You know you need marketing help. You’ve been running on word-of-mouth and luck for years, and it’s time to grow.
But now comes the million-dollar question: should you hire a full-time marketing coordinator or bring in an agency?
Let’s break it down.
When a Marketing Coordinator Makes Sense
Hiring in-house gives you someone who’s fully dedicated to your business. They learn your brand, they’re part of your team culture, and they’re around for the long haul.
A good marketing coordinator can:
- Manage social media
- Coordinate campaigns
- Support with email marketing
- Be a point person for other vendors
Great for you if:
- You have a clear strategy in place
- You just need someone to execute
- You’re ready to invest in salary and benefits
When an Agency is the Right Call
An agency brings you a full team with different skill sets including writers, designers, strategists, digital ad nerds, and yes, professional photographers and videographers. And you don’t need to hire five different people to make it happen.
Agencies can:
- Build a full marketing strategy from scratch
- Create content, run ads, manage campaigns
- Handle analytics, reporting, and recommendations
- Produce high-quality video and photo content for web, social, and more
Great for you if:
- You’re starting from scratch
- You need support from higher-level experts
- You want results, not just tasks
- You’d rather focus on running the business, not managing a marketing team
And if you were to contract all of us individually? It would cost a fortune. Instead, you get the whole team just one phone call away, aligned with your goals and working together from day one.
Middle Ground: Both
This is the sweet spot. Some of the most efficient companies we work with have a marketing coordinator on the inside and an agency on the outside.
The internal coordinator becomes your point person. They’re plugged into your business, able to coordinate timelines and approvals, and most importantly, not your CFO or VP who’s already drowning in meetings. We funnel ideas through them, they keep us looped in, and you get the benefits of a full marketing team without disrupting your leadership team’s day.
Why it works:
- You get strategy and execution
- You keep internal alignment
- You avoid pulling upper management into creative meetings they don’t need to be in
It’s fast, cost-effective, and collaborative. And your internal team always knows what’s going on.
What to Ask Yourself
- Do I need strategy, execution, or both?
- Do I want a full team or one in-house person?
- Can I afford the tools, tech, and expertise an agency already includes?
- Am I looking for short-term campaigns or long-term growth?
Our Take
We’re biased, sure. But we’ve worked with a lot of businesses who hired a coordinator first and then called us six months later because the poor soul was drowning in tasks with no support.
The truth is, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. With the right setup, you can have both. A tight, efficient marketing engine that’s grounded inside your business and fully powered up by an external team who gets it.
Need help figuring out the right fit? It’s easy to get our help. Just click here.
