You’ve gotta love in-house marketing departments: they keep telling you — YOU, the most senior client-facing director — that they can cope with deadlines.
And they are often late.
Chatter
“Our in-house departments cover all the aspects of marketing, from traditional marketing to digital marketing, including PPC, Display, SEO and other similar activities,” a senior marketing director argued this week. That’s consensus among several sources at large corporations outside the tech world.
The problem: large companies do not have enough budget to look after the multiple sides that a digital marketing strategy brings. Hence, know-how comes at a premium. Time is also a very precious commodity.
The solution: outsource the know-how to dedicated outfits.
Image Source: SEARCHENGINEPEOPLE.COM
Costs
Then, another problem arises: digital marketing agencies are too expensive. One of the reasons is that they tend to use traditional marketing tools to retain their clients, while clients may have unrealistic expectations — so, for both clients and agencies, the fixed-cost base becomes too high.
And think about hidden costs: there are Chinese walls between strategy and marketing/sales departments, although there’s no clear conflict of interest, unless you believe employees should care more about their own wealth rather than that of the organisation and its stakeholders.
So, bear in mind that:
- Unqualified personnel needs training, or reputation risk spikes, and you may lose your client. Even training, in most cases, is not a panacea.
- High fixed costs are the inevitable price to pay if agencies the clients have to deal with are themselves too complex and structured.
- Deeper co-operation should be sought between marketing, sales and IT, although cultural barriers are high and self-interets prevails in many cases we have studied.
- Digital experts have a broader view on the forces that determine success in the marketplace, particularly if they have managed several SEO campaigns for big corporations.
If you want to discuss this topic further, feel free to email us at info@hedgingbeta.com