Marketing is a big investment, putting significant pressure on in-house agencies. Whether you’ve stalled because your team’s capabilities are bottlenecked or there are several projects to be checked off your list, here are a few tips to keep in mind as you gear up to scale.

Check Your Capacity

Are you struggling to deliver? Is there a time-commitment crunch? Are your most-strategic people working on your most-strategic projects? Aligning the capacity of your internal with company goals and can help you determine if you need to recruit new team members or solicit the support of an external provider. Begin by corralling your freelance resources and making sure you have the right people working on the right things.

Making a Case for Headcount

If you're on a growth trajectory and the work is already piling up, hiring a core team to build your foundation can set you up for success. They can help manage additional vendors or freelance resources while you continue building internally. There’s also the added bonus of employees taking ownership of your company’s marketing strategies, without having to rely on outside vendors.

Forming a Deep Partnership

Leaning on outside partners to support work at scale or provide capabilities your team doesn’t have can open the door for long-term collaboration as your in-house agency grows. A vendor partner can help meet the demands of your team to get work done fast, without hiring full-time employees or burning out your best people. When selecting an outside partner to collaborate with, be sure to look for agencies that share your values and demonstrate trust by fostering healthy communication, preparation, and follow-through.

Flexibility is Key

As your priorities change, having the ability to scale up or down based on the needs of the business and your in-house team can make all the difference. Whether you choose to work closely with one agency or multiple vendors, make sure you can re-evaluate and adapt your partnerships and contracts based on your changing needs. This can look like flexible resourcing, pay-as-you-use or project-based contracts, or quarterly options rather than year-long obligations. 

When you’re navigating growth and capacity gaps in an ever-changing market, these factors can help keep you on track so you can scale your marketing without losing creative quality or oversight.