The Pros and Cons of Agency and In-House Influencer Marketing | Socio Influencer

With brands set to invest as much as $15 billion for influencer marketing by 2022, many companies face a major option: handle influencer marketing in-house, or contract an external agency. Each comes with advantages and disadvantages that must be considered depending on your company's and brand's needs.

Do you want to take your influencer marketing in-house or contract an agency to help manage it? There are advantages and disadvantages to both strategies.

Hiring an Influencer Marketing Agency: Cons

An outside company could have issues understanding your brand and customer problems that don't occur for your internal marketing.

Many established agencies have minimum monthly spending, which means that small budgets could limit the ability of a business to select an agency with the most experience working with influencers who know the brand's message.

A further layer of actors between the consumer and marketing could result in communication issues, misalignment, and misinterpretation of goals.

Hiring an Influencer Marketing Agency: Pros

They have the strategic know-how and tools that businesses, especially smaller ones or those new to influencer marketing, don't have. The agencies have already put in place processes and procedures to successfully start and manage their campaigns companies can concentrate on other areas of marketing strategies.

Influencer agencies are in contact with established influencers and their managers. These existing relationships help companies save the time and effort needed to create their lists of contacts.

Agencies are well-versed and have the experience to know the best influencers and campaigns that are the most effective for different services, products, and campaigns. The agencies' business is built by analyzing brands and influencers, and they apply this knowledge to the management of the campaigns of their customers.

Bringing Influencer Marketing In-House: Cons

Lack of knowledge or influencer relationships, as well as an understanding of the management of influencers, can lead to ineffective or poorly aligned campaigns that are not aligned effectively.

Businesses that don't have or cannot afford an in-house team of influencers can be unable to identify and utilize those who can be the most impactful influencers to promote their brand. Internal staff may not have the knowledge and contacts of influencer marketing which are crucial to designing and launching marketing campaigns.

Since the field is still relatively new, hiring an in-house influencer team may be costly.

Influencer Marketing In-House: Pros

A team in-house with an expert influencer team knows their brand and their ideal customers better than an outside agency might be capable of. This can lead to more success in identifying the best influencers and creating more effective campaigns.

The creation of influencer campaigns in-house may create more long-lasting relationships as employees establish and create their list of influencers.

A team in-house could provide more flexibility in making changes and adapting campaigns to meet the needs of customers and market trends.

Agency or In-House: You Need the Right Tools

The right tools are essential if you're working on an internal team or an agency that works with influencers. Understanding your clients, as well as your brand and your objectives, is essential in developing successful influencer campaigns.

A hybrid approach to the management of influencers can give you the most beneficial of both: employees in-house can combine the knowledge of customers and industry and leverage the expertise of an agency's strategists to take it even further.