Are you questioning whether or not to keep your company’s marketing in-house or to outsource the work to a marketing agency? If this is you, or if you’re simply wanting to learn about the pros and cons of hiring a marketing agency vs. doing marketing in-house, let Envision by Design be your guide.

Everyone’s first impression is that it is easier and less expensive to do everything in house, but we recommend you hire an experienced marketing team and here’s why. We understand bringing on a marketing agency can be intimidating, so let’s simplify the thought process and make it easy to consider whether marketing in-house is truly cost effective for your business.

One overworked person or a team of highly trained professionals?

Many businesses do not have the staff to create and maintain an in-house marketing team. To hire even one person for one year who could carry out this work alone is not ideal for many reasons. The workload is too much for most individuals. Even companies that that have a marketing director still lack the team to actually carry out the director’s plans.

When you hire a marketing employee, you have an individual. When you hire a marketing agency, you have a team.

The hidden cost of in-house marketing

 The salary of a highly trained professional can be 200-400% greater than the cost of a marketing agency. Their salary doesn’t even cover software, benefits, or continuing education and training!

When marketing is not your core business, it is hard to find the time to stay current with the latest technology, market trends, tools and techniques that help you compete in the marketplace. It’s even harder to justify the costs of design software and apps when a small business needs to make every dollar count.

No matter how many how-to videos you watch, nothing makes up for 30 years of experience. Spend your time on your core business and hire a marketing expert to save time and money.

Your office manager already has a job. Don’t add graphic designer to their already overflowing plate.

Cutting corners—especially by assigning marketing to an already busy office manager—can end up costing you more in the long run. A poorly designed piece that’s missing a strong call to action may seem good enough, but it doesn’t drive results and can be a wasted effort. Your office manager has other priorities, and without the right marketing expertise or strategy, they may not create something that truly works.

Investing in professionals ensures that your marketing materials are not just visually appealing but also effective, strategic, and built to convert.

The hidden cost of inexperience

A common pitfall with in-house marketing is hiring an inexperienced designer in an attempt to save money. Now that the new hire is on board, what’s your plan? Who sets the strategy, measures results, and ensures quality and effective results? Saving money upfront can quickly turn into wasted time and resources if there’s no clear direction or experienced oversight.

Beginners in the field naturally make mistakes as they learn—overusing drop shadows, creating backgrounds that overwhelm text, or making design choices that simply don’t generate sales. That’s why professional designers refine their craft under the guidance of experienced mentors before taking on high-stakes projects.

When you hire an inexperienced designer without proper oversight, you risk ending up with work that is unpolished, unreadable, or ineffective. A seasoned designer knows how to balance visuals, maintain readability, and ensure every design element serves a purpose.

Investing in expertise from the start saves you time, frustration, and costly redesigns down the road.

How consistency delivers cost-effective results

What happens when your in-house team has to outsource some design work? Or tries to save money by hiring multiple agencies for different aspects of your marketing—one for branding, another for website design, and yet another for digital ads? Have you considered the time and effort it takes to manage all these separate teams?

Without a single agency overseeing the strategy, you risk inconsistency across your brand. Your messaging, visuals, and overall approach can end up disjointed, leading to a confusing experience for your audience. We call this “spot marketing” because it focuses on individual projects rather than a cohesive strategy. The result is misaligned marketing, mismatched design work, and mixed messaging. This wastes time correcting mistakes, weakens and dilutes your brand effectiveness, and costs more in the long term.

A single, full-service agency ensures that every piece of your marketing works together seamlessly, reinforcing your brand and maximizing your investment.

Instead of juggling multiple teams, enjoy a streamlined process that keeps your marketing consistent, strategic, and effective—without the headaches.

The hidden cost of disorganization

Not many people have the skill set and the organizational skills needed to juggle marketing, graphic design, and execute the company’s marketing strategy. It takes a high level of organization to handle all the details, metrics, apps, logins, and tracking systems. Marketing agencies have worked hard to establish workflows and processes, and they continue to refine those because that is their core business. That built-in efficiency results in cost savings.

Why reinvent the wheel when we’ve already built the whole marketing machine?

Does bargain shopping really work when it comes to marketing?

Shopping the bargain bin can be fun, but you shouldn’t trust your business to it! You might get something really inexpensive but will it work? Do you want your marketing to be a bargain, or do you want it to be high performing?

“Just getting by” is never a solution for your marketing. You want to say, “We love our marketing and it’s working!”

Why Envision by Design?

We are creative. There are a ton of designers who can update an existing brochure, but if they have to design something from scratch, they tend to deliver something that makes you look like everyone else. We bring an outside perspective and endless creative ideas to create something effective AND original, something that stands out from the competition and gets you noticed!

We are highly skilled and experienced. We have all of the skills necessary to create and execute your marketing strategy, develop and match your brand’s unique design and voice, and get you the most bang for your buck! We are effective and organized, and we always keep up to date on the latest tools and trends so you don’t have to!

We are responsive. Are you having trouble reaching your marketing person? With us, you have one dedicated point of contact who looks after your entire marketing plan and makes sure it’s on target. Our team is guided by one point of contact – our owner! – who knows understands your company and your needs and is looking out for your marketing project, no matter the size or scale.

But don’t just take our word for it. Let’s talk about your needs and what we can do for you in a free consultation! Call Envision by Design at (314) 370-6131 or fill out our contact form on our website to get started.

If you’d like to download this PDF, click here.