Have you ever wondered where your business would be without marketing? Nowhere. And where your marketing would be without your digital media? Well, not nowhere, but it would not get very far.
To get your business where you want it to be, to reach your goals, you need digital marketing.
So, to get the digital marketing that your business needs you have 2 options, you can either do it yourself or get someone else to do the job. If you are a business owner or manager, you might have found yourself in this kind of situation, especially if you keep juggling 10 things at once and it seems like there are too many things to care of and not enough time.
So, Digital Agency or Freelancer, what is the right choice?
Today, more and more entrepreneurs and professional, regardless of their activity, are increasingly asking themselves whether it is better to turn to a Freelancer or a Digital Agency to implement their web marketing plan. With this article we want to clear your doubts, we give you 7 sets of pros and cons to help you understand the main difference between these 2 solutions. Once you have a plain overview, you will be able to make an informed choice, oriented towards what you think is best for your business. 1. QUALITY
- Do it yourself
Pros: you know exactly what you want in terms of quality of your marketing and you have a total control over your team members
Cons: you may know what you want in terms of quality but you don’t have the right skills to achieve it.
- Freelancer
Pros: many marketing freelancers present a complete CV, the majority of them has gone to art school or majored in business and communication so, the odds of your marketing materials looking
of top-notch quality are super high
Cons: your freelancer might not understand the objectives that you want to achieve and the quality you want to get from your marketing materials. This could mainly happen because he/she is not part of your business and you might not have as much control over his/her work as you would like.
- Digital Agency
Pros: Not only you will have an entire team of marketing experts at your disposal but, you won’t even have to worry about quality as each digital agency relies on a quality control system. This is the complete solution, the all-inclusive package that allows you to put your company and its needs in the hands of experienced people.
Cons: As with the freelancers, a digital agency is not part your business and it may take a while to understand and execute your vision.
2. STRUCTURE
- Do it yourself
Pros: since you and your team are part of the business, you understand exactly how the things work and where you fit in.
Cons: even though you are part of the business you might get biased by the internal situation and not see clearly what are the potential areas for improvement in a marketing campaign.
- Freelancer
Pros: as a third party, a freelancer will be able to develop and build your campaign from the point of view of your potential client.
Cons: as an outsider, a freelancer might not be able to fully comprehend your expectations and needs. In addition to that he/she might also have other projects to work on and this could cause relevant delays to yours.
- Digital Agency
Pros: as a team of a company, a digital agency has a structure of its own and it is far more equipped than the others to meet your requirements. Also, as a separate entity, an agency can provide an objective and candid assessment of your marketing efforts.
Cons: businesses that do not present their own marketing teams might see digital agencies as a back-up option but in actual fact they should be seen as a partner with the same goals.
3. ASSURANCE
- Do it yourself DO IT YOURSELF
Pros: it’s quite easy to rest assured when you are in control of everything and materials and resources come from your own backyard.
Cons: it’s also quite easy to become complacent and this could lead to unpleasant marketing hiccups.
- Freelancer
Pros: the level of assurance and support that you can expect from the freelancer is tied directly to the professional and personal figure of the freelancer, plus his capabilities. If you have previously worked with him/her you have no reason to not rely on him/her.
Cons: a freelancer might not be able to offer the same support and reliability that a bigger company could easily guarantee.
- Digital Agency
Pros: agencies are the best solutions for bigger companies looking for a more structured service provider. They can assure an interrupted support service and a deeper savoir faire.
Cons: as with individuals, sometimes it is not that easy to understand what you can get from an agency, especially if you have to rely on online information only. But again, if you’ve had access to feedback or reviews from that agency’s clients, or seen what the agency can do, then trust shouldn’t be an issue.
4. RESULTS
- Do it yourself
Pros: when it comes to do it yourself marketing it is your best interest to do your utmost to get where you want to be, and you usually see results first hand.
Cons: here again we have to state that you may not have the right skills and the know-how to maximise your marketing efforts, ore be sufficiently skilled with analytics. The latter are crucial to understand how your marketing strategies are performing and learn what improvements you need to achieve.
- Freelancer
Pros: it is also in his interest to get results for his clientele, not only to meet his clientele’s expectations but also to build up a solid reputation.
Cons: most freelancers, as mentioned earlier, have high specialized skills. However, it might happen that they present a good expertise in designing websites or managing social media platforms but their analytics skills might disappoint.
- Digital Agency
Pros: a good digital agency is results driven and will do anything to present results to its clients and to preserve its reputation.
Cons: the results-driven and performance- based approach might affect more the agency than the client itself as team member are only remunerated according to the results they are able to produce.
5. WORKLOAD
- Do it yourself
Pros: working for your own business gives you the privilege to manage the amount of marketing work you want to have.
Cons: as your marketing needs grow along with your business, you might not be able to handle the growing workload if you are on your own.
- Freelancer
Pros: most freelancers work for one client at a time, which could be good for you. It would be like having an in-house marketing expert.
Cons: if the freelancer happens to juggling more than one client at a time, his increased workload might negatively affect your business requirements.
- Digital Agency
Pros: However much you increase your marketing activities, you know your agency will be able to handle it because of the entire team behind it.
Cons: You, for sure, won’t be the only client that the agency will be servicing. But any agency worth its salt will guarantee to all its customers the same level of service.
6. FLEXIBILITY
- Do it yourself
Pros: working directly for your company enables you to promptly meet any needs as soon as they arise.
Cons: how well are you able to meet those needs? It all depends on your marketing capabilities.
- Freelancer
Pros: freelancers are flexible and do not necessarily work the 9 to 5 slot. They also embrace an unstructured working day, hence if you are met in a potential crisis in wee hours or during the weekend, they might be there to help you.
Cons: they might charge you some extra fees for their flexibility.
- Digital Agency
Pros: if a significant amount of work needs to be delivered in a very short-time, it would be definitely easier to for a digital agency to provide it. Cons: an agency could result to be less nimble when it comes to response time but, thi all depends on its structure and size.
7. COST
- Do it yourself
Pros: working for your own business gives you one main advantage: not having to pay someone else to build your marketing strategy. However, it may not result as cost efficient as it may seem, especially, if you consider the time and the energy required.
Cons: Hiring a dedicated, in-house marketing team involves a significant investment in compensation as well as workspace and technology.
- Freelancer
Pros: a freelancer won’t demand a full-time salary but he may offer a per-project per hour price. Because freelancer have the possibility to work at their own times they are more likely to be productive and efficient.
Cons: their payment schedule might result to be tighter compared to marketing agencies.
- Digital Agency
Pros: having a marketing agency taking care of your marketing is far more cost efficient than hiring your own marketing team.
Cons: agencies are likely to be more expensive than freelancers and they are usually engaged for a scheduled period of time rather than on a per- project basis.
At the end of the day, there’s no, one-size-fits-all answer to the question of whether going it alone or getting someone else is better, because no one knows what your business needs better than you do.
