In the current, unprecedented reality that beholds us today, the working world has grown increasingly digitized. The digitalization of the once in-person corporate working environment has played a significant role in the demise of the traditional work model. Covid-19 has certainly been a major player here, incentivizing the transformation of a 9-5 workday into a malleable, hybrid working environment. The pandemic has reinvented ways in which people think about their roles both inside and outside of work. In August of 2021, a staggering 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in pursuit of their own entrepreneurial desires. In this period of what has been dubbed, “The Great Resignation,” freelancers and entrepreneurs alike have shown an increasing desire for autonomy. This trend certainly holds true for creatives who struggle to find agencies that value their services while also offering them both the independence and stability to succeed. While freelancing can certainly bear high rewards, those rewards are not as scalable as the results a marketing agency can achieve.
Important Terms to Know
Before a deep dive into the benefits of working with a marketing agency, it’s crucial to understand the key differences between a freelancer and a marketing agency. Freelancers are independent workers who supply all services on their own, earning their wages on a per-job basis. This includes outreach/consultation, marketing, finances, human resources, and project management, to name several. A marketing agency, on the other hand, is a company whose proprietary purpose is to sell marketing services to other businesses. While freelancers and marketing agencies offer similar services such as Web Development, Digital Advertising, Creative Design, SEO, and Social Media Management, Marketing Agencies divvy up these responsibilities to the several people who do their individual craft best.
More Specialization
The best piano player cannot also be the best football player and cook. Humans can only naturally excel in a few areas. Michael Gladwell’s Outliers certainly has a point that it takes ample time (to be exact-10,000 hours) to achieve true expertise in a certain craft. Having a niche is growing increasingly important for clientele. Everyone wants to distinguish themselves by offering something specialized and groundbreaking. This theory has a term, and it’s called Niche Marketing. Niche marketing is when a company produces an item that appeals to a specific target audience. In a world where there are so many similar services and products, it’s crucial to distinguish yourself by using different marketing approaches. When working as a freelancer, the skills that come less inherently to you will nonetheless need to be executed. It is quite common for freelancers to enter the market thinking their skills are top-notch, and that alone will enable success. While this can all be true, the marketing behind these products and services is what will help maximize earning potential and impact. The more heads that are reached, the more leads and conversions that will be yielded. When working with a Marketing Agency, you position yourself within a sphere of influence where each individual brings their own set of skills. Working with a Marketing Agency allows each individual the time to hone in on their specialized craft. If every individual has ample time to progress within their individually tailored role, results will be achieved that much faster because everyone is great at what they do.
More Resources:
Freelancers often use their own resources to supply their services. A freelance videographer purchases his own camera and gimbal, the same way a video editor invests in a computer with high RAM and storage. As an individual, all of these startup costs add up, and one may see themselves bankrupt before achieving any real success. When working with a Marketing Agency, it’s common to be given the proper resources to complete the job, such as a computer or camera. In general, a marketing agency is going to have far more capital than an individual freelancer. Working with a Marketing Agency can enable you to work with products that normally would be out of your price range. Aside from monetary value, working in a team expands one’s way of thinking and doing. When working amongst a group of people, people rub off on one another. The team becomes a melting pot of ideas and actions, which yields more creative and effective results than any individual thinker would have.
Power in Numbers/ Turnaround Time
In the age of a “client-first” mentality, customer service is top-notch. People value authenticity, honesty, and integrity. Turnaround time is growing increasingly important in this day and age, and turnaround time=money. Having customer loyalty and long-lasting relationships is what will keep clients coming back. When working in a team of people, turnaround time is going to be significantly faster. While freelance work can offer the individual a greater sense of control, it does not offer the clients fast results. A marketing agency has power in numbers. An entire team of like-minded workers can certainly yield quicker results than an individual freelancer. If you want to employ a “customer-first” mentality, then it would make more sense to work in a marketing agency to confidently know your work is being consistently delivered at a fast pace. If a marketing agency has, let’s say, 10 people, then a freelancer would have to work 10 times as long to achieve the same result. Having more people-oriented towards the same goal can spread reliability across all team members while also yielding faster results. In fact, reliability can be passed around. Doctors appointments, family birthdays, friends’ anniversaries, funerals, all of these tangible, real-life scenarios naturally occur. Everyone deserves some time to unwind and attend to business outside of work. As a freelancer, it’s nearly impossible. Having shared reliability not only brings the team closer together but offers the flexibility that freelancers may think they couldn’t achieve working for a marketing agency.
Conclusion
It may seem like a daunting choice to make between joining a marketing agency or staying a freelancer. While this will always remain true, everyone’s goal is to achieve the best results. The ultimate way to achieve the best results is to work within a Marketing Agency because there is more opportunity for specialization, more resources, and most importantly more intelligent minds that can contribute a holistic service. All of these factors will ultimately yield greater success.
