Marketing data is rapidly growing in importance. Should you hire a digital marketing consultancy and get expert help?
Data insights and analytics for marketing continue to rise in popularity and importance. In ten years, marketing without data will be like brushing your teeth without toothpaste. Ridiculous. As a result, organisations are asking whether they should build their own data teams or hire a digital marketing consultancy.
The insource vs outsource debate is nothing new. Organisations have spent the last 20 years yo-yoing between this concept for several business functions from finance to IT. However, given the rise in data as a critical tool to inform strategic marketing decisions, organisations are yet again contemplating their next steps. As a digital marketing consultancy that considers ourselves as our client’s marketing “data brain”, we have a vested interest. Therefore, we will try to be as impartial as possible (promise!).
The case for insourcing
Building an internal data team comes with many benefits. One benefit includes avoiding the dreaded “brain drain”, often accompanied by hiring marketing consultants. What happens when that data wizard leaves with the marketing consultancy you hired? Often, we see clients who have hired a digital marketing agency only to feel isolated once they leave. However, people will leave your organisation too. Unless you are a master of succession planning, this can be an issue even if you build an internal data team.
Insourcing can also enable organisations to build their data teams within their image and culture. It is unlikely you will find a digital marketing consultancy that can understand your organisation as well as you. At Antlerzz, we might be our client’s marketing “data brain”, but our clients are the experts of their organisation.
Keeping your marketing data insights and analytics insourced also facilitates greater control. You can determine who you hire, what additional tasks you may need help with and develop specialisations unique to your organisation. It can provide a competitive advantage because competitors cannot replicate your strategy. Nevertheless, employees often leave to join competitors. Therefore, it is not a full-proof strategy. However, it does provide greater control and may help drive your strategic digital marketing.
The case for outsourcing to a digital marketing consultancy
Cost and flexibility are often important factors for clients when making a decision to hire a digital marketing consultancy. Data experts are rising in demand across the world. The result is permanent employees are becoming more expensive to hire. The average UK salary is approximately between £27.5k and £31.5k. Even if we take the lower end of that estimation and factor in recruitment costs, training, National Insurance, office space, software licences, bonuses, sick days, etc., the cost is almost double at £53k. When you consider a good data analyst will cost considerably more, the total cost of one person can total over £100k per year. That’s before you have even factored in building or licencing data machines.
At Antlerzz, we have you covered because we have data machines that analyse our client’s digital ecosystem. We offer flexibility because our clients contract us on a yearly subscription. As a result, working with a digital marketing consultancy like Antlerzz is beneficial when trying to meet the changing demands of your organisation. For example, during the pandemic, many organisations needed to prioritise budgets.
Marketing consultants can provide an outside industry perspective
Furthermore, whilst the cost above was for just one person, working with an analytics marketing consultancy gives you access to a team of people. As a result, you can quickly access vast industry-wide experience. Digital marketing consultancy firms like Antlerzz provide a unique opportunity to get an outside perspective. You can find out what industry best practice looks like from people who are working with multiple clients.
However, there are many different digital marketing consultancies. It is crucial to identify the best marketing agency for you. At Antlerzz, we believe we are unique. Working with a digital marketing consultancy like ours enables our clients to gain data insights across their digital ecosystem. Rather than getting data insights into one area of the digital ecosystem, like SEO services to improve website ranking or marketing for social media, our reports provide a holistic view.
To avoid losing knowledge, you should find a digital marketing consultancy aligned to your strategic goals and empowers your team
Furthermore, many digital marketing consultancies use traditional consulting models and work with clients for a defined period. For a well-defined project, an approach like this is sensible. However, it can also cause the brain drain phenomenon. At Antlerzz, we avoid this by providing data insight reports with detailed steps for our clients to implement. We are their marketing “data brain”. Consequently, we empower our clients and upskill them at the same time.
Outsourcing to digital marketing consultancy also offers convenience. Many clients want to focus on doing what they do best – marketing. Working with a marketing analytics agency enables organisations to avoid all the issues of building a team from scratch. We work closely with our clients, so they get the benefits of having an internal team without the complexities of setting it up. We analyse all our data through the lenses of cognitive science, commercial insight and technical analysis. These machines, methodologies and techniques could take years to build and get right.
So, which one is best?
As much as we would love to say outsource, this would be disingenuous. There is no correct option when contemplating whether you should hire a digital marketing consultancy The best option is dependent on your strategic objectives and capabilities. At Antlerzz, we believe we can provide an unrivalled service which provides our clients greater control as we empower them to make decisions. Consequently, our clients receive the feeling of insourcing whilst having the full benefits of outsourcing their digital ecosystem data insights and analysis.
If you want to know more about our insights and the reports we provide, please feel free to reach out to us at info@antlerzz.com or follow us on Instagram @antlerzz_longevity
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