Can’t decide to hire in-house marketers or outsource the tasks to agencies? It’s time to go hybrid.
Hybrid is having a good mix of in-house marketers and outsourced projects. In today’s practice, it is common for companies to hire a small team of in-house marketers and outsource projects to media agencies. Going hybrid works because companies can maximise the advantages of both options and compensate for possible risks with higher benefits.
Prior to outsourcing, my team always faced issues with business units and their – for the lack of a better word – unreasonable demands.
“Hey, can we get this campaign set up and running by this Friday?” Yea, we know you don’t care Friday is just 48 hours away, or that nobody works over the weekend to monitor the campaign.
Going hybrid made things different. The team finally secured a budget to work with external agencies who were enthusiastic and worked well with tight schedules. Thank god.
Initiate Multiple Projects
One campaign before Friday? Let’s up the ante and get three campaigns running by then! Passing on these short term projects to agencies meant freeing up more time for the team to focus on strategic planning instead of execution. This increased productivity for the company because we had more time to relook at past campaigns and figure out where we were not performing.
A common misunderstanding is that in-house marketers do nothing when projects are passed to agencies. While agencies implement the campaigns and do most of the ground work, the internal team looks at the campaign results and furnishes agencies with valuable corporate insights in order to optimise the campaigns. There is also a lot of coordination work within stakeholders in order to ensure that campaigns are running properly.
Corporate Branding
On top of that, in-house marketers are the last touchpoint before campaigns are launched. This means we need to pay attention to the nitty gritty of the campaigns.
Some things that are commonly overlooked by agencies include use of logos, message tone and marketing message. There are instances where we even have to look at minute details such as stock images used in creative collaterals. Close collaboration between in-house marketers and agencies will help minimise these discrepancies. Who else, other than in-house marketers know these guidelines best?
Minimise Cost
Probably the most valuable benefit for companies – going hybrid minimises cost. Outsourcing projects to agencies, and assigning one internal headcount to manage these projects means we can do away with hiring and training costs. We can also save time interviewing candidates. Really, my campaigns would have started and ended should I have spent a few months interviewing candidates. No doubt, upfront costs of engaging agencies may seem high. But they do fade in comparison with the cumbersome process of applying for headcount, finding the right candidate, and orienting the new hire.
To sum it up, going hybrid definitely has its benefits. Ultimately, though, the decision boils down to the needs and objectives of the company.
Proprietary information that you do not wish to share with agencies? Have more than sufficient resources to manage your campaigns? Stay in-house.
Need extra helping hands and resources for a short term campaign? Outsource these projects to external agencies to get things running in the shortest possible time.
