7 Reasons Why Agencies Trump In-House Marketing Teams

As agency clients grow, they face internal questions as to whether or not the marketing function should be completely internalized. This article highlights 7 reasons why brands should remain with agencies.

1. Best of Brains

An agency has scale, more so than most brands can ever replicate with an in-house team. And that sheer scale allows clients to leverage a broad skill set. A relatively small in-house team, no matter how qualified, will not have the same coverage of capabilities.

2. Depth of Expertise

The scale of agencies allows for staff members to gain deep expertise in a specialised area. Compare that with staff of in-house marketing teams, who often have to wear several hats and be across a multitude of things, without necessarily acquiring deep expertise in any one of them.

3. Technology Stack

Technology is great, but it’s expensive. And it’s hard for an in-house marketing team to justify the cost of a single Adtech, let alone multiple. An agency on the other hand, can share that expense across its portfolio of clients, allowing each client to tap into a broad technology stack for a fraction of what it would cost to buy directly.

4. Cost Flexibility

When a business starts spending more on advertising, it’s normally accompanied by an increase in agency fees. But the opposite is also true. When a business needs to reduce ad spend (or even stop it altogether), that is also accompanied by an equivalent reduction in agency fee. Compare this with an in-house marketing team whose wage costs remain the same during a seasonal downturn in ad spend.

5. Staff Turnover Buffer

When agency staff resign, it impacts clients. They’re given a new account manager, perhaps on an interim basis, and have to get accustomed to how they operate. But when someone resigns internally, there’s probably no immediate ‘interim replacement’. More likely, the additional workload will be spread amongst the remaining staff until a replacement is hired, which could take several weeks, or more…

6. Agency-wide Learnings

Agencies have the luxury of spending other people’s money. This means they can fail fast and apply those learnings across their portfolio of clients. Compare that with an in-house team which has to try and fail with its own money to get the same learnings and insight.

7. Beyond Scope Knowledge

An agency is hired for a specific purpose, but that doesn’t mean its knowledge and experience is limited to just that purpose. Agency staff may have previous in-house experience or a business background, and can provide assistance in areas out of scope. The same is of course true of an in-house team, though the smaller scale makes it less prevalent.