So, you’ve come to the conclusion that marketing is no less important than your product or service itself. You do an online research, but what you thought would help you leaves you overwhelmed, thanks to the number of those who claim to be marketing experts. Having tackled the issues of hiring digital marketing and inbound marketing agencies, this article draws a comparison between hiring a full-time chief marketing officer (CMO) and an inbound marketing agency. In this case, there are a few factors to consider as follows:
- Digital vs. Inbound Marketing
One important fact is that not every digital marketing expert is experienced in inbound marketing. Examples of digital marketing are content marketing, social media marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), display advertising and email marketing. Inbound marketing, however, is to use digital marketing techniques in a long-term strategy to generate revenue in a process where the customer approaches the brand and not the other way round.
- Up-to-Date Knowledge
Every day, a new marketing tool or software emerges. Of course, acquiring the up-to-date knowledge and experience means to purchase these releases, such as the HubSpot marketing management tool, and to learn how to use them, which translates into time and money. This is where a marketing agency proves useful because, in most cases, a brand is likely to pay only for marketing resources that directly serve its line of business.
- Inbound Marketing Funnel
Inbound marketing has to do with the integration between the different stages of the inbound funnel. In other words, the marketing knowledge in a company cannot be restricted to the marketing personnel since their work overlaps with other departments such as content, sales and the IT. This means dedicating a budget to teach the personnel, in each of these departments, possibly from scratch, the marketing fundamentals, how to use the marketing tools and how to apply them to the business.
On the other hand, hiring a HubSpot certified agency means getting the experience of a team of experts whose everyday job has to do with learning the different marketing practices. It also means that they have the right experience to know what’s best for every industry.
- Costs
Though there may not be much argument in the fact that hiring an inbound marketing agency is anything but cheap, it may actually be cheaper on the long run than hiring a full-time marketing employee or team. Why? Because an agency, which works with different companies and in different fields on a daily basis, knows exactly what it’s doing. There is hardly room for trial and error, which may sometimes mean money wasted. Although an agency charges a lot, you get multiple the amount that you paid if the agency knows what it’s doing.
If you think you cannot afford either a CMO or an inbound marketing agency, think again. Unless you really know what you’re doing, customers will probably tell what’s cheap from what’s not. If you’ve worked hard on what your brand is offering, you want to present it with no less quality than your products’ or services’, otherwise it would be more like gifting a valuable piece of jewelry in a crumbled piece of paper.
Know your brand’s value.
