By Lee Ann Laban
Multi-channel Education Marketing Strategy & Demand Generation
By Lee Ann Laban
As your business grows, so do your marketing needs. The role of marketing evolves to support your next phase of business development and growth, raising an important question: Should you expand your in-house marketing team or outsource with an education marketing agency like the Spyre team?
Our answer might surprise you: It’s both!
Each option offers unique benefits depending on your business’s stage, goals, and budget. In this article, we’ll explore how to make the most of both in-house talent and outsourced education marketing agency expertise effectively. From budget considerations to scalability and specialized skills, we’ll explore how these two approaches can complement one another in creating a well-oiled marketing machine that is knowledgeable and flexible enough to meet the ongoing demands of your growing organization.
If you’re in the early stages of getting your business off the ground, it’s likely your marketing funds are limited. But it is still possible to balance a tight budget with achieving early wins that build your pipeline and demonstrate marketing ROI, which hopefully builds the case for a future increase in funding.
If hiring an experienced full-time marketing manager is out of reach, you may only be able to afford someone fresh out of school or with just a few years of experience who has minimal K–12 professional experience. While enthusiasm and fresh ideas are valuable, B2B marketing is a complex field—and marketing to educators is exceptionally nuanced. Expecting someone new to the field to handle the entire marketing load may overwhelm them, leading to less effective results and high turnover.
On the other hand, if you are running a fast-growing business and are confident in your growth trajectory, then investing in a seasoned marketing manager might be the right choice. A more experienced K–12 professional can bring leadership and a deeper understanding of marketing’s nuances to your team.
For many businesses, the ideal approach lies somewhere in between. One-person marketing teams, seasoned or not, can only do so much. And many start-ups don’t even have a full-time, dedicated marketing team yet so founders, CEOs, and sales teams are often trying to find time to post a few thoughts to social media and send the occasional email. Throughout our many years of working with startups, we have found the efforts of in-house personnel are often exponentially amplified when they partner with outside talent.
Here’s why: An experienced education marketing agency lets you manage budget constraints while also giving you access to high-level expertise and a larger staff of creatives. Your internal hire benefits from the agency’s mentorship while you can remain agile in your ability to adjust the workload between your in-house team and outsourced education marketing agency support.
Additionally, outsourcing to an education marketing agency ensures there is long-term knowledge regarding your products, audience, and goals. So, if members of your in-house marketing team come and go (as more junior employees sometimes do) you can have peace of mind knowing that there’s a dedicated team familiar with your business who can seamlessly continue supporting your efforts as you manage transitions.
Many clients we work with are post-startup and solidly entering the midsize stage. If this is your organization, you likely have one or two rockstar marketers on your team who helped you achieve this level of growth. Congratulations! You may be finding, however, that your rapid acceleration is leaving your in-house talent a bit ragged. Even with a solid in-house team, there will be times when outsourcing becomes necessary, either for access to specialized expertise or simply due to bandwidth constraints.
Oftentimes, mid-sized companies need greater sales enablement support, streamlined processes for multi-channel campaigns, and a greater library of content and resources to share with prospects and customers alike. That’s where teaming up with a team of diverse and specialized skillsets available from an experienced education marketing agency makes sense.
Expanding your marketing team’s capacity to generate a wide array of collateral can be achieved in one of two ways: Hiring specialized staff in the areas of writing, design and marketing operations, or working with an education marketing agency. Oftentimes, companies choose to work with an agency to build the infrastructure needed to support a larger sales engine, and then over time, hire in-house talent once they have achieved a sustainable growth model that makes it more obvious which skillsets are needed internally versus what is more cost effective to outsource.
Want to Chat About Your Education Marketing Strategy?
Schedule a free 30-minute consultation with Spyre CEO Emily Sumner.
“Spyre is an exceptional marketing partner for education companies! Their team offers extensive knowledge, experience, and expertise, making them invaluable to any organization focused on growth.”
Larger organizations often have well-resourced education marketing teams fully equipped to handle the day-to-day execution of strategic marketing plans. Yet, it is often these sorts of teams who need a pinch-hitter who can help bring special projects across the finish line. In these cases, having an education marketing agency on retainer provides an extra set of hands when needed.
As your demands grow, an agency can quickly scale up by allocating more resources to your project without the need for time-consuming recruitment. Alternatively, hiring an education marketing agency on a retainer basis offers predictable expenses and the peace of mind that they’re ready to support you with any challenges that arise during the month.
So, what’s the best approach? There is no substitute for a dedicated marketer on staff working day in and day out on promoting your product. But regardless of your stage in development, outsourcing will likely play a role, whether for a specialized project or to provide additional support during peak times. Building a relationship with a trusted education marketing agency early on ensures you’ll have a reliable, knowledgeable partner when you need one. As your business scales, so should your marketing efforts. Invest wisely in your team and partnerships, and you’ll see the long-term rewards.
If you’re searching for an education marketing partner to expand your marketing capacity, we’ve got the perfect team for you! Get in touch with us if you’d like to chat.
About Lee AnnLee Ann, a seasoned edtech conference organizer turned marketer, uses all her wealth of experience and insider knowledge to make clients stand out at events and beyond.
