Hire a startup marketing agency or out-source? Many people are torn between the two options. That’s not unusual, since the term “startup marketing” itself has both its pros and its cons. The pros of hiring an agency to handle your marketing for your business are plentiful.

You’ll likely be hiring four or five staff members to work on your marketing. That means that each team member brings something different to the table, meaning he or she can better serve your business. Also, if you’re hiring staff from a well-known company, they may already be familiar with the processes and ways of doing business that your company goes through. This means you won’t have to learn a new system when your employees begin working for you. If you do decide to outsource to an agency though, here are some tips to consider:

Hire an experienced agency. The pros of in-house staff include knowing the ins and outs of the startup world. Because many agencies are also digital agencies (they focus on online marketing as well as traditional offline marketing), they’ve often handled projects before that were more complex than yours. But don’t discount an experienced digital specialist, just because he’s on the inside. Consider hiring someone with experience working with small and medium businesses as well.

Look for an inbound marketing partner. Just as it’s important to find a digital specialist when you hire a startup marketing in-house staff, it’s important to find an inbound marketing partner when you outsource to an agency. There are many talented and savvy agencies out there. But make sure you pick one that focuses on internet marketing . Your goal is to create traffic to your website and increase sales conversions not lose conversion stats.

Work closely with the agency. When you hire an inbound marketing agency, be sure to work closely with the staff assigned to you. This will allow you to ask questions and understand their processes and offerings. Be wary of agencies that send representatives to your events and do everything else for you; the startup world is fast moving and if you don’t communicate with the agency, it could take your business’s sales and brand development efforts away from what you really want to concentrate on.

Outsource to agencies vs. hired staff. While some startups might think hiring an agency is more expensive and less effective than outsourcing to freelancers, this isn’t necessarily true. Agencies tend to be much more adept at finding unique niches for which to focus on when compared to freelance designers. Additionally agencies have established relationships with other businesses, thus saving you time and money on travel and communication costs. Additionally, full-time employees are often underused in the startup marketing agency industry, which means you’ll likely find freelancers more cost-effective, since agencies won’t be paying their full-time salaries.

Look at branding. In most cases, agencies will already have a brand strategy or a template they use for all of their business projects. This allows you to jump into their plan with them without having to build from scratch. If you have a good relationship with your agency, they may also be willing to help you implement your branding strategy for your business. However, if you’re looking for a totally brand-new marketing agency, consider how much experience they’ve had working with other startups and whether or not they can help you with the creation of a branding strategy for your brand.

The final strategy to consider is tactical execution. Agencies usually only offer strategic execution services in the context of a complete marketing strategy, which requires long and detailed planning. While this can be useful, it takes up a lot of time that most startups need to get their footing. Instead, look for an agency that can offer you short-term consulting services to help you work through kinks in your current strategy before moving on to bigger, more expensive tactics.