As 2024 kicks off, more companies, from startups to small businesses to enterprises will be looking to increase their digital footprint and marketing investment to reach customers. In one recently published study “Digital Advertising and Marketing – Global Market Trajectory & Analytics” from Global Industry Analysts, digital marketing is expected to grow between 2020-2026 by 9%, while HubSpot’s State of Marketing Report also noted 63% of businesses have increased their marketing budgets from the previous year. With this forward momentum and investment into marketing, the scale at which a company expands their current marketing department should also be considered.

Companies, large and small, new and established, continue to build both in-house marketing teams and use marketing agencies to expand these teams and their expertise – creating high-performing workflows that work to transition leads into customers.

In-House Marketing – In-house marketing describes individuals hired by the company to perform marketing-related tasks and projects. These individuals are considered full-time or part-time employees, and work to drive marketing campaigns and business objectives in partnership with other departments or members of company leadership.

For many businesses, in-house marketing teams present several benefits and challenges. One benefit that usually comes with an in-house marketing team is customer data ownership. With more regulations and compliance requirements being defined about how customer data is collected and used, data ownership is very important. With more marketing leaders being asked to build data-centric marketing plans, owning the data collected, in comparison to third-party data from platforms like Facebook or Google, means you can use the data to make cross-channel comparisons or identify strong and weak points within your marketing plan.

Building a whole in-house marketing department can seem daunting for enterprises or mid-market organizations who have historically used marketing agencies to do the heavy lifting. The time investment needed to define each role or position, advertise the position, sift through resumes, schedule interviews and submit offers to a candidate are at an all-time high. In a recent report from HR firms The Josh Bersin Company and AMS, the average time-to-hire rate for 2023 was 44 days, with positions considered “difficult to fill” taking two or three months.

Marketing Agency – Marketing firms, or agencies, are specialized teams of marketing subject-matter experts commissioned by a company to perform specific campaigns, projects, or services. Marketing agencies can be an extension of internal marketing departments or hired for specific marketing projects, such as a product launch, competitive research, or company rebranding. In many instances, agencies can be a more cost-effective path forward for early-stage startups, small businesses, or mid-size enterprises looking to formalize their marketing strategy while remaining within a set budget.

There are many different factors that companies should consider when deciding whether or not to hire an entirely in-house marketing team, a contracted marketing agency, or a hybrid model that includes an agency team working in partnership with a small in-house marketing team. These factors include:

• Operations – Does the company have enough operational or headcount budget to hire an entire in-house team? What timeline can the company extend to source, interview, and onboard an in-house team compared to their product or company roadmap? If the business is looking to kick start its marketing efforts or pivot to reflect new business objectives, the time it takes to hire an in-house team could distract from these efforts. Hiring a marketing agency, who can quickly adapt to this new direction, can ensure that the customer pipeline doesn’t decline during this time.
• Budget – Does the current in-house team have the bandwidth to expand marketing efforts, conduct further competitive research, or take on new marketing initiatives without compromising their current campaigns? If the answer is ‘No’ or ‘I don’t know’ to any of these questions, working with a marketing agency can be the ideal solution. Marketing agencies, at the beginning of a contract, have clearly outlined budget and deliverables, with checks and balances built into the communication plan to guarantee that they stay within budget or get additional approval prior for any activities that may exceed the client’s budget.
• Customer Data – Do we understand what our customers are doing and how they are interacting with our website or brand? Do we have the correct marketing tech stack to support customer data and regulatory compliance? In this case, an in-house marketing team may be the ideal solution, or a hybrid format that keeps data ownership and tech in-house with limited access to third-party agency partners.
• Skills Gap – As a company, do we have a skills gap to lead specialized marketing efforts such as search engine optimization, website hosting and management, or graphic design? If the current team of two marketing professionals cannot take on these responsibilities in addition to their other go-to-market tasks, hiring a marketing agency partner to fill these gaps can be critical to the success of the business. The key in this situation is being honest about what the organization’s goals are and how these compare to your team’s skills. If there are glaring gaps in what your team can accomplish at this time, then leaning toward an agency can really supplement and extend your team’s abilities in the best way possible.

Marketing is crucial for all companies. Focusing on building strategies, developing campaigns, creating operational efficiency between marketing and sales efforts, and staying on top of industry trends can be daunting even for the most experienced marketing executive. Utilizing a marketing agency can bring an enormous amount of talent, experience, and flexibility to any company looking to scale up their efforts and refine current systems in place. The ability to include marketing experts to short-term or long-term projects, especially as business trends shift to more agile marketing methodologies, can be the difference between meeting or missing a revenue goal.

Whether you decide to build an in-house marketing team, hire an agency, or a combination of both, it is essential to have an understanding of what your business and team needs to meet your goals for 2024 and beyond.

LG+ Marketing is a Full Service Marketing Agency with a boutique feel – If you’re looking for a B2B marketing agency that can help you plan and strategize, deliver on branding and design, cue crystal clear communications, and get your audience engaging with your website and social media, then reach out to us today! LG+ is a B2B marketing agency that serves as an extension of your team. We’re fun, approachable, knowledgeable, and we get shit done. Upon partnering with us, our clients find that we were the missing part of their equation for success. Our clients’ success is truly our success and we look forward to helping you with your marketing needs.