In recent years, with the power of the internet and remote working, companies have had a wider pool of people to choose from as they grow and launch new projects. Gone are the days of being limited to working only with those in the immediate vicinity. However, this increased flexibility and freedom poses a number of questions: How do you build the right marketing team for your company? Is the agency route best? Perhaps freelancers are better? Or maybe a mix?
Both in my prior corporate role as the head of digital marketing and now as the founder of a digital agency, I have recruited or partnered with hundreds of freelancers and agencies to deliver on the client's requirements.
What stage is your company in?
There are important questions you should ask yourself to better understand the stage your company is in, and consequently, the level of support you need: Do you have a clear value proposition? Do you have an idea of who your target consumers will be? Do you have a distinguishable brand identity, or are you looking for help creating that? Do you have the marketing assets, or the skills to create them, to drive your brand forward?
If you answered yes to the majority of these questions, then hiring freelancers could be a good choice. With this option, you can reserve highly specialized support for one-off projects, and you have the ability to choose individuals whose skill sets are aligned with exactly the type of help you are looking for. There are many websites, such as Fiverr, Freelancer and Upwork, where you can hunt for the perfect freelance team member.
However, if you answered no to the questions above, an agency could be the right choice, whether it's a full-service agency, an agency of brand specialists, an SEO agency, a web agency or another kind of agency. Agencies have the ability to facilitate growth and strategy development for your company at every stage, which can take the pressure off your internal team.
What do your budget and calendar look like?
The next thing to consider is how much money and time you have to find the right team. Oftentimes, people gravitate toward freelancers as the more budget-friendly option, and in many cases, they can be. Since freelancers typically work by the hour or per project, you can hire individuals just for when you need assistance, rather than paying a monthly retainer fee when you may not need any help. Additionally, if you have the time to look for and interview multiple people, hiring freelancers can enable you to curate a team of individuals who all meet your specific requirements.
On the other hand, an agency could be the most efficient option, both in terms of time and money. Top-of-their-field freelancers tend to have higher rates; with an agency, you get the benefits of an experienced and skilled team that's committed to facilitating your company's growth. In terms of time, hiring an agency is generally a quicker process than compiling the right team of freelancers. When you partner with the right agency, you can put your trust in them and spend more of your time focused on getting them settled rather than finding freelancers.
What type of work environment have you created?
What kind of client are you? Typically, agencies are more available, and if you are the type of client who enjoys constant communication and wants a team that can be "on call" when you need them, agencies can provide this benefit. Freelancers, as individuals, are less likely to be available on an ad hoc basis, as their time is probably divided across a number of clients.
Company culture and the kind of working environment you enjoy is also a key consideration. With remote work becoming increasingly popular, the focus has shifted away from the pre-pandemic in-office culture that simply hasn’t been a part of our lives for the past year, and toward remote, online interactions. Would you be happy to continue having your team work remotely post-pandemic, or are you looking forward to having that office buzz back? In some cases, companies might opt to go for full-time freelancers (all-rounders) to have them be part of the team and part of defining the strategy longer term. In this instance, having such people be part of the team/office environment can be critical.
Do you have the internal resources to oversee the process?
Possibly the most important consideration is what your permanent team will look like over the long term. Working with freelancers on an ongoing basis may mean working with a team of people who aren’t connected and who will often have different working schedules and hours. That opens up various questions and considerations: Who will coordinate and reconcile schedules for all of these disparate workers? How will you keep to timeframes and targets? Do you have the time to oversee the process?
Connecting the dots when working with multiple different freelancers can be difficult, stressful and simply too time-consuming when you are in the early stages of building a company. Within businesses, project management is generally a full-time role in itself, so consider whether you have the resources to hire someone to oversee the process or the time to do it yourself.
Ultimately, the answer to the freelancers versus agency question comes down to what is most important to you when growing your company. Your style of leadership and personal preferences when it comes to the type of people you work with and the environment you work in should dictate your choice. While one person may not mind spending those extra hours searching for and later coordinating a dream team of freelancers, another may prefer to spend their time and money on hiring an agency — a secure and less complex approach to building the dream team. Your answers to the above questions should help you decide for yourself whether freelancers or an agency work better for your company.
(Article featured in Forbes.com on Aug 9, 2021)
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