These are the three main routes available to a company looking to develop and implement a marketing campaign – employ an in-house team, engage an agency or find a freelance.

There are pros and cons to each option, as the most appropriate choice will depend on a number of factors relating to your business and what you want to achieve.

Smaller, discrete projects

When you have something quite ring-fenced that is outside the normal scope of your work, outsourcing is often the best route, rather than putting your in-house team under too much pressure when they don’t have the capacity.

This is where a specialist freelance can be a good option, or equally an agency, perhaps the one you already work with if they have the skills you need for the project. If you decide a freelance is the right route, you may ask your agency to find the right person, then manage them and the project.

SME businesses

If you only have budget to employ one or two people, you will find it hard to recruit people with the breadth of skills that you need these days to deliver marketing campaigns. Can one person really be an expert at digital marketing, social media, PPC, content creation, copywriting, SEO, events, email marketing? The same is true of a freelancer.

It’s unlikely (but if you do find someone who genuinely is, do everything you can to keep them!)

Here is where an agency that works with SMEs and knows your sector can be an excellent option, as they will have team members who are an expert in each of the areas you need. It is likely that your budget for a full-time employee would be similar to an agency retainer, so it also makes financial sense.

Larger businesses

Here you will almost certainly have an in-house team, because you need the level of control and internal knowledge that they bring.

However, they will not have all the expertise you need and you will almost certainly be looking to appoint an agency for advertising, media buying, design, web, digital marketing, SEO etc. Part of the role of the in-house team will be to manage the agency.

Design and web development

These are specialist areas and I would suggest that a specialist agency is the right way to go here. Trying to save money by “doing it yourself” or finding a friend of a friend who can build you a website, will almost certainly be a false economy.

To be effective, your site needs to have great UX/UI (user experience/user interface), be fast, be designed mobile-first, be accessible and have great technical SEO (before you even get to the content). There is a world of difference between having a web presence and having a site that works for you and generates incoming leads, more so than ever with the growth of AI-driven search (AEO).

The same goes for design and copywriting. I had a client a couple of years ago who was convinced they could design a new brochure themselves on Canva. Two weeks later, they admitted that it was harder than they had thought it would be!

Whilst some larger businesses employ in-house designers and web developers, the main thing to take into account is providing them with the training and support they need to keep their skills up-to-date, which is harder to do than in an agency, where people are working on multiple projects with different technical requirements and the pace of evolution is often faster.

Pros of an in-house team

You have full control over the marketing function and activity
Your in-house team will have direct access to and dialogue with other departments, to coordinate messaging and be aware of the broader business strategy
They will have deep knowledge of the brand, culture and values
You have more granular control over quality through appraisals and personal development plans

Cons of an in-house team

With the change to employers’ National Insurance contributions, the cost of employing people has increased significantly
The incoming Employee Rights Bill, which will introduce many day one rights, will put more onus on the business to make sure they have found the right person
You will need to arrange cover if someone is unable to work for an extended period for whatever reason

Pros of an agency

You are gaining access to a team with a range of skill sets and the agency can normally take on additional projects as required
The agency will continue to provide the services when their team members are on annual leave, sick or leave the agency – continuity of service is their problem, not yours
A good agency will be very accountable to you for the quality of the work, meeting deadlines and delivering what is agreed, so that they retain the contract
An agency will often have access to specialist marketing tools, which they use across their client base
Agencies can bring fresh ideas, based on their knowledge of marketing and their experience with other clients

Cons of an agency

Whilst you will have approval of work, you may have less control over day-to-day decisions
Your agency may not have direct access to other departments in your business, so you need to ensure that they are kept informed of developments and plans
If the relationship between the client and agency is not one of partnership and trust, it can go wrong quickly. I have seen colleagues in agencies reduced to tears by bullying and rude clients, who think that is the way to manage an agency relationship

Pros of a freelance

They don’t tend to have many overheads, so will be cost-effective
You will find freelances with niche skills and expertise, which can be great for a specific purpose
Freelancer engagement can be flexible, which is good for specific projects

Cons of a freelance

They will have limited capacity as they are just one person
If they are unable to work for an extended period, your project may be jeopardised
They may not have all the systems, procedures, insurance and tools in place that you might expect, so due diligence is required (as it is also with an agency)

My experience of all three options

In the early days of Scaramanga, I undertook some contracts with DEFRA, Nortel Networks and T-Mobile (now EE), that were technically more akin to a freelance assignment.

I have worked in-house – as a marketing manager for Unipart Group and as a marketing director for a dotcom startup where I appointed and managed our marketing agencies – but most of my career has been spent agency-side, with two below the lines agencies, before starting Scaramanga in 2000.

Whilst I have enjoyed them all and see the advantages of each, for me, my favourite place to work is in an agency. I love the variety and the expansion of your skill base through working on different projects, with different clients in different industries.

What’s the right choice for marketing – agency, in-house or freelance?