Inhouse vs Virtual for Digital Marketing

Insourcing vs Outsourcing for Digital Marketing

You’ve finally cracked the code on a fresh digital marketing campaign that could potentially transform the current state of your business. The right individuals are on the job and your campaign will hit the ground running.

Now here is the grand question.

Are you going to let your in-house team create the campaign or you’re thinking of bringing in a virtual team?

Without any doubt, both options offer desirable benefits that demand attention. For instance, insourcing means you’re handing the work to individuals that you have personally hand-picked, who are trained to grapple with the daily needs of the brand alongside the customer needs.

On the other side of the coin, working with a virtual team is largely cost-effective. You’re assured that this agency is going to solely focus on the goal of the digital marketing campaign with an eye out for the best practices, therefore, giving your campaign an outstandingly competitive edge.

This is an easier decision to make for larger companies. For smaller companies, we know you’re trying to figure out if this is the ‘right stage’ in your business to take up working with a virtual team.  Will it produce an excellent outcome? Which option is truly cost-effective and what risks are you working with here?

This article has been created with you in mind. Let’s explore your options for the best digital marketing choice for your business.

Insourcing

The term ‘insourcing’ was created to counter outsourcing. Insourcing means hiring or initiating your current existing team or staff into a marketing project that has a set of goals you’d like to achieve.

It includes the full package that you’d expect in a standard employment package: wages, salaries, work benefits and they will be completely dedicated to meeting your company’s demands.

Insourcing Benefits

Culture protection

In-house workers commit to the companies’ mission. With office interactions and a sense of ‘unity’, this strengthens the company story.

In-house workers understand your company’s story and they have the advantage of first-hand interaction with you that assists in how they speak to any prospects. This applies to social media platforms, content marketing strategies and email tone.

Flexibility

Your in-house team can easily redirect how it is performing its marketing strategy without having to draft up a new contract. You also won’t have to constantly update them on the direction that the business is going towards because they can experience changes directly as they happen in the strategy.

Access

Some virtual agencies have other clients they work for, but your in-house team keeps you as a priority. Internal changes, marketing and tough deadlines will be handled better and time consciously.

It’s also advantageous that your staff has access to other in-house team members since this allows brainstorming and collective input on ongoing campaigns.

Hiring A Virtual Team for Digital marketing

Insourcing vs Outsourcing for Digital Marketing

A huge trend currently, virtual work is effective because it is project-focused. You have the option to roll out numerous batches of projects at a time and rest assured that each project will be treated individually with a critical focus on meeting the business goals. This means that virtual teams are highly fixed on deliverables in the least amount of time possible for a specific digital marketing project.

Outsourcing Benefits

You pay for content, not staff members

Easily the most sought-after advantage, virtual work is cost-effective because you pay directly for the digital marketing services you’re looking for. As compared to insourcing, the per content unit is much lower. You’ll pay for the time being spent on marketing services (or a set rate depending on your agreements) and not the full cost of having an employee.

You get top talent

Outsourcing companies usually select only the best industry-specific talent when hiring for projects. This ensures that you get high-quality work and all the expertise involved with it. Insourcing sometimes faces struggles in hiring the best talent because unlike outsourcing agencies they don’t continuously get tasks and projects that are as challenging. Virtual agencies work with a variety of clients globally that in turn bring in digital marketing work requiring expert action and opinion.

Focus on results

Virtual talent focuses on making sure your drawn up digital marketing campaign serves its intended purpose. You won’t have to go through the process of nurturing an in-house employee who needs to ease into group culture, a job position or gets lost in business processes. Just a few meetings briefing the incumbent on what you’re trying to achieve in your campaign and the work begins to fulfil contracted content.

Insourcing vs Outsourcing for Digital Marketing

The Hybrid Approach

After a careful look at the intricacies of both in-house and virtual digital marketing, most companies decide to set into motion what is called the hybrid approach.

In most cases, the most tactful way is to have an in-house digital marketing team (or one individual depending on the business needs) handling the administrative side of things whilst coordinating the virtual team to ensure that they stay in alignment with the business goals.

Below are 4 more options on the hybrid approach to consider utilizing:

Hybrid Type 1: Virtual talent brings in regular content

Hybrid Type 2: Flexible tasks are undertaken by the in-house marketing team

Hybrid Type 3:  In-house team makes allowance for the virtual team to merge with the sales process

Hybrid Type 4: In-house manages the outsourced marketing contracts

So, what option should you go with?

Insourcing vs Outsourcing for Digital Marketing

Truthfully, the answer varies in the same way that business goals and needs vary. An in-house solution might suit one business, yet another cannot carry the responsibility of employees so virtual fits best. In other circumstances a mixture of both to create a suitable hybrid approach works.

If you’re looking to make a more informed decision, we’d love to help you figure it out. Contact us today to get a consultation on your business needs and how our virtual digital marketing services can help support your newest marketing campaigns and team.