Marketing Director vs. Marketing Firm

By Peggy

Sealfon

How do

you make the decision to hire an in-house marketing director? Are you being

penny wise and pound foolish when you weigh-in the cost of an in-house

marketing director versus a full-service marketing firm?

Companies

define the role of a marketing director differently. For some companies, an

individual hired to focus the company’s marketing efforts is responsible for

all internal and external communications. Internally, this individual becomes

the liaison of information from management to staff and can have an enormous

influence on virtually everyone involved from associates and administrative

staff members to clients and prospects. Programs may include the creation of

materials to help educate and motivate staff about a company’s products and

services to keep the staff informed, up-to-date and enthused. External efforts

may range from creating a complete strategic marketing plan to launching the

plan by implementing a comprehensive campaign. Creating logos, newsletters,

brochures, designing ads, developing and planning promotional efforts may be

part of the role.

However,

far more often, marketing directors handle purely promotional activities such

as seminars, open houses, hospitality suites, and special events. As a result,

the implementation of other aspects needed for a marketing program must be

outsourced to freelancers or consultants. The result can actually be

significantly higher costs for a company.

Whether

hiring an in-house or outside marketing firm, a company should first determine

the basic scope of needs. A synergistic marketing plan should either be

developed or be in place ready for implementation. The plan should be a

broad-based overview of what the company wishes to accomplish through its

marketing efforts both internally and externally over a period of time; usually

a 12-month schedule is most appropriate. It may be focused on image-building or

it may be devoted to aggressive selling techniques. It may even incorporate a

complete advertising campaign. But it should clearly outline the marketing

needs and goals of the company and be integrated and reflective of the

company’s business plan.

Clearly

there are numerous advantages to having an in-house staff marketing person who

is readily available whenever needed. This in-house professional knows the

company inside and out and hopefully, completely understands the products or

services. The in-house person is familiar with and knowledgeable about the

staff of the company and can easily keep track of changes, and evolving needs.

The biggest reason firms hire in-house professionals is for the perceived cost

savings. A single-salaried employee may appear to require less overhead than an

outside agency. However, the reasoning is flawed.

Depending

on the needs of a company, the right outside agency can provide better

resources at a lower overall cost. Typically an agency staff will consist of an

account executive, a graphic designer, production and office managers. These

outside professionals can evaluate and analyze the marketing needs from a strategic

vantage point and can offer more complete services than any single individual.

Plus, most outside agencies will develop programs that track the marketing

successes by measuring revenues generated by marketing. In this way, the

marketing program can evolve to become more and more effective. In-house

professionals rarely conduct such follow-up programs. If they do, it is

typically accomplished by hiring an outside consulting firm anyway.

The

other advantage of an outside marketing firm is that the volume of business

these firms do allow them to take advantage of better pricing for advertising

placements in the media. Often the cost for the agency that is orchestrating a

full advertising program is returned through the savings on media placements.

Furthermore, the outside firm potentially offers more creativity by dint of a

larger creative staff who can brainstorm new approaches and even develop

cross-selling opportunities that might push the envelope. They can develop new

marketing avenues that an in-house person may not even have time to think of. A

full graphic department can also potentially deliver more creative visuals for

logos, stationery, brochures, and even ad designs.

The

bottom line is dependent upon how extensive the marketing needs are for a

company. For the marketing role to be successful within a firm, the in-house

marketing director must be a cheerleader, a motivator, and a non-stop advocate

of the importance of marketing and promotion. For an outside agency to be

successful, a company needs to view them as a part of their team and develop

strong communications. The best of both worlds might be to have an in-house

marketing person who acts as a liaison with the outside marketing firm. Thus,

the program could potentially have a cohesiveness that would capitalize on the

expertise of the outside firm.

Peggy

Sealfon, president of the Naples-based advertising agency Sealfon &

Associates, has written about a variety of topics for national magazines and

newspapers.