Should I Hire a Marketing Manager or a Marketing Agency?

by Ryan McMullen

In a perfect world, we would all start our businesses with full-time sales, accounting, fulfillment and marketing staffs. The reality is that at the beginning stages of a business, we have to wear all the hats. However, when the marketing tasks become too complex or time-consuming, business owners have a decision to make: Should I hire a marketing manager to do the work or outsource the work to a marketing agency (ideally you would do both, but I’ll save that for another day)?

Before we move on, please be clear that sales and marketing are two different animals. Trying to kill two birds with one stone by hiring a sales and marketing person is not going to end well.  Your employee will naturally gravitate toward his or her strength, and the other role will be pushed aside. It’s a lose-lose because you’re not getting a rock star at the position and you’re setting up your employee for failure because he or she will never meet your expectations.

When trying to decide what to do, I would do some soul searching and ask myself one simple question:

What Am I Really Trying to Do?  

Do you need somebody to keep repeating what you have been doing for the past three years, or are you looking to move your marketing forward? If your campaigns are straightforward and need very little specialized skill, then hiring a dedicated marketing professional is an easy answer. Tweaking print ads and making simple website and copy edits don’t require an army of professionals.  

Or have you committed to growing your business by trying new and advanced strategies? The big drawback to hiring one person is that you narrow your capabilities. I have yet to meet the person who can effectively be the copywriter, designer, web developer, project manager, etc.  Also, in the interest of self-preservation, a marketing manager is going to work only in the spaces for which he or she feels comfortable, so you get stuck on the same track.

To ensure clients’ freedom and the flexibility to move your marketing in whichever direction it needs to go, agencies keep a staff with very specific skill sets. If you need to focus more of your attention on the Internet, they’ve got a guy. If you want to create a more exciting brand, they’ve got a guy.  Looking to spruce up your graphics? Guess what? They’ve got a guy.  

Not only do agencies have the tools to execute a wider scope of strategies, but also the creativity that accompanies a group of minds versus a single mind is invaluable.     

There is no one answer for all business owners. Certain business owners are comfortable doing the same things that have given them good results and don’t see a need to change anything. We all build our businesses for different reasons, so that’s great for some. Other, more ambitious, owners who are trying to build the next GE are going to need more expertise to enter new marketing spaces, and only agencies can provide that.

Ryan McMullen (ryan@stlouismarketinglab.com) is the owner of St. Louis Marketing Lab