Search Engine Marketing - Inhouse or outsource?

We have recently been recruiting for a number of Search Engine Marketing solutions at E-Gain, which have highlighted to me the wide variation in skillset within the industry, and the immense amount of competition out there all bidding for the top people. Further to this, looking at the recruitment boards, many organisations appear to be bringing their online marketing expertise inhouse, rather than outsourcing such work to specialist search engine marketing companies or web design agencies.

So what benefits can be leveraged from bringing such activity inhouse rather than outsourcing it to a company such as ourselves

• Well probably most obviously, integration with other marketing activity is often one of the biggest drivers behind bringing search marketing inhouse.
• Focus - search marketing organisations often work on a number of projects (for obvious economic reasons). This often means juggling a number of campaigns, and therefore not focussing on them and them alone. By bringing search marketing inhouse, this focus can be ensured.
• Understanding - nobody knows a client like the client themselves. We as an agency make it part of our brief to fully understand any organisation we work with, however this isn’t always the case.

However despite the afore mentioned advantages of bringing such activity in house, it still suprises me that so many companies consider this route, for the following reasons:

• Economies of scale - To effectively manage a full online marketing campaign - I would suggest you need roughly four key team members to effectively implement and manage a campaign. In todays UK industry, such expertise could cost you circa £100,000 in terms of yearly salary alone, well beyond the budget of most organisations.
• Return on Investment - using the example above, I doubt many organisations would see a significant return on investment on that sort of outlay. However outsourcing such campaigns, really can result in significant returns on investment. For example, a typical campaign from E-Gain would cost you around 1/8 of the investment mentioned above.
• Utilisation of new technologies - I mentioned in the advantages of keeping SEM inhouse the benefit of focus. However that focus I would suggest could also be to the detriment of a client. The incorporation of new methodologies/strategies/technologies is often slower in inhouse marketing teams than SEM agencies, as the agencies work on a number of clients, many of whom may be more succeptable to new ideas.

At the end of the day, organisations need to do what benefits them, however in the haste to maintain control over all aspects of the business, is the potential for increased ROI being overlooked.

Add comment June 22nd, 2007