Recession-Proof Marketing and Creative Staffing Solutions – Why Successful Companies Are Reducing Salaried Employees & Moving to Flex Marketing Agencies

With recession fears looming, interest rates increasing, and consumer spending tightening – most businesses are looking to streamline and reduce operational expenses. One of the first things deemed “dispensable” are marketing budgets.

This is a failed strategy and one of the worst things a business can do in a market downcycle: slowing your momentum. The most successful companies use this time to re-strategize and build brand awareness — reinvesting into their marketing efforts — while companies that put this on the back-burner rapidly lose market share. 

So how can you reduce costs, while simultaneously increasing output and market share? Seems like an impossible question to answer – but, we have a solution.  

One of your largest expenses

One of the largest annual financial expenses for a business is salaried employees. Beyond just the base salaries, there are numerous additional expenses – paid vacation, constant training, office space, company equipment, software, employee benefits, payroll taxes, administration fees, management complexity, etc, etc – often times it is not the employee a company is getting rid of, it is all the added expenses that come with them. 

Why “Freelancers” are not the answer

Despite the initial perception, freelancers actually add complexity to your business operations, rather than reduce it. Sourcing high-quality, reliable talent is a never ending challenge – sites like Fiverr and Upwork offer only a few viable options, and a lot of sub-par overseas outsourcing. And creative staffing agencies often charge a 40-50% ongoing premium, just for talent placement. With a freelancer you’re on an uphill battle against unreliability, lack of dedication and commitment to your company, more management complexity than with salaried employees, and a limited skillset.

 
What is a Flex Marketing Agency?

The rapid, technology-driven transformations in the digital media landscape necessitate a level of marketing agility and flexibility that a salaried employee approach simply cannot provide. Flex Marketing Agencies are thriving in the current climate because they provide a cost-effective and flexible answer to your marketing resource challenges. These agencies can offer increased output, while reducing costs – creating a clear cost benefit analysis for any successful company.

Flex Marketing Agencies work as an extension of your in-house core team. Other advertising or marketing agencies usually work on a project basis and only know your company in a limited capacity. Conversely, a primary goal of a Flex Marketing Agency like Draft Creative is to know your company inside and out. You receive a team of high-quality professionals in SEO, creative strategy, copywriting, public relations, advertising, website development, design, and project management – for the cost of one or two salaried employees. These agencies will champion your brand and collaborate as an extension of your core team, implementing consistency and strategy for all of your brand elements – Basic Elements You Need for a Consistent Brand . 

Here are 4 reasons why a Flex Marketing Agency is the best solution for you:

1. Access to a Full Team for the Cost of One or Two Salaried Employees

A costly challenge to properly staffing an in-house team is that you need specialized individuals to fill each role – the more specialized the position, the higher the salary. Even a lean team can have 10-20 people all specializing in different areas, driving expenses through the roof. With a Flex Marketing Agency you get access to a full team of experts for the cost of one or two salaried employees. No high retainer fees, no long-term commitment – this is an unmatched benefit that no other solution offers. You can increase your output and quality, while significantly reducing your costs. 

2. Reduce Your Management Complexity

Managing an in-house team or freelancers requires a complex hierarchy of management. Allocating personnel and resources to ensure benchmarks and deadlines are hit is no easy task at any company, no matter the size. With a Flex Marketing Agency you have one point of contact – and you only interact with the experts from the team that you want. Each company is assigned a personal account manager to build a lasting relationship and fully integrate with your team. This drastically reduces management complexity, project management, and eliminates any confusion when it comes to responsibilities. 

3. No Long-Term Commitment and Flexible Terms

Building in-depth knowledge of your organization takes time, and long-term relationships should be valued above all else, but in a time of budget cutting, you need flexibility to pivot if priorities change. A Flex Marketing Agency is built specifically to thrive in these situations. 3-month initial periods are standard to ensure there are proper foundations in place to build success, but after this initial period, most Flex Marketing Agencies offer a month-to-month arrangement, allowing you to shift gears quickly if needed. 

Working with a Flex Marketing Agency allows you to hire a competent team at a lower cost than building one in-house. You'll only pay for the skills you need, and you'll be able to re-align, ramp up or down, or stop completely at any time. If you have a project sprint coming up and need to execute 3/4 deadlines at once, extra staff can be added to accommodate. Once your sprint is finished, those team members can be pulled back off your project to bring costs back down – true flexibility. 

4. Higher Quality Strategy and Creative Output From Industry Experts 

Finding and staffing high-quality creative, strategy, and marketing talent is very difficult. Paying a recruitment firm to find and fill openings is very costly – but so is managing the search and interview process on your own. Neither of these solutions are ideal. 

A good Flex Marketing Agency eliminates this problem altogether. You never have to worry about staffing shortages or overages, just facilitate the projects as they come in and have everything else taken care of. Higher-quality talent and industry expertise focused on finding the best solution for your challenges. You can have access to an industry veteran Sr. Copywriter, a trend-setting video animator, a forward-thinking creative strategist, and two highly-skilled Sr. Designers all for the price of one salaried employee. 

The Solution You Need.

Draft Creative is the Flex Marketing Agency you need – built by a team of seasoned experts who custom-tailor each approach to substantially lower your costs, while also increasing your output and quality. Draft Creative supports companies large and small across all industries – Coldwell Banker, Houlihan Lokey, Sothebys, JLL, Wolters Kluwer, and 25 Mackenzie Lane to name a few. Get in touch today to tell us more about your needs and the challenges you are up against. Draft Creative is the solution you need to thrive in tough market conditions.