Think of your inbound marketing team, whether in-house or outsourced, as a swiss army knife. Like each tool of a swiss army knife, each member of an inbound marketing team serves a specific, specialized role. If you’re considering developing an internal team to run HubSpot, it’s a good idea to first break down the costs.
1. Manpower
For starters, you’ll need the right talent in place to spearhead your inbound marketing initiatives! That talent brings a valued skillset to the table and expects to be compensated accordingly. In the basic structure outlined below, your team would be comprised of three people to start. Ideally, as you iron out a measurable and scalable strategy, you could expand your staff.
Strategic Maven – This individual,often dubbed the Lead Content Officer, Senior Content Strategist, or other, is tasked with leading strategic development, defining metrics, setting goals, overseeing the team, and managing the budget. Being that this is an executive position, it is coupled with the highest salary expectation. According to Glassdoor, a salary for a similar role ranges from $86k – $122k.
Content Crafter – Responsible for churning out the content, this team member is key in content creation across platforms. Whether it’s eBooks, blog posts, white papers, or infographics, the right person in this role should be versatile in meeting the varied content needs of your business. When part of a small team, this team member will likely manage social media as well. A salary for a Content Coordinator or Inbound Marketing Specialist can be expected to run about $43k.
Design Guru – Your website is a critical platform to get your company found on the web. It should be responsive, optimized for search, and up-to-date. A graphic designer would be responsible for creating visual elements, offers, and designing communication pieces. The national average salary for a graphic designer cited by Glassdoor is $46k.
2. Labor Burden Costs
Now, I have absolutely no experience in Human Resources but I know enough to recognize that the salaries used to drive the salaries for an inbound marketing team are just the beginning. Labor burden costs, or the cost of additional employee benefits, can account for an average of 40% of a typical salary!
These costs include things like health and dental insurance, payroll taxes, and sick leave. Some companies, like Prezi and Chegg, are even offering employees unlimited paid time off. The point is, be sure to dig deeper into calculating labor burden costs before deciding that an internal team is the way to go.
3. Marketing Software
You likely already have a contentment management system in place, if not, we would recommend investing in HubSpot. It’s content optimization system options can fully integrate your website platform, landing pages, and blog to enable you create a personalized experience for prospective customers.
The value in having marketing software is in its consistent use. If you don’t have a team or an agency in place to manage the marketing tools available to you, you’ll be hard pressed to deliver results. In the same breath, if the team you put in place is inexperienced and does not know how to manage your marketing tools, there is no doubt that opportunities will be left on the table.
Is putting together an internal inbound marketing team realistic?
Perhaps the better question to ask is, is hiring an in-house marketing team to run HubSpot to the most efficient and effective way to accomplish my inbound marketing goals? Managing all of your inbound marketing efforts in-house can be time-consuming, costly, and ineffective if the right team is not in place. Recruiting talent, training staff, and honing skills is an investment in time and money with no guarantee of ROI.
While working with an agency isn’t exactly a free alternative, it is a flexible solution that can be retrofitted to meet your exact needs. An agency partnership gives you access to a distinct and experienced skill set. According to HubSpot’s 2015 State of Inbound Marketing Report, companies are 3x as likely to realize higher ROI on inbound marketing campaigns as compared to outbound. With such an emphasis being placed on inbound marketing, making the right choice for your business isn’t easy.
If you’re still on the fence about whether to develop an internal team, give our complimentary eBook a read, Inhouse vs. Outsourced Marketing.
