In-house or outsourced marketing: how to decide what your business needs

If marketing keeps slipping behind client work, your business may need more time, a particular skill or a clearer plan. Those are different gaps. Before hiring someone or approaching an agency, work out which gap you actually need to fill.

You can keep delivery in-house, outsource an agreed scope, or combine internal ownership with specialist support. The useful choice depends on the work, the people available and the decisions someone still needs to make inside your business.

Compare the three ways of working

In-house marketing suits regular work that needs close access to your team, products and customers. An internal marketer can gather information and keep activity connected to business priorities. They still need a realistic workload, appropriate skills and someone who can make commercial decisions. Check whether the role you have in mind includes several different specialisms.

Outsourced marketing suits a defined delivery gap, such as content production, campaign management or ongoing social media. You can agree the skills and capacity you need without building every capability internally. Your business still needs to provide information, approve work and handle enquiries. Include that time when comparing options.

A combined approach suits a business with someone who understands its customers but needs extra expertise or production capacity. Your team might own priorities and approvals while a partner handles filming, editing or campaign management. Write down the division of work so that important tasks do not fall between the two sides.

Step 1: define the result and the work behind it

Choose one business priority for the next planning period. For example, you might want more relevant enquiries for a particular service or clearer material for your sales team.

Then list the work required: audience research, planning, writing, photography, video, publishing, campaign management, reporting and follow-up. Include the less visible jobs, such as collecting customer questions and getting technical details approved.

Mark each task as regular, occasional or project-based. This gives you a better basis for deciding what deserves an internal role and where specialist support could help. Avoid recruiting for an undefined instruction to “do the marketing”.

Step 2: separate a skills gap from a time gap

Ask the person currently responsible for marketing two questions: do they know how to do the work, and do they have protected time to do it?

If they have time but need a clearer method, marketing strategy support or practical social media training may be useful. Agree what they should be able to do afterwards and allow working time to apply it.

If they already know what to do but cannot fit it in, consider reducing the scope or adding delivery capacity. Training alone will not create extra hours. If both skills and time are missing, a combined approach may be worth comparing with a dedicated internal role.

Step 3: compare the complete commitment

Use the same list of tasks when comparing an internal role with an external proposal. A salary figure and an agency fee may cover very different work.

For an internal role, consider recruitment, management time, tools, development and cover when that person is unavailable. For outsourced support, check setup, production, revisions, software, reporting and the time your team must contribute.

Keep advertising media spend separate from management fees. Check the conditions behind starting prices and whether additional work requires a new quote. Review the current service options against your brief rather than assuming every package includes the same deliverables.

Step 4: assign an owner to each decision

Write a short responsibility list before the work begins. Name who sets priorities, supplies information, approves content, publishes, reviews results and follows up enquiries. Give each task one owner, even when several people contribute.

For example, an internal marketing lead could gather product knowledge and approve messaging while an external team delivers a content creation day. The internal lead then needs a plan for using those assets, or an agreed scope for managed social media.

Check account access, file handover, approval times and what happens when the arrangement ends. These details belong in the working agreement alongside the creative brief.

Step 5: test the arrangement against real work

Choose a manageable piece of work and agree the review point in advance. It might be a content-production project, a training programme or a period of ongoing delivery. Define the outputs and responsibilities before starting.

Review whether work was completed, whether approvals were practical and how much internal time it required. Look at the useful business response as well. Where enquiries matter, distinguish relevant enquiries from spam, duplicates and general engagement.

Allow for your sales cycle when assessing commercial outcomes. An organised process is useful evidence about delivery, but it does not by itself prove that marketing caused a sale. Use the review to improve the scope, responsibilities or way of working.

Make the decision with a short brief

Before committing, write down:

• The business priority and the customer you need to reach.
• The recurring tasks and specialist projects involved.
• The skills and time already available internally.
• The work an external partner would own.
• The full commitment, approval process and review point.

If you are comparing suppliers, our guide to choosing a marketing agency in Sheffield explains how to assess scope, evidence and proposals.

Example Marketing supports businesses through strategy, training, content and managed delivery. Tell us where your marketing is getting stuck, including what your team can already do and where you need help. We can discuss a scope that fits the work you need to complete.