Artikel
9 reasons why you as a marketing manager should use freelancers instead of agencies
As we all know, more companies are outsourcing more tasks to freelancers. Be it tasks that they don’t have the skills to do in-house or tasks they don’t have the time for. In addition, most companies still have an agency they work with. But what if you outsource ALL external tasks to freelancers instead of instead of an agency? What could happen?
By Carsten Bjerregaard, Marketingcapacity.dk (Link to the article. Copying/publishing without agreement is not allowed)
1. You get about twice as much work for the same money
You can save money by using freelancers where you would otherwise use an agency. Or you can get almost twice as much work for your money, depending on how you choose to look at it. The hourly rate for freelancers is inherently 30-50% lower than agency hourly rates for similarly skilled specialists or creatives. Simply because the agency has a different cost structure.
Agencies have office space, company cars, canteen arrangements, salespeople, coordinators, administrative staff and much more, all of which must be paid for through hourly rates. And when not all hours are sold and time must be invested in creating larger (often free) presentations to win new customers, hourly rates are high. The opposite is true with freelancers. They often work from home or, if things are going well, from a rented desk space in the city for a few thousand dollars per month.
2. You get access to a bigger and better range of skills
No one can do everything, not even agencies. However, if you choose to use freelancers, you have access to a wide range of specialists and creatives with unique skills. On the freelance portal Marketingcapacity.dk alone, you can find more than 1,000 freelancers who have carefully mapped their skills. Many have also uploaded references and examples of their work so you can judge if they are a good fit for you. Which agency can match that?
3. You get maximum flexibility
With freelancers, you can tailor your company’s marketing work to suit your needs. For example, Marketingcapacity.dk arranges collaborations in all possible forms and with a wide range. From 4-37 hours a week and with the opportunity to organize the collaboration as it suits you best. In a fixed framework if you have a constant need, or with high flexibility if the amount of tasks varies over time or if you cannot predict your needs from week to week. There’s no requirement for square retainer agreements or anything similar. You’re free to avoid wasted time.
And then there’s the question of where people sit. Many companies choose a model where freelancers spend 50% of their time at the company and 50% of their time working remotely. In this way, the company has flexibility, while not being limited to only being able to complete tasks on certain days. The operation can run every day of the week.
4. You put your team in charge
When you use freelancers, you’re not tied to one team or specific employees at an agency. If you’ve ever worked with an agency and one person when the chemistry wasn’t right, you know that discussing solutions can be difficult. When you only use freelancers, you are the head coach. You build your team from A-Z yourself. And with a full team of freelance copywriters, graphic designers, SEO specialists, UX designers and developers, you’re in a strong position.
5. You can insource your marketing efforts
Many companies want to insource their marketing work. Because proximity in itself is a significant advantage. It gives you more control, everyone has access to information, and it’s easy to brief and easy to follow up when you’ve worked close by. With freelancers, you can insource work in the most flexible way. So you have skilled specialists within arm’s length, and they participate in the informal knowledge sharing and data flow that takes place in your business. This gives them a context for their work and helps them better communicate and express your company’s DNA.
If part of the work is done in-house, it’s also easier for you to delegate tasks to freelancers who know your organization well. It’s easier for the freelancer to get the job done when there’s easy access to ask questions and discuss issues along the way with relevant employees and specialists in your company. Contrary to popular belief, freelancers are generally very open to working within the company and getting to know the team better.
Of course, you can also work closely with an agency. And if you’re a big client, you’re in almost daily contact. But who in the agency are you in contact with? Is it a consultant or an assistant? Or is it the people who actually do the work? The digital specialists, webmasters, developers or creatives? Many of the skilled people needed in marketing today are so specialized that it doesn’t make sense to have intermediaries. It just makes handoffs imprecise and slows down the process (and makes it more expensive to coordinate). When you work with freelancers, you have direct access to the people doing your work.
6. You can adapt agile to an ever-changing world
Think about how quickly the market situation and the marketing profession is changing. Can your agency’s skills and marketing culture keep up? Can yours? It could easily take (an agency or you) months to recruit and hire someone with the necessary new tools and experience. Many companies have experienced ‘outgrowing an agency’. It’s often awkward and you typically react too late. You want to be fair and see if the agency is getting to grips with new developments in an area.
With freelancers, you set the pace. You can onboard new skills to your team within weeks if you want to change strategy or do something different from what you “usually” do. This is one of the reasons why the use of freelancers has already exploded and will continue to do so. In marketing as in other professions. As McKinsey, among others, has described in studies and reports.
In the US alone, 36% of the workforce is currently independent. In 2016, it was only 27%. McKinsey themselves describe this as a ‘Seismic Shift’
Many factors are driving this development. One of the factors McKinsey mentions several times is the emergence of new platforms. In Denmark, you have the platform Marketingcapacity.dk when you want a large, unified selection and find exactly the freelancers you need.
7. Learn more about your business and what works
When you work with freelancers – and especially when they work for you – you can involve yourself more deeply in the work if you want to. Because unlike agency work, freelance work isn’t a black box where you brief on one end and receive suggestions and solutions on the other.
You can actively participate in ideas, development and production, and you can continuously ask questions and learn more about what works. This is a bigger advantage than many people think. Because just like in any other development, it’s an advantage to see results quickly. The closer you can follow projects, the faster, cheaper and more agile you can change direction and optimize on an ongoing basis. At the same time, you’ll gain more insight into the different specialties and can therefore contribute more. It’s a virtuous circle.
8. Take better control of your communication and digital presence
A few years ago, it was easier to outsource your communication to external agencies. It probably only consisted of a handful of activities per year, and they were “just” campaigns. But that’s no longer the case. Today, there’s more at stake. A company IS its digital presence, including customer journeys and daily communication and content. Customers research and buy online, and your website and digital services are an essential part of your brand.
When you work with contractors, you can take your marketing operation in-house. Not just the communication and campaigns, but your digital presence on websites and social media, your customer journey, your business models, etc. You get full control, you can deliver faster, you get your DNA out through communication.
9. You might as well build your 3 competence pillars yourself
Basically, you need 3 pillars of competence to develop and execute marketing and communication:
A. Marketing lead
Marketing Leads are people who can take the lead on executing the marketing plan:
- To get the team started
- To continuously review and adapt the work
They can be consultants, marketing managers, digital project managers or others with an overview and a sense of responsibility. Their role includes:
- Plan activities and set KPIs
- Follow up and monitor that the plan is being followed
- Align with management and other stakeholders
- Project manage tasks and ensure collaboration in teams and with external partners
B. Hands-on digital specialists for the most important channels
You also need one or more specialists with solid experience in a specific channel. That is, someone you can talk to about opportunities and practical solutions. Ideally, they should also have hands-on experience. This means that they can operate in the channels; identify target groups, upload content, track it, adapt, create results and help achieve the goals.
The most important channels for most businesses are:
- Email and Marketing Automation
- Social Media
- Digital Advertising, including Adwords
- Web/SEO
- E-commerce
C. Content Creators
To create content that can drive results in digital channels, you need Content Creators. Typically:
- Copywriters (preferably with SEO experience, social media skills etc.)
- Designers (preferably with special competencies within e.g. UX/UI, Apps, SoMe, Animation, Illustration, campaigns, concepts, special channels etc.
If you think this is similar to the classic division of marketing, you’re right. Because they are fundamentally the same pillars. One to drive development and set standards, one to create content and one to connect with the company’s target audiences.
When you need to fill the 3 pillars with competent freelancers, you can look for them on the country’s leading freelance platform, Marketingcapacity.dk. Here, the functions in the 3 pillars are specified in no less than 32 competence categories, so you can find people with exactly the skills you need.
Bottom line
A new digital reality in marketing is knocking – a reality that requires a closer and more flexible/agile organization of marketing resources – than the traditional agency model can offer.
Break the habit of thinking an agency is always the right solution. Put together your own flexible team of top-shelf freelancers and win big.
Enjoy the ride.
Best regards
Carsten Bjerregaard
