Are you struggling to generate leads? Struggling to grow your business? Perhaps you should consider using LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is an effective inbound marketing platform with over 830 million members and 55 million registered companies. It also has a powerful ad platform that allows businesses to generate leads, build brand awareness, and drive sales.

If you are going to use LinkedIn to promote your business, you have two options: build an in-house marketing team or outsource it to a LinkedIn lead generation agency.

The difference between outsourcing and in-house.

Outsourcing means employing external resources to help you complete projects. These might include agencies specialising in performing a particular task or project.

Outsourcing is generally done for cost-saving reasons, but there are other reasons.

  • Increased efficiency: Companies can concentrate on their core competencies and work more efficiently.
  • Optimal scalability: Outsourcing increases the availability of labour. As a result, maximum output can be achieved and production guaranteed.
  • Quicker response: You are more responsive to change because you can pass these tasks on to specialised third-party companies.
  • Quality improvement: Outsourcing often brings quality improvements. For instance, in manufacturing, a good factory or workshop can improve the quality of products.
  • Lack of know-how: Companies’ new processes and operations are often necessary, but the employees often lack the required know-how and implementation skills. Outsourcing is an alternative to hiring skilled workers for this.

On the other hand, in-house resources are any work done within a business by its employees rather than by external people. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages, and the right decision isn’t always straightforward.

Advantages and disadvantages of keeping it in-house.

There are several advantages to keeping it in-house. You can control the process from start to finish. Over time, you may evolve and get better at defining your own message, and you may be able to institutionalise that. But this can take considerable time and may result in failure; whereas outsourcing your efforts to an experienced, qualified team of LinkedIn specialists, you will begin seeing results within a matter of weeks.

You may think it’s cheaper, too, especially when faced with some of the prices that some LinkedIn lead generation agencies can charge. However, typically, outsourcing your lead generation is considerably cheaper in the long run. Building an in-house team requires considerable investment. Some of the costs include:

  • Employee wages
  • Benefits costs
  • Training costs
  • Software licenses
  • Human resources expenditure
  • Administration management

For perspective, most British companies spend on average £1,068 per employee for training alone. Similarly, building an in-house team takes time, especially if extra training is needed.

Advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing.

Outsourcing is considerably cheaper than building an in-house team. As touched upon, building a team of people experienced with LinkedIn lead generation can be costly, especially for start-ups. If cash flow is a challenge, then outsourcing could be a much more affordable option.

LinkedIn can also be difficult to navigate, especially if you are unfamiliar with the platform and inexperienced with lead generation. Many business owners naively think it is simply a case of making a few posts a week, but this could not be further from the truth. If this is your mindset, you are destined to fail. By outsourcing your LinkedIn lead generation efforts to a team of specialists, you also buy a robust lead generation methodology that has been proven to work.

There are, of course, some disadvantages with outsourcing. Outsourcing involves handing over direct control over a business function or process to a third party, something many business owners, understandably, do not like. Whilst this is a valid and perfectly understandable concern, outsourcing can give you more control.

By relying on a professional marketing team, who have experience with LinkedIn lead generation, you have more time to focus on your skillset and the running of your company.

Which one are you going to choose?

Outsource or in-house? It’s an age-old question with no one size fits all answer. Some aspects of business can be done in-house at a reasonable price and without too much institutional knowledge. Others that initially seem simple to in-house can turn into significant pitfalls.

You can build an in-house team from the ground up, but that takes time and money you may not have at your disposal. If cash flow is a problem, and you can’t wait several months to start seeing results from your lead generation efforts, you should consider outsourcing to a LinkedIn lead generation agency.