In-House Marketing Employee (Manager) vs. Marketing Agency / Freelancer: What is the better and more cost-effective solution for your company? In this insightful video + blog article, I compare the advantages and disadvantages of in-house marketing teams and outsourcing marketing tasks to specialized agencies.

In-House Marketing Employee sensible or outsourcing marketing to an agency as a better solution? 🤔

the decision of whether to handle marketing tasks internally or outsource them to a specialized agency can have significant implications for your company’s success. But why is outsourcing marketing practically a must today? In our latest blog post, we discuss the crucial advantages an agency offers, from access to specialized knowledge and state-of-the-art technology to the ability to react quickly to market changes.

Learn how outsourcing marketing not only helps you reduce costs but also optimize your marketing strategies and maximize your reach. Whether it’s SEO, content creation, or digital advertising campaigns – discover why so many successful companies choose to bring in external experts to achieve their marketing goals.

IMPORTANT: Employing a person for marketing should not and cannot be combined with personal assistance to the management! That does not work!

In-House Marketing Employee? Is that really sensible? Or rather outsource marketing?

An in-house marketing employee in a medium-sized company typically has a wide range of tasks to manage, which can extend across various aspects of marketing. Here are some of the central responsibilities:

1. Strategic Planning: Development and implementation of marketing strategies aligned with company goals.
2. Market Research and Analysis: Collecting and analyzing data on customers, competitors, and market trends to make informed marketing decisions.
3. Digital Marketing: Managing the company website, social media channels, and online advertising campaigns, including SEO and SEM + RECRUITING
4. Content Creation: Creating content for various platforms and media, such as blog posts, newsletters, press releases, and promotional materials.
5. Event Management: Planning and executing events such as trade fairs, product launches, or customer events.
6. Budget Management: Monitoring the marketing budget and ensuring that expenditures support strategic goals.
7. Customer Relations: Maintaining relationships with customers and other stakeholders to strengthen the company image and increase customer satisfaction.

Why the cannot work:

• Overload: A single employee responsible for all these aspects of marketing can easily become overloaded, especially when specialized skills or deeper knowledge in certain areas are required (e.g., SEO or data-driven analysis).
• Lack of Specialization: Marketing is a broad field that often requires specialized skills in areas such as graphic design, video production, technical SEO, and data analysis. A single employee cannot be an expert in all areas simultaneously.
• Resource Constraintsänkungen: Medium-sized companies often have limited budgets for marketing, which means that investments in the best tools, technologies, or external services are not always possible.
• Strategic Limitations: An in-house employee might end up in an „echo chamber“ effect, where new ideas and fresh perspectives are missing, which often come from collaboration with external agencies or consultants.

In many cases, it can be beneficial to outsource certain marketing functions or to create additional internal resources to overcome these challenges. This can increase the effectiveness of marketing efforts and reduce the pressure on in-house employees.

Effort in hours for an in-house marketing director / employee / manager in the company

Here is an example annual overview for an in-house marketing employee at a mid-sized company, including the estimated time expenditures for the respective areas of responsibility. This overview is intended to provide a rough estimate of the monthly and annual workload (working hours):

Explanations of the tasks:

Become more visible on Google & Social Media?

Contents of this article

Toggle

In a free strategy consultation for data-driven online marketing, we uncover your untapped potential, review any existing ad accounts if necessary, examine your SEO ranking and visibility, and determine which strategy is appropriate for your budget and which active measures will lead to more inquiries or sales.

✅ More visibility & perception through targeted placement
✅ More visitors > prospects > customers > revenue
✅ Reach target groups scalably with SEA
✅ Act and grow sustainably with SEO
🫵 Maximum success with our hybrid strategy

💪 More than 15 years of experience across industries in over 1,000+ projects demonstrable!

Request a marketing strategy consultation now

and become sustainably visible!

• Strategic Planning: This involves developing and reviewing marketing strategies to ensure they align with business goals. This includes annual reviews and quarterly adjustments.
• Online Marketing: Implementation of online strategies, including content creation, social media management, email campaigns, SEO, and SEM.
• Internal Coordination: Regular meetings with sales, management, and product development to ensure that marketing is closely aligned with other business areas.
• Other Tasks: This can include anything from market research to event management, depending on company requirements and the time of year.

This overview is, of course, only an example and may vary depending on the specific requirements of the company and other external factors.

In addition, there is the evaluation of results, etc.

Hourly efforts

Overview of monthly and annual work distribution and time expenditure for the in-house employee, assuming that an online marketing agency takes on most of the tasks and the in-house employee primarily performs coordinating and supervisory tasks:

With intensive agency supportüsupport (adapted):

Changes by the agency supportüport:

• Strategic Planning: The time spent on strategic planning is reduced to 1-2 hours per month, as the agency handles most of the preparatory work, and only final coordination and approval by the in-house employee are required.
• Online Marketing: The in-house employee now only reviews and approves campaigns and strategies prepared by the agency, which reduces the time commitment to 1-2 hours per month.
• Agency Coordination: Coordination with the agency now only takes 1 hour per month, as efficient communication channels and clear responsibilities have been established.
• Other Tasks: This remains unchanged at approximately 2 hours per month, as certain ad-hoc tasks or specific company requirements still need to be handled internally.

Advantages of this significant reduction:

1. Concentration on essential tasks: The in-house employee can concentrate on essential, value-adding tasks and make strategic decisions.

1. Efficient resource utilization: The in-house employee’s working time is used efficiently, leading to a better work-life balance and potentially higher job satisfaction.

1. Leverage agency expertise: The specialized expertise of the agency is utilized to its maximum, which can lead to more innovative and effective marketing strategies.

These adjustments reflect a very efficient use of resources and allow the in-house employee to focus on key areas that have a strategic impact on the company.

Cost Comparison
To establish the annual costs for the in-house employee and compare them with potential agency costs, we begin by calculating the employee’s annual salary including ancillary costs:

Costs forfor the in-house employee:

Monthly Gross Salary: €3,504

Annual salary including ancillary costs:

3.504€× 12 months ×1.35 ancillary cost factor =56,716.80 €

Costs forfor the agency:

The agency costs depend heavily on the specific services and contract terms. To make an estimate, I will assume that the monthly agency costs are approximately equal to the employee’s monthly salary, which is not uncommon in the industry, especially when comprehensive services including strategic planning, extensive online marketing, and continuous optimization are offered.

Monthly agency costs: €3,504 net

Annual agency costs:

3.504€×12 months =42.048€

Total Cost Comparison:

• Annual costs for the in-house employee: 56,716.80 €
• Annual costs for the agency: 42,048 €

Cost Reduction Through Agency Use:

The savings when using an agency compared to full-time employment of an in-house employee amount to:

56,716.8€ − 42,048€ = 14,668.80€

This calculation shows that using an agency could mean a cost reduction of €14,668.8 per year, assuming that the agency costs are the equivalent of the employee’s monthly salary. This analysis does not take into account the potentially higher efficiency and effectiveness of marketing measures through the agency, which could lead to further indirect cost savings.

Other Important Factors

Taking into account 30 vacation days and the aspect of non-liability of employees for poor performance further refine the cost picture and can be relevant when deciding on the use of an in-house resource compared to an agency.

Adjustment of costs for the in-house employee:

Since the employee has 30 vacation days per year, the actual working days are fewer, while the salary remains unchanged. This can increase the cost per actual hour worked.

Working days per year without vacation (assuming there are 5 working days per week and approximately 52 weeks per year):

52 weeks × 5 days = 260 days

Deducting 30 vacation days:

260 days − 30 days = 230 days

Annual salary including ancillary costs remains: 56.716,80 €

The costs per working day increase enormously as a result, since 1 month is not worked.

We disregard sick days, etc.

No liability for poor performance!!!:

In companies, employees are generally not directly liable for poor performance as long as there is no gross negligence or intent. This means that the company bears the risk of poor performance. In contrast, an agency can often be held contractually responsible if agreed services are not provided, which reduces the potential liability and associated risk for the company.

Financial considerations:

Taking into account vacation days and non-liability effectively increases the relative costs of the in-house employee, since the salary is distributed over fewer working days and the company bears the risk of performance. This potentially strengthens the argument for using an agency if it offers efficient performance and, if applicable, assumes liability for non-fulfillment.

Revised cost per working day for the in-house employee:

56,716.80€ / 230 days ≈ 246.60€ per day

Interim conclusion: The adjustment of the cost calculation taking into account vacation days and non-liability for poor performance shows that using an agency is advantageous both from a cost perspective and from a risk consideration standpoint. Particularly in cases where the company does not have the resources or expertise to continuously monitor and ensure the quality of marketing activities.

Added value of a marketing agency at equal costs and increased flexibility

Efficiency and expertise: When engaging a specialized marketing agency, a company gains access to a team of experts trained in various areas of marketing. This includes SEO, SEM, content creation, social media management, and data-driven analytics. Bundling this expertise under one roof can enable a significant improvement in marketing strategy and execution. In contrast, a single in-house employee, even with extensive experience, cannot be specialized in all aspects of marketing simultaneously.

Cost comparison: In a direct cost comparison, taking into account the annual salary including ancillary costs (56,716.80 € for the in-house employee vs. 42,048 € for the agency), the company can already benefit financially by engaging an agency. If you additionally consider the increased number of effective working days and the transfer of risk regarding service quality, the option becomes even more attractive.

Performance capability: An agency’s performance capability can be further enhanced through its ability to utilize the latest technologies and methods. Agencies often invest in advanced tools for data analysis, automation, and customer tracking, which may be too costly for individual companies. This leads to improved target audience engagement and efficiency in marketing campaigns.

Estimated value increase: If one assumes that an agency can increase the effectiveness of marketing measures by 30% to 50% through specialization and technology deployment, this represents a significant increase in reach and engagement, as well as potentially conversions and revenue. These estimates are conservative and may vary depending on the quality of the agency and the relevance of its strategies for the company’s specific market segment.

Flexibility through B2B contract: Another advantage of working with an agency is the flexibility provided by B2B contracts, which allow services to be scaled according to needs. This is particularly beneficial during times of variable demand, product launches, or when entering new markets. A B2B contract can also include specific performance indicators and exit clauses that minimize entrepreneurial risk.

In summary, the decision to engage a marketing agency offers a significant increase in marketing expertise and performance at equal or lower costs. This option also provides greater flexibility and scalability of marketing efforts, making it an attractive choice for many companies seeking to improve their market position and expand their business.

What was not taken into account:

• Knowledge Knowledge Knowledge from other projects and experiences
• Software & tool costs (min. 100 – 250€ per month)
• Exchange and solutions within the agency team

Florian Ibe
^{CEO & Marketing Consultant}

Request a non-binding consultation now:

fi@vastcob.com

Open contact form

Your contact person: Florian Ibe

Please leave this field empty.

I have read and acknowledged the privacy policy and revocation information. I agree that my information from the form will be collected and processed to answer my inquiry.