad range of services with reduced overhead expenses.
- Scalability — Agencies can quickly scale services up or down based on your needs, allowing for greater flexibility in responding to market changes and business demands.
Marketing agency cons
- Reduced brand familiarity — An external agency may not have the same depth of understanding of your brand and industry as an in-house employee who doesn’t focus on multiple clients.
- Communication challenges — Working with an external team can lead to potential communication gaps and slower response times, which can be tricky when it comes to time-sensitive campaigns.
- Less control over the process — You cannot manage an agency’s daily activities and priorities directly, which can interfere with execution timelines, speed of reaction, or alignment with changing requirements.
In-house marketing pros
- Advanced brand and product knowledge — In-house marketing teams spend all their time focused on your brand, products, and services, allowing them to create more cohesive, tailored, and potentially more efficient marketing strategies.
- Direct communication and collaboration — Being part of the same organization facilitates easier and faster communication, leading to more efficient project execution and problem-solving.
- Greater control over operations — You have more direct oversight and control over marketing activities, ensuring that all efforts align closely with your company’s objectives and quality standards.
In-house marketing cons
- Higher costs — Recruiting, hiring, and retaining an in-house marketing team can be expensive due to salaries, benefits, and training costs. Also, managing the entire employee life cycle, from onboarding to development and retention, requires significant resources and effective HR strategies.
- Limited skill set — In-house teams may lack the wide range of expertise found in an agency, potentially limiting the effectiveness and innovation of your digital marketing strategies.
- Limited scalability — Scaling an in-house team to meet growing demands can be time-consuming and costly, making it harder to adapt quickly to changes.
Hiring a marketing agency to manage your social media efforts
Contrary to (part of the) popular belief, social media specialists don’t just spend their days scrolling on Instagram. Effective social media marketing requires strategic planning, creativity, skillful content creation, and consistent engagement.
However, social media management is often overlooked or delegated to the youngest member of a team due to its perceived simplicity. Not to say that the team junior isn’t doing a swell job (keep it up!), but if your company lacks in-house experience in this area, you might be missing out on opportunities that require a specialist touch.
Outsourcing to a marketing agency is one way you can gain access to a team of experts.
Speed and level of expertise
Agencies work with experts in various aspects of marketing, including social media management. These professionals have dedicated their careers to understanding how platforms and algorithms work, testing different types of content, and refining engagement techniques.
This level of expertise is often challenging to replicate with an in-house marketing team, especially if social media isn’t their primary focus or if they haven’t had the chance to work with various employers and accounts.
Moreover, social media is a dynamic field, and people need to stay up-to-date to create efficient campaigns. In addition to hiring costs, companies must consider ongoing training and how quickly they can achieve the desired results.
According to Corri from Black Wednesday:
Agencies will easily get on your side with expertise and no need for training. Instead of starting the hiring process for an employee in the team – waiting for CVs, organizing interviews, onboarding the first 3 months, talking to HR, and managing fees is a full hassle. In-house teams may even cost you much more than getting someone from the outside to fully help you.
A fresh perspective for your brand
In-house teams have more brand and product knowledge, but they can also get stuck in creative loops. Agencies bring a wealth of talent and outside-the-box thinking to the table, allowing them to envision your brand in ways you may not have considered.
Through brainstorming sessions and strategic planning, they can develop unique campaigns that better resonate with your target audience.
Agencies can also more easily spot areas for improvement and be more objective when it comes to analyzing performance.
Time-efficiency and strategic focus
Small teams or solo marketing managers can’t do it all and do it well. They often get stuck in the daily grind and can’t come up for some much-needed strategic air.
By outsourcing your social media marketing to an agency, you can free up valuable time and resources that marketing managers can redirect toward driving broader marketing objectives and exploring new growth opportunities for the business.
As Tracey Julien, ex-VP of Marketing at Guided Choice, puts it:
Using an agency that specializes in social media and digital marketing can make life much easier. Let experts focus on what they do best. If your business is finance-based, your main priority should be to grow that part of the company. The social media/digital marketing side can help give your company the boost it needs. If you have the budget to outsource social media/digital marketing, I highly suggest it!
Less inner hassle, more excellent results
Have you ever tried fixing a broken pipe yourself? The patchwork won’t hold back the flood for long, and sooner or later, you’ll pay the bill to fix the damaged floor.
Doing social media on your own or with someone on the team who seems to be good at “digital” may seem like the cheaper, easier option, but it’s risky patchwork: it can lead to wasted time and potential or, worse, even damage your brand.
Stacy Caprio had a few things to say about this:
In my opinion, 90% of small to medium-sized businesses that choose to do things in-house or with a freelancer to save money actually end up losing money. Marketing is a service that, when done properly, will have huge marginal impacts on your KPIs. It’s common for business owners to say that they can’t afford an agency to do the work. The reality is, they can’t afford to not hire an agency. Spending an extra 50% to get the job done by great talent will save you much more money than the marginal cost, so long as you have a decent-sized budget.
Working with an agency provides access to seasoned marketing professionals and a broader range of marketing services and strategies that may not be feasible with limited in-house resources.
Additionally, agencies often have access to cutting-edge tools, technologies, and industry insights, further enhancing their ability to deliver the best results.
Budget-friendly choice
Working with an agency can often be more cost-effective than maintaining an internal marketing team because you don’t have to cover the costs associated with hiring and managing employees.
Just listen to Savitha, SEO consultant, from Tacitkey, who says:
Hire a freelancer or agency. You don’t have to invest in a workstation or go through the tedious HR process. The fee that you are going to pay a freelancer or agency would be a lot cheaper than what you are going to pay an in-house team. This will be the ideal preference for small businesses or start-ups.
With an agency, you typically pay a fixed fee or a retainer for their services, which includes all expenses. This eliminates the need for recruitment costs, employee salaries, healthcare benefits, office space, and other costs that come with building and maintaining an in-house team.
Additionally, you have the flexibility to scale your marketing efforts up or down as needed without the financial commitment of hiring full-time staff.
Result-oriented digital marketing
Agencies are typically hired to deliver specific outcomes or achieve predefined goals within a set timeframe.
Because agencies specialize in particular areas of expertise, such as branding or social media marketing, they can dedicate their efforts and resources to delivering high-quality outcomes in those areas.
In contrast, in-house marketing teams may be spread thinly across various initiatives, which can dilute their focus and impact on individual projects.
Or, as Xavier from Medspa Advertising put it:
Let’s see for comparison, for $3K a month, you can get some of the top social media marketing firms (our agency fee is approx that), and my experience includes growing an audience of over 50M on social media. For $3K in LA, you’ll get an entry-level employee whose social media experience comprises of them running their “Insta” and thinking about their “Aesthetic”. As about things like social media posting and replying to DMs, that can be managed by an in-house employee.
The best of both sides
We’ve been discussing about choosing one or another of the options. But there’s also a hybrid approach.
Combining an in-house marketer with an external agency leverages the strengths of both sides. The in-house person brings invaluable brand knowledge. Meanwhile, the agency contributes specialized expertise, keeping up with the latest marketing trends, algorithms, and best practices in social media.
Syed Ajmal at Ridester thinks that:
A hybrid approach is a great choice, which means having an employee and working with an agency where your team member will communicate to them directly, representing your best interests, making sure projects are on track, and ensuring the quality of work produced by the agency. You’ll get the best of both and the employee will have a chance to learn from the agency as well.
An external perspective can spark fresh ideas that complement the in-house manager’s insights.
Additionally, the agency provides extra capacity, enabling the team to handle increased workloads during peak times or launch campaigns without overburdening the internal resources.
How Planable helps to facilitate awesome agency collaborations
Communication is one of the potential pitfalls when working with a digital agency. If that’s holding you back, a tool like Planable significantly reduces the friction.
Planable helps marketing teams and agencies to collaborate on all kinds of content, including blogs, newsletters, ad copy, video scripts, and more. All aspects of the marketing strategy can be managed within a single platform, enhancing efficiency and productivity.
Approvals, publishing, feedback, media library, and cross-company collaboration features in Planable
The platform provides a perfect space for agencies and internal marketing teams to work together. You set up distinct workspaces for internal and agency work, where roles and permissions are clearly defined. This way, Planable allows you to organize and streamline your content creation and approval process effectively.
Setting workspace permissions and roles in Planable
One of Planable’s standout features is how it allows teams to easily involve external contributors in customizable approval flows. As part of an agency collaboration, this ensures that efforts align closely with internal standards and brand guidelines while tackling one of the most common content process bottlenecks.
The multi-level approval flow in particular is perfect for when work needs to pass through checks on the agency team, before being signed off by an internal stakeholder.
Multi-level approval flow in Planable
Easily manage project visibility and gather feedback with real-time communication, keeping everything running smoothly. Comments, suggestions, and annotations are left directly on the highlighted text. Plus, you can easily access version control and activity history options to see how content has progressed from the initial draft.
Collaboration on a LinkedIn post in Planable
Planable simplifies content planning and social media management with a highly visual content calendar. Map out your strategy, assign custom color-coded labels to differentiate types of content or campaigns, and schedule content across all major social networks from the same space.
Content calendar view in Planable
The mockup feed feature gives you a visual preview of how your content will appear on each platform, allowing you to fine-tune every aspect with adjustments and optimizations. For example, the Instagram grid view lets you see exactly how your profile will look once your content is published.
Mockup Instagram grid view in Planable
Here’s what users like Patricia L. have to say:
“Planable has saved me and my team a lot of time collaborating with account owners rather than going back and forth via email. It saves us a great deal of stress when it comes to calendaring, planning, and scheduling posts rather than going into each social media account to schedule it.
Planable lets you work efficiently, whatever collaboration option you choose. Streamline internal work, seamlessly integrate external collaborators in the workflow, and keep everyone on track.
8 questions to ask when looking for a digital marketing agency
It is important to make sure the digital marketing agency you choose is a good fit because you will work with them on a weekly or daily basis. Their work will represent your brand and influence the efficiency of your marketing campaigns.
Here are eight key questions to ask before beginning a collaboration:
1. What experience do you have in our industry?
Understanding the agency’s familiarity with your market and audience ensures they can create relevant and effective marketing strategies.
2. Can you show examples of your creative work and case studies from similar clients?
Reviewing their creative work helps assess their ability to produce relevant content that aligns with your brand identity.
3. What services do you offer?
Knowing the full range of services helps determine if the marketing agency can meet all your needs, from SEO and content creation to social media management and Google ads. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as a jack of all trades and that successful digital marketing requires specialization. Here’s what expert Brandon Bateman has to say about this:
Facebook marketing is a channel, not a strategy. The most important thing is to understand that no one person can have every skill necessary for online advertising. Some may claim it, but that is a big sign that maybe they don’t know what they are doing.
4. How do you measure success and report on performance?
You should receive clear, actionable insights on campaign performance so that you can track digital marketing ROI and make informed decisions.
5. What is your pricing model?
Understand pricing to assess if their services fit within your budget and if there are any additional costs that might arise.
6. Who will work with us from your team?
Knowing the primary contact person and other people who will be assigned to your account ensures smooth communication and sets clear expectations in terms of expertise.
7. How do you handle feedback and revisions?
Knowing their process for handling feedback and making revisions ensures they are flexible and responsive to your needs, leading to a more collaborative partnership.
8. What project management tools and other technologies do you use?
Check whether the marketing agency already uses tools for smooth collaboration and if they are open to being integrated into your team’s workflow.
Freelancers as an alternative to agencies
Freelancers can be a cost-effective solution for businesses with smaller budgets or those requiring niche expertise without engaging an entire team. They typically come with lower operating costs, which translates to lower rates for clients. They also offer more personalized attention and can often start on projects sooner.
Imagine a new e-commerce startup selling handmade jewelry. They need to establish a strong presence on Instagram but lack in-house skills. However, they don’t have the budget or volume of work to justify bringing in a full-service agency. Hiring a freelance social media specialist with expertise in the fashion industry can help them develop a targeted Instagram strategy and create captivating content.
Whether you choose to work with a digital marketing agency or a freelancer, it’s still important to know that it’s a good fit. As Joe Robinson put it:
A social media freelancer can either be a huge boost for your brand if they know what they’re doing – or a big time and money sink. Vet and interview them just like you’d hire a full-time employee, and pick the best one possible for you!
Achieve digital marketing success with an external agency or an in-house team
Choosing between an agency, a freelancer, or building an in-house marketing team is an important decision that every business must make based on unique needs, team size, and budget. It’s also a decision that may change.
Now, you should have all the information needed to guide your steps in the right direction. Remember that even with the best internal team or digital marketing agency, daily operations can be challenging.
Try Planable for free to more easily plan, collaborate, and publish content, no matter how you structure your digital marketing efforts.
Sabina is a freelance writer with 15+ years of experience in the MarCom industry. Her to-do list includes helping people write better and businesses sell more through content. She is the host of Zest, a podcast that brings writing within listeners’ reach.
