Building a reliable team and process is a big part of a marketing leader’s role. One of the areas repeatedly coming
up in my 10+ years in the Marketing Automation space that can make or break a marketing organisation is its campaign production – the engine that needs to take in great ideas and turn them into tangible journeys and
eye-catching content. Building the right team to tackle this challenge is not an easy feat though – there are many ways to approach it, each with its benefits and risks. Some of the key considerations would be budget, scalability and sustainability to guarantee an uninterrupted, efficient flow of work. Having worked with numerous enterprises throughout my marketing career, I wanted to share my view on what those are – and which one worked best:
This approach is best suited to companies that have a predictable amount of work and the budget to maintain the team even if demand fluctuates. As team building is a long-term effort, ensure that there are opportunities for growth to retain the talent you acquire. If the above is no issue, having an in-house production team is the most cost-efficient long-term solution.
Below we have summed up the advantages and disadvantages of this approach.
Benefits:
Risks:
Using an external agency can be hugely beneficial in situations where the workload is variable or unpredictable, as they
can provide a larger team of resources with a wide skillset to ensure the work is delivered on time. This is particularly
useful when the work may require multiple resources with different skills, and if your company doesn’t need said resources
full-time.
Benefits:
Risks:
This is the most flexible approach as it allows the workload to be scaled up as and when required and provides access
to a diverse and highly specialised skill set on demand, whilst retaining the knowledge and core staff in house.
If the workload in your company is unpredictable, using an agency in addition to your own team provides the best
cost-efficiency balance.
Benefits:
All the benefits of both in-house and external agency approaches combined
An in-house team is aware and in control of the processes while having access to additional resources on demand
Easier to plan career paths for FTEs
Lower burn-out rate due to less workload (and pressure) on the internal team, especially at the busiest times of the year
If a member of staff leaves, your team's overall performance is not compromised because your agency can take over their work while the new employees are being trained.
More balanced cost of resources
Knowledge sharing between theagency and in-house team as they work together on projects, reducing loss ofknowledge Slightly more expensive than an in-house team alone (but stillcheaper than fully outsourcing to an agency)
The bottomline
Considering the benefits andrisks of agency and in-house approaches, as well as the experiences gainedthrough supporting our customers, I believe a balanced hybrid approach offersthe best of both worlds. This involves building a lean in-house team that ownsprocesses and utilizing an external agency to provide a scalable workforce todrive the production efforts efficiently.
Regardless of the approach you choose to move forward with, ensure that your team:
1. Documents and maintains the campaign production process up to date:
· Brief Requirements
· SLAs
· Delivery stages and steps
· Actions ownership – a team RACI matrix for the process
2. Agrees on KPIs – and how they will be tracked/reported against overall marketing targets.
Looking for advice in choosing the right approach for your company or facing any other marketing operations challenges? Book a free consultation with us and see how we can help!