By
Paul Chappell
Business and Marketing Strategist – Indomo
Paul Chappell has been a member of My Business since May 2020.
Here is a list of 12 advantages to consider before building an in-house agency within your business.
An in-house agency is more closely aligned with brand objectives, culture and requirements. This is referred to as ‘institutional knowledge’ which is an intrinsic value for the company where shared goals, values and agendas are inculcated across the business.
This leads to faster problem solving, more attuned solutions and greater learning opportunities across the organisation.
Perhaps the most obvious and most potent advantage of establishing an in-house agency or team is the control it provides your brand in managing marketing campaigns and projects, costs, output and performance.
Marketers are also able to influence who works on their brand and can prioritise work as required without delay or additional costs.
In-house agencies and teams are often able to respond faster to marketing opportunities and initiatives as the imperative are internally-driven and the prioritisation for this work is higher on the agenda.
Work can be completed faster in the absence of competing projects or client work, and teams mobilised and oriented towards the most important work more easily.
It has been estimated that brands can save up to one third of their external costs by bringing agency services in-house.
With internal agency staff your brand is already saving on agency overhead costs, production margins, media buying commissions and kick-backs, service fees, margins, amortised subscription and licensing fees, overtime, overages, surcharges… the list goes on.
One of the great benefits of bringing content production in-house is the amount of content your brand will be able to produce with the ability to create ‘always-on’ content.
This is a key benefit for many brands who are actively engaged in social media, email marketing, brand entertainment and influencer marketing.
Creating content quickly is one of the benefits of having a more agile team at your disposal. Your brand can respond immediately to changes in the market or to your marketing strategy.
Agility also applies to the way brands can track and report on marketing campaigns and projects, providing the business with fast and actionable insights that can lead to a more responsive and engaged brand in the marketplace.
Establishing your own internal agency team is a long-term investment in building your own marketing capabilities and services and provides you with 100% control and oversight of the people that work on your brand.
Campaigns can be developed in an environment where the content makers work alongside the decision-makers (those who will ultimately sign-off on the budget or the work).
This eliminates wasted time, miscommunication, misinterpretation and other common and unnecessary issues.
In-house agency staff have a little more certainty with their role given that the brand they work for is the client and their employment is hinged to the company’s performance rather than a transient client base.
Brands with their own in-house teams know exactly how much money is spent, where it is spent and what the return on that spend is – at any time. Marketing activity can be tracked and reported accurately and in a timely manner.
Many marketing departments have come unstuck when external suppliers have been responsible for managing the risk around campaigns and projects.
Whether it concerns legal, regulatory, compliance or trade risk, there is a strong argument for these matters to be managed directly by brands and the knowledge of administering these matters kept in-house.
Burn out rates in agencies are high. The workload is intense, the hours are long and unforgiving and expectations are high. Brand teams are usually more aware and open to flexible working arrangements, off-site working, parental leave and strict working hours to ensure staff don’t spend most of their lives in the office.
If setting up an in-house agency sounds right for your business, check out my piece on where to begin and what you need to consider before getting started.
To learn more about setting up an in-house agency, check out Paul Chappell’s whitepaper A Guide to Establishing your In-House Agency.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of My Business.
Paul Chappell
Founder and Strategic Partner – Brand + Story
Paul is the Founding Partner of Brand+Story, a creative agency based in Sydney. He also advises businesses on establishing in-house services under an advisory service, Indomo.com.au
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