George Westerman, principal research scientist, has quoted that “When digital transformation is done right, it’s like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly, but when done wrong, all you have is a fast caterpillar.” The statement is truly right as the world is growing digital every second, and nowadays businesses must have a strong online presence. Digital marketing offers two key benefits, a robust online presence and a beneficial ROI result. When businesses enter the digital marketing world, they often face a choice, hire a digital marketing freelancer or work with a digital marketing agency. Let’s look at the differences between these options. Both have their strong advantages points, but it’s important to understand how they differ to make a smart decision.
Understanding Digital Marketing Agency & Freelancer
A digital marketing agency hires marketers as their full-time employed staff or as out-sourced contractors, who handle marketing jobs for clients. the agency has varied services for different requirements of clients. Some of the services provided by the agencies are social media campaigns, email outreach writing content, designing graphics, business advice, boosting SEO increasing website traffic and conversions, and other related tasks.
Freelance digital marketers are skilled professionals who write strategy content, craft creative copy, improve & generate SEO, manage & handle social media accounts, build & design websites, create ads, plan strategies, and design visuals. They often work alone, but sometimes team up with other freelancers from different locations to meet client requirements.
Digital Marketing Agency Vs Freelancer:
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Digital Marketing Agency |
Freelancer |
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Wide Services |
Agencies offer a variety of services all in one place. They have the ability to oversee full digital marketing campaigns, including planning, implementation, and evaluation. |
They focus on their area of expertise. Hiring a freelancer would be beneficial if you need to execute a definite task, like generating a set of blog posts or handling your Instagram account. |
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Expert proficiencies & Resources
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Digital Marketing Agencies possess groups of experts, enabling a wider range of skills and a cooperative strategy. They can also utilize tools and technologies. |
They provide specialized skills and individualized attention. Still, they could be missing out on the resources and assistance that a bigger team is able to offer. |
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Availability & Accessibility
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Online Marketing Agencies follow a more organized timetable. They are more appropriate for extended collaborations and continuous marketing campaigns. |
Freelancers provide increased flexibility when it comes to work schedules and deadlines for projects. They are perfect for temporary projects or particular assignments. |
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Costing |
Marketing agencies might charge higher rates because of the extensive services they provide and their bigger staff. Nevertheless, their capacity to offer comprehensive and cohesive marketing strategies may lead to a more favourable/ beneficial ROI. |
In general, freelancers have lower rates compared to agencies. They can provide competitive rates due to their reduced overhead expenses. |
Facts to consider before finalization
- Expertise in your specialized field
As a first piece of advice, try to find out if the same freelance worker or digital marketing agency has any experience in your particular niche. Check out what companies they have worked for and how experienced they are in this industry. If they lack the skills in the industry, it means they will have a problem in formulating a great digital business plan that will yield a good ROI. - Outstanding performances metrics
Does your freelance worker or digital marketing agency have a way of giving you performance metrics/ result for any digital campaigns rendered? This may be a service that most of them are not in a position to render, however, a small percentage of agencies are able to issue marketers with specific pre campaign KPI scores based on ability.
Two Major Reasons to Consider Freelancers
There are several reasons which go hand in hand with regards to the nature of your business model and operational strategy that would prompt you to procure the services of a freelance marketer. Mentioned here are the biggest two reasons:
- For irregular but Urgent needs
Working with a freelancer can be very advantageous and economical if your needs for digital marketing are not set in stone and change on a monthly basis. For businesses that need help occasionally—possibly just a few times a year—or for unforeseen tasks that come up on their own, freelancers are perfect.
- Short time projects
Freelancer is the desired need for short-term projects. This could involve marketing campaigns for particular seasons or events, new product launches, or promotional campaigns. By hiring a freelancer for these types of tasks, you can access specialized skills for the short-term required without committing to an agency retainer or long-term employment.
Two Major Reasons to Consider Digital Marketing Agency
There are a multitude of advantages to contracting a right digital agency, especially when it comes to complex, ongoing requirements or projects that demand a team with multiple skills. Following are the instances of how an agency can really add value to your efforts in terms of digital marketing.
- KPI based result
The marketing needs of a company such as yours may be quite elaborate, requirements that a digital marketing agency would be able to meet as long as the marketing strategies adopted are clearly defined and relate to specific business objectives. Digital agencies recruit specialists in various sectors of digital marketing to implement variety of strategic and long-term objectives.
- Multiple projects at the same time
An agency’s resources and knowledge can come in very handy where there are numerous projects or campaigns to execute. This is due to the fact that agencies divide the various components of digital marketing, for instance creative designing, SEO, PPC, social media, video, and content marketing including analytics, into teams that can work on more than one campaign concurrently.
Top 5 Questions to ask before finalizing the Digital Marketing Agency and Freelancer
- Which particular tools are you using for analytics, content creation, SEO, and project management?
- What can we reasonably anticipate from your services over the first three months?
- What is the anticipated time frame to attain the desired results, if any?
- When can we expect to see results from your management of our marketing campaigns?
- How do you manage data security and privacy, particularly when it comes to our customer data?
