The question of whether or not to hire an agency is a decision that any business owner has faced at some point. The answer depends on a several key points. 

To an extent. Why would a digital agency say that? We feel that the advent of online advertising platforms, particularly Facebook means that business can manage a lot of their advertising in-house.

If you’re considering hiring an agency there are three things that I look at:

1) Will they be better than the internal team
2) Will they cost less than hiring internally
3) Are they willing to partner

Dollars

If you pay an agency to handle your digital marketing you are effectively taking that money away from the Facebook platform where it can be spent to reach relevant audiences in a targeted fashion. Facebook is a pay-to-play platform. Accessing vast audiences is possible but only if you pay for it. If you pay an agency $10,000 for a campaign they will typically keep 25% which means that $2,500 is kept as their fee. This money, if spent on Facebook’s advertising platform, will enable you to get in front of ~100,000s more people. Why would you give this up? Reach isn’t everything. That additional reach is only useful if the people in that audience buy from you. Agencies, if they are good, tend to be able to easily overcome this hurdle because they are specialists.

Voice

No one can speak with your audience better than you. While we occasionally dabble in video creation (given its importance on Facebook) we strongly feel that outsourcing content creation or community engagement with your audience removes you from your most valuable touch point. We’re more than happy to consult on what makes for engaging content on social given our experience however we don’t create your creatives.

Experience

You may not have experience. Ok, this is actually important. After managing thousands of campaigns we have learned that digital advertising is 50% science and 50% art. Experience, as with all things, does matter.

Time

Time is money, and there is no doubt that using agencies will save you time. There’s no argument here.

So should I hire an agency?

If you see that an agency is meeting the checklist:

– experience your industry
– cheaper than hiring internally
– better at the job that the people you have internally
– keen to be a long-term partner with your business

Then, and only then, maybe give them a gander.

– Rukmal
Co-founder of The Plus Ones, Rukmal lives and breathes digital marketing.