How To Solve Marketing Problems: Freelancer or an Agency?
- Blog
- April 10, 2023
- 5:38 pm
One of the most common dilemmas for small business owners when it comes to outsourcing their marketing outside the company is whether to go with a freelancer or a marketing agency.
Running a company and managing all parts of the visibility and online presence might seem daunting for small businesses that are entering the digital world of business. You might discover that you can not handle all your digital marketing effectively to produce the desired effects.
Then what you have to do is to outsource your digital marketing to an experienced expert who would take care of your online presence, and growth and provide relevant scalability for your business. After deciding to outsource, most business owners are left with the option of either hiring a freelancer for the job or going to a marketing agency.
There are a few things to consider when it comes to making your final decision. They are:
1. Decide Your Marketing Requirements
The first thing you have to consider is the areas where you seem to be struggling. Are you good at making graphics but can’t get the hang of video content creation? Can you write good blog content but do not know how to improve your social media presence? Or is it your website design that is giving you problems?
After deciding the areas that needed upgrading, you then have to pick which ones are actually more important at the moment. What areas are a must-have for your kind of business and which ones can you continue to manage? This way you can know your priorities and place adequate emphasis on those areas.
2. Determine the Kind of Experts You Need
Now, you know your weaknesses and strengths as well as those areas that are of the highest priority. The next thing is to determine the kind of experts that are needed. Do you need particular experts like a video content creator, UI/UX designer, or SEO content writer or do you need a general marketing and sales manager?
The answer to the question depends on the marketing needs of your company and the strength of your current marketing team. If your weak areas are specific and few, you can go with the particular experts in the field you need but if you have a wide range of weak areas, you are definitely safer with a digital marketing agency with a broader and deeper experience. Remember, agencies also take care of specific area projects.
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3. What Is Your Budget?
One other important factor is the money factor. Oh yeah! I can not overemphasize the importance of your budget when it comes to hiring an outsourcing agent. This would probably be the determining factor on whether or not you are going to work with a particular freelancer or an agency.
Freelancers charge an hourly rate or charge per project while marketing agencies tend to charge monthly. Factors that would determine the type of budget you need are:
- Type of marketing campaign: Some areas of marketing can be more expensive than others. Especially if you are going for a combination of different areas of marketing, your budget might need to be more robust.
- Length of marketing campaign: Do you want a long-term working relationship where the marketing process is continuous? Do you intend your campaign to be a simple project extending for a short period? The duration would determine if you would need to budget an hourly, monthly or fixed rate.
- Level of Expertise: Are you going with a relatively new freelancer or agency or do you want to work with the big icons of marketing? If you are working with a developing freelancer or agency, you tend to get a more affordable rate than if you are going with the big icons. However big icons tend to give you more effective marketing.
4. Consider Your Team Compatibility
Cooperation and coordination of the team are important to the success of a project. The type of marketing requirements you need in your company determine what options would be compatible with your needs. If the project involves varied areas of speciality, an agency would be the best solution for you.
This is because an agency already has teams of experts from various fields who have been working and coordinating projects together. They have proven compatibility which would make the project go more smoothly. A project that doesn’t necessarily involve more than a specific area might be more suited for a freelancer as there is a lesser risk of management issues.
5. What Tools Are Needed?
One of the important things to consider in your decision-making is the tools needed and their provision. Evaluate your project and determine what tools, materials and other provisions that would be needed to complete your project. If the tools are easily gotten and accessible, a freelancer might not need much assistance.
If you are going through the agency route, you probably would not need to provide these tools by yourself. The agency would most probably have most of these tools in place for projects like yours. However, a freelancer might not have some of these tools and they would need to be provided by the company.
Conclusion
The decision to go with a freelancer or an agency might be an easy or a difficult one depending on your particular situation. If your needs are easily met by just hiring a freelancer for the project, then that’s good. However, if your needs are more suited for an agency, do not try to compromise on the quality of your project by choosing a freelancer. Carefully consider all options and go with the best and your company would surely rise exponentially in the digital market.
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