Comparing the Cost of Hiring In-house vs. Agency Marketing for Financial Advisors
Justine Young
Senior Content Writer
On the heels of my recent piece where we outlined a few questions to help advisors determine whether it makes more sense to hire an agency or build an in-house team, I thought it would be worthwhile to dig a little deeper into the cost of hiring in-house or working with an agency.
So let’s jump into today’s questions:
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How much does it cost a financial advisor to hire an in-house marketing specialist?
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How much does it cost a financial advisor to hire a marketing agency?
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How much does it cost a financial advisor to hire an in-house marketing specialist?
The cost of your in-house marketing team will vary depending on your needs, but if you’re hiring in-house, most advisors start with a Marketing Coordinator/Specialist.
The Cost of Hiring a Marketing Specialist Internally
According to Salary.com, the current median pay for a Marketing Specialist is $74,611. With benefits, the total compensation package puts you at $109,180 per year. Of course, that varies depending on where you are located. Here in Omaha, we’re on the lower end, but if you’re somewhere on a coast, expect to pay more.
Specialists are typically viewed as the “jack-of-all-trades” of marketing employees. Advisors hire them to produce and distribute everything marketing-related. Whatever needs written, designed, edited, photographed, posted on social, recorded, advertised – give it to the Marketing Specialist.
Of course, it doesn’t really work out that way. Whether it’s burnout or a question of skill, there will always be more work than a one-person marketing team can handle.
Even the best Marketing Specialists recognize where they need help and are quick to bring in outside specialists – in the form of contractors – to help. Whether it’s to edit videos or maintain your website, your Marketing Specialist will need help.
The average hourly rate of a US-based marketing contractor is $37.50. Let’s assume you need about 40 hours of contractor work done each month. That’s an additional $1,500 per month, or $18,000 per year.
That puts the average annual cost of hiring a Marketing Specialist at $127,180.
How does that compare to hiring a marketing agency?
The Cost of Hiring a Marketing Agency
Agency costs vary, but I can tell you a little bit about the cost of working with Three Crowns.
Our retainer engagements fall in the $3,000 to $9,000 range, depending on what you are looking to do.
And of course, working with an agency, you can do whatever you want, including:
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Blogging – Write and publish to your site
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Emails – Write and send newsletters
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Lead magnets – Write and design fact sheets, ebooks, webinars, etc.
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Videos – Edit and upload
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Podcasts – Record, edit and publish
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Website – Create and publish new pages, maintain existing site
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SEO – Everything we publish is designed to optimize visibility in search engines
True, you can do most of those things with an in-house marketing specialist – but you would be missing the piece of the puzzle that ties everything together…
Strategy!
The financial industry can be a tough egg to crack when it comes to marketing. Our agency has been at it for five years now, and many of our team members have been doing financial marketing for twice that long.
Here at Three Crowns, we create custom engagements for each client we serve, meaning you get a custom strategy built by financial marketing professionals. Not to toot our own horn, but we think that’s pretty sweet.
In-house vs. Agency: Which is More Cost-effective for Advisors?
Don’t get me wrong, hiring in-house has plenty of benefits, and it’s worth considering some key questions before you make a decision either way. But when it comes to dollars and cents, it’s important that you know what you’re looking at from a pure cost perspective.
Let’s look again at the cost of hiring in-house versus working with an agency:
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In-house: $127,180 per year
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Agency: $36,000 to $96,000 per year
Working with an agency is a much more affordable option, and you get a full team of writers, designers, social media specialists and project managers to boot – not to mention strategists who will help you position your firm for success.
Like I said, there are other considerations besides cost that come into play, but I hope it’s a little clearer what you’ll be looking at spending on hiring a team – either internally or at an agency – to handle your marketing.
Want to Talk About Your Marketing?
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