Forum Moderators: buckworks
I wonder if anyone has experience in this area and can help us avoid potential pitfalls...
We are in the position where we need to decide whether to take on someone to do marketing full-time, or to hire an external agency.
Our main markets are the UK and US, and marketing would have to encompass on and offline, including email marketing, direct mail, print, PR and so on in both countries.
As the site is partially membership-based, we need someone who can help us develop (or at least spec) technology that will enable effective use of customer data.
My feeling is that we need a big(ish) agency with experience in both markets.
As we have no experience in this area, the decision is proving difficult to make, and if anyone could help me ask the right questions, or give the benefit of their experience, I would be grateful.
Thanks
Cy
But to do this right you have to start out with one good person who can then train someone up when you hire another person. This is how the cost is kept down. The one good experienced person is going to cost you an arm and a leg though, but it's well worth the money, and still will be cheaper than hiring a marketing firm.
You say the role would be "including email marketing, direct mail, print, PR and so on in both countries".
To my mind these are very varied requirements to expect one person to be expert in. Print is especially different to PR imho. Also, Expertise in the US is quite different to expertise in the UK.
I would think of things in terms of the "total cost of ownership" concept that software companies tend to recommend. Get a proposal from one or two agencies (try w*w.ipa.co.uk for a list of large UK agencies) and compare what they propose with the cost of employing a person in house with all the skills. You will need to double the salary cost of the individual for comparison purposes to cover office space, tax overheads et al.
Dixon.
As to whether to find someone in-house or not, you need to weigh up all the costs of finding someone, paying their wages, new computer equipment, training etc. By that time you may decide to outsource at least some of the work.
The advantage of having someone in-house is that they can always be easily called upon to do some work as required, whereas your agency employee may be working with several clients at a time.
entrepeneurial compensation plan that minimizes our risk, but gives him very attractive upside
Can you elaborate at all on the purpose of such a contract?
That's not too difficult a proposition here in the UK, but what about choosing and then managing a relationship with a US-based agency?
Does anyone have experience or advice on that?
