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Many companies opt to keep their marketing function in-house. Depending on the size of the business, their operation could comprise a dedicated marketing department (sizes may vary) or, in many cases, simply one or two people that carry out marketing tasks on top of existing work responsibilities.
Across the UK, this now seems to be the default option with 88% of brands now employing in-house creative and marketing teams, a 10% increase over the last five years. Looking at the wider picture gives a clue as to why this in-house model is gaining in popularity. With marketing budgets shrinking from 9.1% of revenue in 2023 to 7.7% in 2024, and only 24% of Chief Marketing Officers viewing their budget as “sufficient”, all businesses are having to find ways to do more with less. Given this economic picture, in-house teams make some sense. However, it’s a choice that does come with trade offs.
So what are they? Why are many operations moving beyond in-house to out-sourced agency partnerships or a hybrid model? What marketing struggles are agencies positioned to solve?
Often, smaller or generalist in-house teams miss some specialised capabilities. These could range from design and video production to website optimisation and SEO. As digital platforms evolve and consumer behaviour shifts from Google search queries to even wider use of AI tools and GPT searching, there’s a need to remain on top of new platforms, trends and behaviours. This shift in search behaviour, for example, means that sites, adverts and posts should be GEO optimised also.
Without adaptation to the pace of change, teams can struggle to stay current and competitive.
Broadening an in-house team’s skill sets, or scaling up the team to meet the increased demands posed by social media which requires near full-time attention, can be expensive.
Within smaller teams trying to manage multiple projects, it’s common to see bottlenecks and an increase in burnout - often at the design stage - and so priorities become stretched, as well as brand guardianship.
When you live with your brand every day, it’s no surprise if some creative fatigue sets in. This can seem even worse in a crowded online space, now seemingly packed with visuals everywhere (an issue only made worse by the rapidly increasing presence of AI generated images). Standing out in this environment really needs a bit of specialist, creative thinking that internal teams may not have the time, creative energy or distance to produce.
There’s a huge, and understandable, temptation by many to lean into AI marketing assistance. Often, teams might use it to reduce the bulkiness of some marketing tasks or produce copy and, as the platforms have improved, graphics. Many of the tools are fantastic and of course, there’s no putting the AI genie back in the bottle. The better course of action is to (cautiously) embrace it for its strengths. But why cautiously?
AI tools produce so much content that it can overwhelm and in some cases feeds assumptions that the results are all ‘good’ and helpful. AI-generated content that isn’t driven by an expert as part of a clearly defined and monitored strategy leads to mismatched, inconsistent or incorrect output that misses the mark. It might be close - but not quite close enough to what the business needs. For that, an expert eye is needed.
When marketing stagnates, there is often the result that growth is shackled. Of course, this may be a result of budgetary constraints but without the ability to scale as desired or without new expertise to push ideas forward, there is a risk of standing still. This results in a decrease of audience reach and visibility, leading to constraints on profitable operation.
Working internally and with constrained capacity can mean that organisations are not able to react to changing contexts fast enough or scale more effectively. This inevitably leads to losing ground on the competition with more effective and flexible setups.
Small marketing teams juggling a range of tasks and bearing a huge range of responsibilities, or large marketing teams with convoluted decision-making structures, can miss fast-moving opportunities for promotion, especially on social media. This limited trend agility means that, often, by the time a strategy has been agreed on, the opportunity has moved on.
Finally, it’s true that sometimes a weariness of constantly working with the same brand can creep in, resulting in a dulling of what makes the brand so special. This would often become clear in visuals that grow a little tired or muddled in their execution. Weakening the brand focus like this will be noticed (at least sub-consciously) by consumers, especially if the competition is upping its own game.
There is a potential solution for many who find themselves in this creating and marketing funk: working with an external agency, either as a long-term partner or on a project-by-project basis.
By developing the right chemistry between client and agency, new opportunities and enthusiasm are everywhere, because working with the right agency can bring:
Working in partnership with a marketing and design agency might not be the right solution for everyone. It depends on business and marketing goals, budget, and a number of other factors. For those that are ready, though, there could be significant benefits.
If you have any questions, email us at: hello@made.agency
