The Agency Advantage: Why Outsourcing Marketing is a Smart Move

The Great Resignation. The gig economy. A work-from-anywhere mindset. Today’s employment reality makes it nearly impossible for companies to keep up with the latest hiring trends and employee demands—especially when it comes to their marketing teams.

It’s a global and digital-first world, and we’re all trying to adapt to new ways of working. When we add the effects of the pandemic and leaner budgets to that mix, it’s easy to see why businesses of every size are scrambling to secure—and retain—top marketers with the specialized skillsets they need to thrive in a marketplace that never sits still.

So, how can companies ease hiring pressure while making sure they still have the right marketing talent in place? It may be time to think beyond your in-house team and hire a marketing agency. Here’s why.  

1. Finding top marketers is getting harder. It’s quitting time. A July 2021 survey by MarketerHire revealed that 48% of marketers admitted they were planning to quit their full-time jobs. Maybe that’s why 68% of business leaders said they’d struggled to hire an in-house marketer that year—with 67% predicting that hiring will only get harder with time. With fewer in-house marketing pros in the hiring pool, it makes sense to partner with an agency that already has top talent in their roster.

 2. Hiring in-house talent is becoming more costly. Even in an iffy economy, businesses are boosting salaries by up to 3.5% for high-demand roles, according to a recent salary report by Randstad US. For smaller companies with 500 or less employees, it costs an average of $7,645 to hire a new employee, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers. That’s a pricey proposition for companies already squeezed by tight budgets.

 And employee turnover can be even costlier. According to Employee Benefit News, companies spend an average of 33% of a worker’s annual salary to replace them. By the time you add benefits, bonuses, onboarding, training, background checks, and job board fees—not to mention the very real loss of productivity that comes along with the hiring process—it’s clear why partnering with a marketing agency is a cost-effective move.

 3. Your needs are constantly changing. We all know that marketing trends and objectives are always in flux. One month you may want to focus on influencer marketing, then a couple months down the line you may want to go heavy on video content. Or maybe you have a very specific skillset you need for a short period of time—like a developer who specializes in gamification.

Given that, it’s no surprise 75% of businesses worry they won’t need the same skills in three months from now, as reported in a recent survey by MarketerHire. With marketing agencies, you can access talent with highly specialized skillsets on a short-term basis, allowing you to focus your efforts and save cash.

 4. An agency can help you stay on the cutting edge. Agency talent interacts with different industries and clients every day—giving them unique exposure to the latest business practices and technologies. Partnering with an agency is a great way to ensure you’re tapping into deep expertise while staying on top of the latest marketing tactics and capabilities. Just another reason why hiring a marketing agency has never been a smarter solution.