Digital Marketing Agencies vs Freelancers
Choosing Between Marketing Agencies And Freelancers
It’s a heated tug of war between the two, and it’s become a big question for general businesses that seek to hire marketing services, should I hire an agency and pay the heightened prices or just hire a freelancer? Well, that’s what I want to help you with. In this article I’m going to break down the pros and cons of hiring either a marketing agency or a freelancer.
The big difference between a marketing agency and a freelancer is nothing more their pricing structure. The prices of an agency come with accountability, assurance, and security, but a freelancer is more flexible in terms of prices but does not come with the accountability of an entire business. A business cannot disappear into nowhere, but a freelancer can. An Agency has staff to pay, premises, taxes, etc and you always know where to find them.
Hiring a freelancer is more safer when done through an agency that hosts and provides service seekers with freelancers, who then add a markup on their system. Which means though the freelancer may come at an affordable rate, the agency that hosts the freelancer will add a service fee, and usually these service fees are found in the rates you would pay the freelancer. But if you opt to cut out the middle-man and hire freelancers randomly, then you have a bigger risk of losing your investment without any form of accountability.
Ultimately, agencies are trustworthy because they are actual businesses, with traceable record, service history, and references. Whether you are hiring a marketing agency or hiring a freelancer, you’d still need the security that comes with an agency.
Advantages Of Marketing Agencies
- They work faster because they are a team working systematically, each team member playing a separate role. You should expect quicker turnaround times with a marketing agency than with a freelancer (at least most of the time).
- Marketing Agencies offer value for money, meaning they hire experts and qualified practitioners and are able to hire freelancers on a collaboration basis. So you are sure to expect expert services from a Marketing Agency.
- You can hire a marketing agency locally and work on a hybrid setup. With a marketing agency you are able to select from a pool of available agencies in your local area that you are able to easily drive to and have regular meetings. Interaction always gives you a clearer idea of what to expect from the people you are hiring.
- Marketing agencies provide reporting, for example, time stamps, performance data, etc, the reason they are able to do this is that they host a team, each playing a separate role, and each is expected to account for their work and as a result they perform well with high goals to meet.
Disadvantages Of A Marketing Agency
- Marketing Agencies come at a high cost. Service prices are high, and what makes this a disadvantage is that they have very little choice in changing this due to the running of their business. A business has more costs than an individual freelancer, employees to pay, rentals, etc.
- Marketing agencies are not as bendable as individual freelancers in terms of their policies and rules. It’s much easier to work with a freelancer if you are someone who is particular with how things must be done. Some marketing agencies may come with rigid policies and place more value-added cost on changing their policies. Some of these policies are subject to the constitution of the country in which the marketing agency is operating and may not be able to assist you differently
Advantages Of A Freelancer
- A freelancer can be a specialist of anything, especially someone who is not hosted by a freelance agency, so you have more like an errand master. Freelancers are usually multiskilled and can assist in many ways at low cost.
- As mentioned, freelancers can be much more affordable than marketing agencies and this is an advantage when you find a reliable freelancer.
