About 5.18 billion people worldwide use the internet.

Digital marketing is essential if you want people to know about your company and what you do.

There are several ways you can improve your digital marketing. When doing so, consider hiring digital marketing freelancers as needed to take care of specific tasks. But a better idea is using a managed service provider who can handle all your digital marketing needs and much more.

Both have benefits, so it’s important to compare them so you can make the right choice for your business. In this guide, we’ll review how you can use freelancers or a managed service provider for your digital marketing needs.

What Is a Managed Service Provider?

A managed service provider (MSP) is a company that can take on various tasks to help your business achieve its goals. When it regards digital marketing services, this includes social media marketing, email newsletters, paid ads, and other content marketing strategies.

When outsourcing marketing to a managed service provider, they’ll assign industry professionals to take care of whatever your business needs. They can provide website designers, videographers, ad specialists, and more.

Benefits of a Managed Service Provider

A managed service provider has a team of skilled professionals who can help your business. They have experience working with various industries, so they should have no problem dealing with whatever you need.

Managed service providers use formal contracts and agreements that lay everything out clearly. They also use established protocols and workflows to ensure projects are completed on time.

As your business grows, a service provider can scale your digital and content marketing to meet your needs. This is ideal if you need to start running more projects simultaneously. You can build a long-term relationship, and as a service provider becomes more familiar with your brand, they’ll be able to produce better results.

There are plenty of tools that can help with marketing. Managed service providers use the latest tools available, so you’ll be able to take advantage of these without needing to purchase these tools yourself.

You may not know much about digital marketing, but an MSP has plenty of experience. They can help you establish a strong digital marketing strategy and implement it to achieve your business goals.

What Is a Freelancer?

A freelancer is an individual who works on a per-task or per-job basis. These jobs are often short-term but can be ongoing. They’re not employees, so each contract they take can be different.

You can hire a freelance digital marketer to help with your business. You can discuss with them the specific tasks they’ll do and for how long. Unlike MSP digital marketing, freelancers tend to work alone, but you can take on multiple freelancers if needed.

Benefits of a Freelancer

The main benefit of hiring a freelance digital marketer is that it’s a cost-effective option. This is why smaller businesses often use freelancers; they tend to have smaller budgets.

The experience that freelancers have varies. You should look for someone with plenty of experience, so you’re confident they can handle your needs. But bear in mind that a more experienced freelancer will likely charge more.

Flexibility is another key benefit. You can discuss your needs with them beforehand and hire them only to do exactly what you require. Note that you can often do this with a managed service provider too.

The importance of digital marketing can’t be understated, but it’s also a time-consuming task. Small companies often do it in-house, but digital marketing is harder to manage as your business grows. Hiring a freelancer will ensure you have someone who will stay on top of your marketing, and your team will be free to take on other, more crucial tasks.

How to Choose Between a Managed Service Provider and Digital Marketing Freelancers

Both MSPs and freelancers can help with your digital marketing needs. It can be tricky to decide between the two, so there are a few things you can consider to help you decide.

Your Niche

Depending on your industry, you might not be able to find a freelancer with relevant experience. A managed service provider will generally be better at working with a business with an uncommon niche and can assign professionals who can produce the best results.

Proven Performance

You can ask freelancers of MSPs to show you past work they’ve done. This will show you their experience level so you can better understand how suitable they’ll be.

Recommendations

You should always look into reviews and testimonials. This is the best way to determine if a freelancer or MSP is good to work with. You can see a range of customer testimonials for Tempesta Media on our website, alongside various case studies.

Should You Go With an MSP or a Digital Marketing Freelancer?

Ultimately, you should decide based on your company’s needs and resources. Digital marketing freelancers are often more suitable for new businesses just getting off the ground. However, an MSP will often provide the best results if you have the budget.

At Tempesta Media, we can look at your business and your goals to help determine the exact services you need. Look at our Bullseye Effect content marketing solution page to learn more about our services.