Ultimate Social Media Marketing: Agency vs Freelancer Guide

Social media marketing is one of the best ways to grow your business, but who can manage it effectively, an agency or a freelancer? 

That’s a question many business owners start to wonder: Should I hire a freelancer or a marketing agency? Both can produce great results depending on what you are trying to accomplish, your budget, and what you actually need. 

This guide will provide a breakdown of the differences in easy-to-understand terms and format, in order for you to have the best chance of choosing the right option for your brand to be successful.

Freelancer

A freelancer is a self-employed marketing professional with experience. They often have worked for larger companies in the past. They offer their services and handle tasks on their own. These tasks are virtual help, writing, marketing strategy, email marketing, and more. Finding clients, completing projects, and gaining recurring business are the responsibilities of freelancers.

Freelancing is becoming popular, with 53 million Americans. According to our estimates, about 34% of workers are contractors.

Marketing Agency

A marketing agency is a team of marketers consisting of employees or independent contractors. They provide various marketing services to clients. Such as social media marketing and email. They also provide content creation, graphic design, and business consulting.

Digital Optimizer A Marketing Agency

Leading marketing firm Digital Optimizer places a high priority on planning and strategy. They have a team of trained professionals who provide exceptional digital marketing solutions.

They offer Search Engine Optimization (SEO) services, WordPress Development, and Amazon FBA Services. Influencer marketing, social media management, and paid advertising (PPC).

Their credibility is built on trust with significant clients such as Arrow Lift, Mercy College, Innovations, Foundry 10, and Plastic Mart. Lucy’s Cafe, RJ, Sweet Cafeteria, and Nordsgold are also their clients.

Choosing a Freelancer as a Social Media Marketer

Employing a freelance social media marketer has several benefits for your company. Professionals who work for themselves and serve a large clientele are known as freelancers.

Employing independent contractors has many advantages. The main advantage is that it’s less expensive than working with an agency. Freelancers are also self-reliant and don’t need strict guidelines from a company to achieve their objectives.

We need to be aware of some limitations. Freelancers may require more expertise and scalability compared to larger agencies. While they can be adequate for specific tasks, complex or extensive social media campaigns must have more resources.

Benefits and Drawbacks of Hiring a Freelancer for Social Media Promotion

Affordability

The affordable cost of hiring a freelancer is one advantage. Compared to agencies or full-time employees, freelancers charge less. Hiring a freelancer might help you save money on salary and training expenses. Freelancers also provide flexibility in terms of payment plans. Because of this, it is appropriate for businesses with lower budgets.

Flexibility

Hiring a freelancer for your social media management means they can adapt to your schedule. They make quick updates to your marketing campaigns. Dealing with one person through smoother communication and holding them accountable for their efforts. But the issue is that the freelancers mostly have more than one client, so it makes it difficult to make a strong connection or communication.

Independence

Freelancers are self-sufficient and able to complete tasks without constant oversight. They have their strategies and processes, saving time on training. But communication might be affected if there’s a significant time zone difference between you and the freelancer.

Priority Level

Freelancers have fewer projects, which allows them to rank your project. They give your job extra care, just like you’d expect from a marketing pro. But due to a lack of resources, they take more time to complete your project.

Communication

While working with a freelancer, you will have to use a social media platform to deliver complete guidelines about your projects 

However, possible time zone variations can make it challenging at times. So, it can be challenging to coordinate communication with a freelancer.

Specific Expertise

The freelancer works with a variety of clients, which increases his social media knowledge. If you hire someone from an agency, they will have less knowledge and information than a freelancer. Your brand may be better understood by an internal staff member, but they might not have the depth of expertise that a freelancer can offer.

When to Take Into Account Hiring a Freelancer

If your brand is small and your budget is tight, think about employing a freelancer. You also don’t need to do advanced social media management; it is an excellent choice to hire a freelancer. You can also consider it when you don’t need the training and the experience of a person from your work.

Choosing a Marketing Agency for Your Social Media Marketing

A marketing agency is a group of skilled people who work together to handle various aspects of marketing, like SEO, Social Media, and AdWords. They offer a practical solution, providing access to a team of experts without the expensive setup of creating such a team in-house. Yet, choosing an agency for your social media marketing has both advantages and disadvantages.

Team and Skill

A group of specialist experts at agencies is capable of handling a variety of jobs, including strategy advising, graphic design, and content writing. This diverse expertise is often more cost-effective than hiring individual employees or freelancers who may have only some of these skills.

Expertise in Marketing Agencies

A team works together to overcome various tasks such as SEO and social media marketing. They use marketing strategies to improve your online presence on different platforms. These tools include access to stock picture websites, SEO software, integrated reporting tools, and social media analysis software. Agencies acquire important knowledge and expertise from working with a variety of clients, which they then apply to other companies.

Due to their expertise in digital marketing, these organizations can identify unproductive strategies and offer recommendations that can help your company expand. They have only one aim: to achieve positive results and provide you with quality work.

Time Savings

By hiring an agency, you save time on building and managing a team yourself. The agency’s project manager handles the coordination of their experts, making the process more efficient.

Handling Task

Digital agencies have more resources, which enables them to finish projects. They can spend their work. They have more people working on the same project to complete it. Digital agencies handle many projects, and more prominent clients with larger budgets might take priority over smaller clients. Your project may not receive the attention it deserves in such cases.

Communication Process Social media 

Digital agencies usually have a structured communication process. They assign a dedicated project manager for each client, arranging regular calls for updates and progress reports. For larger projects, you may also have access to more team members.

But when you want to make extra calls, reports might come with additional costs. Some agencies may have a hands-off approach, which means they will only provide information if you request it.

When to Consider Hiring a Marketing Agency

Consider choosing a marketing agency if you have worked with partners before. You know how to collaborate. Let’s say you need more social media marketing experience but have an internal marketing staff. If you have a good plan and are prepared to make the investment to develop your digital brand, you may also go with them.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Digital Agency or Freelancer with Experience

Check the freelancer’s or agency’s background in your field. Research their understanding of your industry and what businesses they have worked with. It is very important to hire someone who is familiar with your drive so that they can develop a good business plan.

Track Record of Success

Inquire about performance data. While not everyone can provide it, some agencies offer specific scores and metrics from past campaigns. This data shows their capacity to produce outcomes.

Customer Suggestions

To learn more about working with the agency or a freelancer, read frank reviews left by prior clients.  Were they professional and friendly? Did they handle crises well?

Why Choose Digital Optimizer as Your Marketing Agency?

Conclusion

Comparing social media marketing agency offerings with freelance help, you can properly evaluate your company. Every choice offers both benefits and concerns. Digital Optimizers offer comprehensive methods, tools, and experience. While freelancers always focus on your needs and provide flexible work. They always considered your goals and budgets. The social media strategy that works best for you will depend on what advantages and disadvantages you weigh in your selected strategy to move your company’s social media presence forward.