Marketing is a must-have for any business. People can’t buy your product if they don’t know your brand exists. If you think that an in-house marketing team would be too much for your small business, then you should know that there are other options: hiring an online marketing agency or a freelancer.
In this article, I’m going to show you the differences between hiring an online marketing agency and choosing a freelancer (or more) to take care of your marketing needs. Making this choice can be difficult because of the multiple aspects you need to consider.
Let’s take each important aspect and talk about the pros and cons of both online marketing agencies and freelancers.
Online Marketing Agency
The whole process
First of all, an online marketing agency has many highly-trained specialists, from content marketers to digital marketers. Also unlike freelancers, agencies think about the whole marketing strategy, not just the project they were hired for.
An agency also comes with a different approach: they take your business from the ground up and grow it by monitoring and improving the KPIs you set out with them in the beginning.
You shouldn’t hire an online marketing agency for a small project. However, if you want someone to be in charge of strategy, content, social media platforms, monitoring, and reporting, hiring anhiring agency is the best choice.
Quality assurance
It’s hard to check whether a freelancer has extensive experience or if they’re suited for a specific project. In comparison, an online marketing agency is there with you from the beginning, discussing with you every detail of your project.
Consistency
An agency can handle an entire digital marketing strategy, on multiple channels, without needing other human resources. That’s why, when you’re looking for someone who can build your website, take care of SEO, and promote your business on social media, it’s best to choose an online marketing agency.
More expensive
Because they can handle more tasks, usually, online marketing agencies are more expensive compared to freelancers.
However, hiring an agency is not as expensive as having an in-house marketing team that most likely won’t have a heavy workload. So if you were thinking of that option, this is how you can save some money.
Freelancers
More flexibility and dedication
Freelancers are great when you need the job done fast or when you only have a small project. Need an article? Hire a freelancer!
They usually don’t take multiple projects at once, which means that you will get their undivided attention.
Since they only work on one project at a time, they are more flexible and they can take on more tasks than you previously agreed on.
Lower cost
Unlike hiring an agency, hiring a freelancer will usually cost you less. However, if you have multiple projects, you will need to hire more freelancers, each one with their expertise. In the long run, hiring multiple freelancers might cost you more than hiring an online marketing agency.
Management problems
Working with freelancers can prove to be pretty difficult in terms of management. There is no guarantee that the freelancer will fully understand your business’ needs.
Also, it will be harder to schedule meetings and receive comprehensive reports if you work with various freelancers. When you work with an online marketing agency, you can get weekly calls, meetings, and reports will be sent your way every month.
Online Marketing Agency vs. Freelancers: What suits your business
Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to digital marketing services. This is why you need to consider your projects, the size of your business, the deadlines, and your expectations.
In a nutshell, freelancers are amazing for when you have a small project and you want to stay within budget.
However, for more complex digital marketing services, you might want to leave costs aside and go with an online marketing agency. Marketers who work within an agency are highly trained, experienced, and they can better take care of your overall marketing needs.