So, here’s the deal: When the economy gets a little shaky, or when you’re trying to watch every penny, what do you do when it comes to expanding your team and getting support for your eCommerce business?
Here’s how economic pressures are influencing decisions:
- Tightening Budgets: With rising operational costs, eCommerce brands are looking to optimize spending. This often means choosing between an agency, a freelancer, or investing in an internal team. Each option comes with its own set of risks and rewards.
- Focus on ROI: In uncertain times, businesses are laser-focused on ROI. They need solutions that can deliver measurable results, not just quick wins.
- Scalability: As businesses grow, they need marketing strategies that can scale with them. The wrong choice in a partner could mean missed opportunities and stagnation and in difficult economic times, the negative impact on the business can be detrimental
Agency, Internal, or Freelancer?
These economic challenges tend to make us weigh our options pretty seriously.
- Do we hire an agency that might come with a price tag but could offer specialized expertise?
- Do we hire someone in-house to have more control and oversight, but also take on the full cost of their salary and benefits?
- Do we go with a freelancer for flexibility and potentially lower costs, even though we might sacrifice consistency and reliability?
The table below outlines key considerations.
The Struggles with Hiring In-house
Hiring an in-house team for your eCommerce marketing can seem like the most hands-on approach, offering you complete control over your marketing efforts. With dedicated employees working solely for your brand, you gain the advantage of deep brand understanding and alignment with your company’s culture and goals.
However, building and maintaining an in-house team comes with significant challenges.
- High Costs: The financial commitment required to support an in-house team, including salaries, benefits, and office space, can strain your budget.
- Limited Expertise: Even with a talented team, the range of expertise may be narrower than what you would get from a specialized agency with diverse experience.
- Scalability Issues: Scaling your marketing efforts can be challenging if your team is already stretched thin or lacks the specialized skills needed for growth.
The Freelancer Conundrum
On the flip side, freelancers might have the skills and expertise you need, but they come with their own set of challenges, and it’s not always smooth sailing.
- Limited bandwidth: The best freelancers are often in high demand, which can make them difficult to work with on a consistent basis. This leads to delays, slower response times, and potential gaps in your marketing efforts.
- In-house resource reliance: Freelancers might be strategic experts, but you still need an in-house execution team to bring their ideas to life. Without that, you’re left with a high-risk situation where success is far from guaranteed.
- Misaligned Incentives: Freelancers are juggling multiple clients, which can lead to misaligned incentives. While you want more of their time and attention, they may be looking to take on more clients to scale their own business. This often results in a lack of focus on your brand’s specific needs.
Introducing Chronos: The Strategic Retention Marketing Partner
Enter Chronos, a strategic retention marketing partner bridging the gap between in-house team and solo practitioners. With a team of specialist strategists, dedicated copyright and design teams, and a performance-centric approach, we take a data-driven and tailored approach to maximizing revenue growth for your eCommerce business.
The Chronos Advantage
- Global expertise spanning 12 countries and experience with over 500+ brands
- Specialization specifically in Email, SMS, and Push Notifications for eCommerce
- Top-tier partnerships with tech platforms like Klaviyo give us an unfair advantage in accessing strategies, updates, and support, all of which our clients benefit from
- Performance-centric: our success is hinged on crushing your goals
- High talent-to-account ratios for personalized and focused attention
- Dedicated creative teams that truly understand your brand
That being said, we’re not for every brand. This is really only for those that are scaling traffic with over 15,000 visitors per month. We work with a wide range of business, from the Oodies of the world to startups just picking up steam. You need to be willing to test and be uncomfortable in order to grow because this is not a one and done type of arrangement.
We’re not in it for just a month or two, we’re in it for long haul.
Our focus is on long-term scalability and profitability, not just a one-time win.
Making the Right Call
When money’s tight or the economic horizon is uncertain, the stakes can feel even higher. That’s why it’s crucial to weigh your options carefully and really think about what your business needs to thrive in the long run.
I’ve found that understanding the potential pitfalls of each option and considering how they align with your business’s unique needs can provide clarity when making these tough decisions. It’s all about finding the right fit that balances cost-effectiveness, expertise, and flexibility.
So, what’s been your experience navigating these economic challenges and making decisions about hiring for your eCommerce business?
