What are the Challenges of Taking Digital Marketing In-House?
Taking digital marketing in-house has been a challenge for many brands, but there are benefits to doing it. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to digital marketing in-house, but that still doesn’t make it easy. For many brands, moving away from third party agencies and taking digital marketing in-house has been a challenge. In this article, we’ll take a look at what those challenges may be, and what you should consider if thinking about bringing your digital marketing closer to home.
Growth of digital marketing in-house
As revealed in Bannerflow’s State of In-housing report for 2022, over 73% of brands in Europe now have an in-house digital marketing team.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many brands have accelerated their growth by taking their digital marketing in-house and experienced attractive benefits such as increased productivity and creativity, with 66% of brands reporting that their in-house staff have taken time to develop new skills.
Many brands found that taking their digital teams in-house also led to more transparency compared to using agencies, because they had immediate access to results. Businesses can report when they want, how they want, without conforming to an agency’s processes.
Level of expertise
The first major hurdle a brand must overcome when taking digital marketing in-house is the lack of training and expertise their current staff may have. Smaller brands may not have a large, diverse pool of talent and could be lacking in certain areas. This is a key reason why brands look towards agencies to support their digital marketing efforts. Hiring an agency quickly plugs a gap in your in-house expertise, so this can be a difficult obstacle to overcome if you want your internal team to take full control of your digital.
However, with planning, training and with the right use of technology and data, an in-house digital marketing team could deliver on company goals. When making these first steps in-house, leaning on the expertise of a seasoned digital marketing company (or training academy like House Digital!) will offer invaluable support and guidance.
High cost
Another challenge brands face when taking digital marketing in-house is the cost it takes to set up an internal team.
The majority of companies in the UK – 96% in fact – have fewer than 10 employees. This means that they might not have the resources available to properly run a digital marketing team in-house.
This is a major challenge facing companies who would like to save costs on external marketing agencies, but realistically, can only hire one or two people internally to run their marketing campaigns.
Paying monthly agency fees may well be more cost-effective than hiring a team of salaried staff, who might require investment, both in terms of training and equipment, but could potentially decide not to stay with the business long-term.
This whole process will take time away from working on the brand’s core goals and may actually affect how the business performs.
Delay and failure
Having a small and inexperienced team of in-house digital marketers could mean less time spent working on enhancing the brand online. Other business objectives may have to come first for a small company, so the digital marketing team may have to work across other areas of the business.
Utilising the services of a digital marketing agency can forego any worries about having to decide what takes precedence: enhancing your brand via digital marketing, or day-to-day business.
An agency works on a full-time basis on marketing strategies. This is their bread and butter, day in, day out. Your agency team will have a wealth of experience and talent available to them.
How House Digital can help you
The best digital marketers around have found their home at House Digital.
When we welcome you into our House, you’ll get acquainted with our in-house experts of digital marketing. We’ll help you to unlock your full potential by placing and training your in-house talent.
We’ll lay the foundations by configuring your digital channels, before adding structure to support your business goals. We’ll add a lick of paint from time to time to accelerate your growth and spruce up your strategies, but by then you’ll have a clear roadmap of how to achieve your goals.
The future of digital marketing is in-house, but it’s not as straight-forward as it seems. If you’re in need of digital marketing support from industry experts or would like to know more about the services we offer, give the House Digital team a call! We’d love to hear from you.
Contact us now at 01704 898951, or email us at hello@housedigital.co.uk.
