That is the question. Is it better to invest in your own in-house team, or get external specialist help?
The truthful answer is probably both, but budgets don’t always allow for that. The benefits of having an internal resource for marketing is that they are always on hand to do whatever job needs doing. This is great for organising events, posting on social media accounts (which in larger organisations is a full time job on its own), keeping the website up to date, managing lead generation campaigns and all the activities that go with running an effective marketing department.
In time, some marketing managers become so knowledgeable about the company’s products and services that they end up responding to tenders. This is highly valuable work, and extremely time consuming, leaving little time for the day-to-day business of running marketing, never mind generating content and getting that content out to publications.
Seeing the bigger picture
In concentrating on what needs to be done right now, there is no time to look at the bigger picture. This is where using a specialist agency can help to add focus while also giving a view of the wider industry issues.
A specialist agency will know what journalists are writing about, they will have a feel for what other companies are doing and how they are promoting themselves. They will know what topics are currently resonating, and how best to create pertinent content that appeals to all your audiences. They will be able to help you plan an effective content creation schedule, which includes;
- news
- blogs and thought leadership
- company/product announcements
- industry award entries
- speaking opportunities
All of which can support your lead generation and social media campaigns.
An extra skilled pair of hands
Using an agency has other benefits too. There is always someone to do the work – having a team working on your account is great value for money. You benefit from a mix of skills and it means there is holiday cover and someone available to deal with enquiries/look for press opportunities five days per week.
Perhaps the best reason of all to look at a specialist agency – you are buying in experience (in our case, over 100 years of it!) and brainpower. At PRA we swap ideas and we sanity check each other’s work to make sure that our clients not only get the very best advice, but also content that absolutely sparkles.
Contact us today to see how we can help your organisation rejuvenate your marketing operations. Call us on 01491 845553 or email mary@pra-ltd.co.uk
