Why Hire a Communications Consultancy?

Outsourcing communications and marketing activities to an external agency may or may not be an option for your company. Some of you might already be doing it, whilst for some of you it’s an absolute no-go. We are often asked about the benefits and downsides of hiring external consultants as part of marketing teams, and thought we’d take this month’s blog post to consider some of the pros and cons of hiring a communications consultancy like us.

There are many arguments for hiring an external communications consultancy. The obvious economical factor includes not having to provide communications consultancies, or freelancers, with job benefits, including healthcare coverage for example.

Generally speaking, consultancies:  

·      Demonstrate a wider range of skills

·      Have better access to different technologies

·      Will help your company keep a competitive edge and share best practices from your industry to ensure you are using the right tactics and tools

·      Provide a larger network of brainpower with specialization in specific areas

·      Are fully accountable for their work

·      Deliver high quality results

·      Might approach projects from a more strategic marketing perspective

·      Offer a completely new perspective where needed

·      Generate more media attention

·      Allow you to focus on your business responsibilities

·      Trigger more collaboration and an interactive company culture, as different departments and team members are required to work together

·      Will challenge your company and ask hard questions to help you grow; consultancies tend not to worry about what you think of them personally and do not threat as much about losing their job or getting a bad review from your management team as an internal employee might

·      Will save you time; they also work quickly – hiring an agency for a short-term project is often less hassle than hiring and training a new employee internally  

On the downside, external consultancies:

·      Will not know your company culture as well as someone within your company does – this does, however, allow them to provide a fresh approach and different views

·      Can be expensive if you do not see them as a long-term investment into your business

·      Come with a risk of hiring incompetent marketeers – you need to be 100% sure you have chosen the best consultancy for your marketing objectives

·      Might not be as easily accessible compared to your full-time employees

·      Will not know your service or product as well as you do

·      Make it more difficult for you to learn as you outsource the work to them

·      Might not always take your orders, and will kick back if they do not think something is right

·      Could make your employees feel threatened, which in turn might lower productivity

·      Will have a split focus as they are always working with other clients as well. This, however, can be beneficial when it comes to idea sharing and creating new strategies

Another downside is that finding the right communications consultancy for your team and company can take time. And as we all know, time is money. However, once you do find your consultancy and trusted marketeers, the investment pays off quite quickly. And the working relationship will last for several years.

The reason we opened Rupp Public Relations GmbH back in 2016 was to provide incredible companies and NGOs with a stronger platform to share their products and stories. We love being able to offer a fresh and objective perspective, as well as delivering new insights for our clients to grow sustainably.

Your service or product can be the best in the world – yet if the world doesn’t see, read, or hear about it, what’s the point?

We can’t decide whether you should work with an external communications consultancy to enhance your reach. The answer will very much depend on the size of your company, the skillsets amongst your employees, and your short- and long-term business and marketing objectives.

However, if you want to give it some thought, please feel free to contact us. We’d love to hear from you!