What kind of contractor does a business need?
From a marketing campaign to web design, two options might be sometimes a difficult choice to make.
The answer to it depends on a number of factors - and this is not only cost and reviews.
Freelancer
+ Lower price. True, with reservations: The cost of the work of an experienced professional can be comparable to the cost of the work of the agency.
+ Communication without intermediaries. At any time, you can write / call a specialist directly. In agencies, interaction goes through the manager.
+ Work goes faster - ideal for small tasks.
- Warranty. More precisely, their absence is the main risk. If you work without a contract, then you will not be able to prove that the freelancer disappeared with your money.
- No workflow control tools. Accordingly, there is a danger of draining the budget due to insufficient competence of a specialist.
- Lack of time. Will a person who works simultaneously with more than a dozen clients be able to give you the attention you deserve? That is unlikely.
Agency
+ Qualification and experience. Agencies invest in ongoing employee training. Also, once a year, specialists are tested to confirm their level in web analytics and advertising systems.
+ Reliability. All agencies work officially with contracts.
+ Interchangeability. If the employee assigned to you fell ill or was forced to leave suddenly, he will be replaced by another, having previously transferred all cases.
+ The same integrated approach. If an advertising campaign includes several items or requires a non-standard solution, then a team that includes marketers, targetologists, designers, etc. will cope with this more efficiently.
- Not so fast. The agency will not issue a strategy in a couple of days: based on their experience and numerous cases, specialists will develop and offer several possible tools and solutions, including non-standard ones - and this takes time.
Whether you choose an agency or a freelancer, do the following first:
•Read reviews, read ratings.
•Negotiate: Ask about clients, budgets, customization features, and tools used.
•Look for websites or ads from current customers using a few key phrases to search. Look at how these ads are composed - this will show the level of awareness of the specialist.
•Ask how statistics are tracked, how the return on investment in services is calculated.
So who do you choose?