Did you know agency staff have been found to outperform in-house staff in digital skills?

Last week I came across an insightful post on Campaign that discusses digital skills.

According to a recent study by Target internet, it seems that agency staff are outperforming in-house staff, notably in email marketing and online advertising.

As a digital agency who regularly work with in-house teams, this was of particular interest to us at Cobb Digital. So, I wanted to share my thoughts on the findings.

Skills in email marketing scored 58% for agencies and 48% in-house

The fact that email has the highest skills rating doesn’t come as a huge surprise, as email has remained integral to most marketing teams. Despite newer channels coming in and out of fashion.

And rightly so. Email is low cost, simple to implement, easy to measure, and produces great results.

So, chances are, even if you’ve only dipped your toe into marketing you’ll have some experience with email.

But while email marketing can be done at a simple and basic level, it can also become very complex - in terms of design, personalisation, and automation. Shout out here to our email superstar, Lauren Isaacs.

Granted, these aren’t tactics that all businesses feel the need to execute. However, many larger or more ambitious brands certainly do.

And agencies need to make sure they’re skilled and ready to provide those advanced services for those who want them.

Skills in online advertising scored 40% for agencies and 31% for in-house

Similar to email marketing, online advertising is a staple for many marketing teams. But can still become particularly complex.

And while online advertising has made it easy to get involved with advanced tactics, it is also easy to eat up budgets. Meaning many in-house teams keep to the basics for fear of costs.

Additionally, in-house teams often require marketers to have experience in multiple online channels, as opposed to opting for a specific online advertising specialist. 

But for agencies, online advertising specialists are highly sought after. Their experience means they are better equipped to deal with multiple clients, all with differing goals and challenges.

Social media marketing and content marketing have a less pronounced skills gap

While the general public aren’t sending out marketing campaigns for themselves, many are familiar with using social media channels and creating content (written, video, or photo) on a daily basis.

For social media and content marketing, this is only predicted to increase as younger generations and ‘digital natives’ become more adept at being content creators. Platforms such as Instagram and TikTok will only continue to reinforce this.

That being said, average users aren’t familiar with the strategy, costs, and management behind these channels. All of which are essential for a business, and something an agency can offer.

There has been an overall decline in skills levels since 2018

When I started in the industry, there were a handful of go-to marketing channels that you could specialise in. It was common for marketers to focus on a specific channel, instead of multiple.

Now that new channels and tactics are coming into fashion all the time, it can be difficult to keep up to date and gain experience in all areas.

As best practice marketing focuses on multi- and omni-channel experiences, marketers are increasingly required to be adept in more than one area or specialism. However, this means becoming specialised takes far longer.

A core part of agency life is sharing knowledge and expertise, whilst bringing channel specialists into each project. This means that any gaps in skills are far less of an issue.  

More than half of chief marketing officers worldwide planned to increase their in-house digital and programmatic capabilities (some prior to Covid-19).

I appreciate that for many businesses, the goal is to bring their marketing in-house.

But this doesn’t come without complications, such as hiring the right person, workload monitoring, line management, and a lack of flexibility.

Due to Covid-19, flexibility and budget is arguably more important than ever.

This is something that agencies can help with. They provide businesses with the best person for the project, without tying them into a full time contract or worrying about people management.

Agencies are simply there when you need them.

Get in touch if you want more from your digital presence.