Most marketing programs and marketers finally have realistic budgets to work with again. The only surprise is that it’s taken this long to achieve some forward momentum. As the economic recovery continues and competition intensifies, companies will need to invest more in focused initiatives to generate revenue and reinforce their brands.

When companies ramp up their marketing efforts, they face complex resource and process decisions, including how to create and produce all the materials and services necessary to achieve their marketing objectives. These tools encompass everything from television advertising, public relations and direct marketing programs to e-commerce Web sites, trade shows and online marketing.

The models that are typically implemented by organizational marketing teams to help brand, promote and distribute their offerings include:

Because every organization is unique, there is no single best model for producing all these tools efficiently; there also is some overlap among the above models. While advertising, branding, public relations and Web development are typically outsourced, the optimal approach for your organization should be determined by analyzing your specific requirements as well as the costs and tradeoffs associated with each alternative. Some considerations, which apply to the majority of marketing organizations, are presented below.

In-House Teams
In-house creative teams can be highly effective for projects with extremely fast turnaround times or for ongoing projects with predictable resource requirements such as presentations, catalogs, corporate videos and sales support materials. The advantages of using an in-house team include the ability to manage and control issues such as consistency, costs, messaging and the opportunity to be highly responsive and available to the real-time business needs of the company. Excluding start-up costs which can be significant, the operational costs for in-house teams may or may not be less than the cost of using external resources.

There can be drawbacks as well. The initial investment in human resources, hardware and software infrastructure and process management systems can be substantial, depending on the size of the organization. Creative stagnation is sometimes difficult to avoid and in-house marketing communications teams are typically focused on today’s business at the expense of more strategic and long-term issues. And, with finite capacity, it’s often difficult to handle peak workloads and expand quickly enough to support multiple product lines and rapid revenue growth.

Outsourcing
Companies of all sizes frequently outsource advertising, direct marketing and public relations to specialized agencies or to freelancers for individual projects. Advertising and PR agencies can effectively function as partners who provide a high level of strategic insight and expertise in their field. The best agencies offer proven processes and methodologies and can make substantive contributions to your marketing program from the beginning. Advertising and branding firms in particular have more creative depth and breadth due to the size and experience of their teams, and require few management resources. There are two distinct advantages of the outsourcing model:

Like most consulting arrangements, the drawbacks of outsourcing include less direct supervision and control of the workflow and intellectual property. In hiring an outside agency, results are not guaranteed although most outsourcing relationships prove themselves in the first three to six months. In addition, the operating costs can be slightly higher than an in-house model once the internal team has been established. However, based on the typical workload needs of most small to medium size enterprises, outsourcing will actually cost less than a dedicated in-house creative team when other cost variables such as hardware, software and salaries are equal.

Selective Outsourcing
The selective outsourcing model is used either as a substitute or a supplement for internal resources. These arrangements are usually for a specified project or certain type of service; examples include advertising campaigns, web site development and production of direct mail materials. For needs such as these, outsourcing is an easy way to tap into an agency’s strategic and creative expertise and get exactly the services needed for a pre-determined cost.

Managing in-house teams and outside agencies simultaneously requires additional time and resources for coordinated execution. The cost can be higher than using internal teams but less than a full outsourcing model. In some cases there is a sense of rivalry between the teams and in-house teams sometimes feel threatened by outside specialists.

While it’s unusual for an organization to follow one approach entirely, its overall marketing efforts usually fall under one of the models suggested above. In determining which way to go, consider your marketing objectives, strategies and distribution channels. Also factor in resource requirements, budgets, timeframes, priorities and the mix of tactical programs. Alternative cost and ROI scenarios that reflect these factors can be developed and evaluated on a case-by-case basis.