The gig economy has proven to be a game-changer for many industries. It’s a great way for businesses to access resources without incurring significant overhead. And on the flip side, it’s an excellent opportunity for people to make quick money off of their skills and talents. However, this setup isn’t a great fit for every type of project. When it comes to marketing work, for example, your brand benefits most from an ongoing relationship with a cohesive hub of marketing skills and talent — a full-service marketing team.
Here are some of the key benefits of hiring a full-service marketing team versus relying on numerous freelancers:
Faster Response Times
When you’re working with a network of freelancers, there’s no way to guarantee that you can get something done quickly. The designers and project managers you work with create their own schedules. They may respond to your request within a few hours, within a few days, or not at all. That’s a risk that comes with the gig economy. Whereas, when you retain the services of a full-service marketing team, you have a dedicated team of marketing professionals at your disposal. You can count on them to be ready and available for any projects you pass their way, and to turn them around in a timely manner.
Less Work Upfront
Every time you need some marketing work done from a freelance network, you have to source, vet, and hire candidates. This could take less than an hour or more than two weeks. It depends on how much time and energy you have to dedicate to the process. And it gets even more complicated when your project requires more than one skillset. In comparison, when you hire a full-service marketing team, you gain access to a group of trusted graphic designers, writers, strategists, and project managers working together to get the job done on-time, every time, per your specifications.
More Creative Brain Power
It doesn’t matter how brilliant your freelance talent is; most marketing projects benefit from having more than one expert working on them. A writer thinks about a project from a copy standpoint. A designer considers the visuals. A web developer is concerned about user experience, functionality and overall performance. A strategist focuses on ensuring that all ideas align with measurable business objectives and can be applied across multiple platforms. And a project manager keeps your project running on schedule and within budget. Put all of these minds and perspectives together on a team, and they come up with even better ideas to deliver the best end result for your business. It’s a lot like building a house. The outcome will be much better when you assign the right experts to each area of your project.
Guaranteed Confidentiality and Reliability
Hiring a full-service marketing team guarantees you confidentiality and reliability. You’re working with a group of professionals who fully understand the scope of their commitment to fulfill their contract with you. They’re going to act as an extension of your team and do what’s in your best interest.
The same can be said of most freelancers, but there is a level of risk you assume when you’re working with new people all the time. Some freelancers want to build relationships with the organizations that hire them, while others are just looking for one-off gigs that provide quick payoffs. It’s a mixed bag, and you could end up with someone who falls off the grid after agreeing to do work for you, or someone who agrees to do the work but comes up short on the project specs.
Many of us have heard of business owners who hire a freelance web designer to build a website, but when the business needs further help keeping their site updated, the freelancer is no longer available or cannot be found. Hiring a full-service marketing team reduces this kind of risk. A full-service marketing team is always keen to continue accepting future work from you, and they keep project files of all the work they’ve done for you, so it’s easy for you to go back to them when you need additional work done, without having to start from square one again.
Cohesiveness and Consistency
It’s hard to achieve a high level of consistency in your marketing when you’re working with numerous freelancers. Everyone has a different style, a different voice, a different approach, and is basing their project specifications on separate conversations they’ve had with you. This results in piecemeal marketing. Ultimately, this makes more work for you as you struggle to blend inconsistent marketing collateral. A full-service marketing team is less likely to have this problem because they’re in communication with one another and on the same page about your objective and goals. There is someone assigned to ensure that everything produced for you is consistently on-brand and aligned with your overall marketing strategy. They can spot inconsistencies and iron them out before the work even gets to you.
Nothing Gets Lost in Translation
Working with a full-service marketing team also ensures that your objectives steer all of your marketing materials. You have a member of the team providing strategic services to ensure the marketing materials you receive align with your goals and objectives. If you’re working with freelancers who don’t have a strong understanding of your strategic goals, there’s a chance you will be unpleasantly surprised when you receive the deliverables, and you’ll have to double back and redo some of the work they did. That’s a waste of your time and the money you spent on the project.
The Best Solutions for Every Challenge
Have you ever heard Abraham Maslow’s famous quote: “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail”? When you’re working with freelancers, you’re working with someone with a focused niche who is going to be limited on how many marketing challenges they can sufficiently help you with. Whereas, when you work with a full-service agency, you gain access to a well-rounded variety of marketing skill sets working together. When it comes to ROI potential, a full-service marketing team is the most time- and cost-efficient way to go.
Hiring the Right Full-Service Marketing Team
The right full-service marketing team will serve as an extension to your business. Thus, when considering which full-service marketing team to work with, make sure you gel well — so they are approachable and easy to talk to. Consider their experience and the services they provide. When you find the right fit, it will feel like you have your own marketing department just a quick call away.
McAllister Marketing is a full-service marketing team located in Victoria, BC. Our team is experienced in serving a variety of industry clients across North America, from B2B Manufacturing and software, to B2C retailers and non-profits. We specialize in proven tactics that help you attract, convert and retain more customers to grow your business. To learn more about the results our full-service marketing team can deliver, contact us today. We can show you how we’ve helped our clients build their brands and grow their businesses.
