When a company starts to grow, marketing is no longer something that can be done "when there is time."

Social networks, advertising, SEO, web, content, branding, campaigns, email marketing... and, with them, an increasingly important question are coming:

Do I need to hire a marketing agency or create my own department?

There is a third option that makes increasing sense to SMEs: to have a external marketing department.

An external marketing department allows a specialized team to work strategically for the company, without having to build the entire structure internally.

And precisely about this idea is born Serene.

What is an external marketing department?

An external marketing department is a specialized team that works for a company from outside its internal structure.

The company does not have to hire every professional it needs, but can access different profiles, knowledge and marketing services coordinated under the same strategy.

The difference over hiring a traditional agency is in the way we work.

An agency usually sells specific services.

An external marketing department seeks to become the team responsible for directing and running the company's marketing.

That is:

You don't just hire social networks.

You don't just hire SEO.

You don't just hire advertising.

You hire a marketing structure that can work all these areas in a coordinated way.

The problem of traditional marketing agencies

The traditional model of marketing agency usually works through services.

A company needs Instagram and contracts social networks.

He then finds that he needs publicity and adds campaigns.

He later needs SEO and contracts another service.

Then he needs a web.

And maybe also branding, photography, email marketing or strategy.

The problem appears when each service functions as a separate piece.

You can end up having different suppliers for different areas:

• Social media agency.
• SEO specialist.
• Advertising agency.
• Designer.
• Web developer.
• Photograph.
• Marketing consultant.
• Communication agency.

And then there's a fundamental question:

Who coordinates all the marketing?

An external marketing department part of this need.

Instead of having different providers disconnected, there is a team that understands the business and coordinates the different actions under the same direction.

Why not create an internal marketing department?

The natural alternative to hiring an agency is to create a marketing department within the company.

And for certain companies it may be the best option.

But creating a full team requires hiring different profiles.

For example:

• Director or marketing officer.
• Strategy.
• Designer.
• Community Manager.
• SEO specialist.
• SEM specialist.
• Copywriter.
• Web developer.
• Analyst.
• Communication specialist.

The cost is not limited to wages.

It is also necessary to take into account recruitment, social security, tools, equipment, holidays, casualties, training and management of the team itself.

For a large company it can be a completely reasonable investment.

For many SMEs, however, creating a complete marketing department from scratch means taking on too large a structure.

This is where the external marketing department becomes an interesting alternative.

Department of external marketing vs. traditional agency

Although similar concepts may seem, there is an important difference.

A traditional agency can work for projects or services.

An external marketing department works around the needs and objectives of the company.

For example, imagine that a clinic wants to increase its patients.

An agency could offer you:

"Instagram management + Meta Ads campaigns."

An external marketing department Another question should be asked:

"What do we need to do to get more patients?"

Perhaps the answer will include:

• Strategy.
• Repositioning of brand.
• New website.
• Local SEO.
• Google Ads.
• Meta Ads.
• Content.
• Social media.
• Automation.
• Email marketing.
• Analytic.

The difference is that the actions are decided on the basis of the objective, not the service catalogue.

What are the advantages of an external marketing department?

To have a external marketing department combines some of the main advantages of an internal team with the flexibility to work with an external supplier.

1. You have a multidisciplinary team.

You don't need to hire a different person for every specialty.

An external marketing department can collect strategy, creativity, design, advertising, SEO, content, development and communication profiles.

2. You don't need to create the whole structure internally.

The company can access a specialized team without having to hire it directly.

This reduces the complexity and risk associated with creating a department from scratch.

3. There is a common strategy

The objective of a external marketing department should not be producing content to be produced.

Each action must respond to one strategy.

Advertising must be connected to the value proposal.

The web must be connected to the conversion.

The content must be connected to the positioning.

The SEO must be connected to business opportunities.

4. A single team coordinates marketing

Instead of managing multiple suppliers, the company works with a centralized team.

This facilitates communication and allows to maintain a global vision.

5. Increased flexibility

The needs of a company change.

You may need more investment in advertising during a certain stage, develop a new website, launch a campaign or strengthen your content strategy.

An external marketing department it can adapt its resources to these needs.

6. Reduced fixed structure

One of the great advantages is to avoid the cost and complexity of building a complete internal department.

The company can access specialized talent without assuming the entire structure associated with a marketing template.

What services can an external marketing department include?

There is no single model.

Each company needs a different combination.

An external marketing department can take care of areas such as:

• Marketing strategy.
• Branding.
• Graphical design.
• Social Media.
• Content creation.
• SEO.
• SEM.
• Meta Ads.
• Google Ads.
• Web development.
• Email marketing.
• Automation.
• Analytic.
• Communication.
• Public relations.
• Influencer marketing.
• Events.
• Advertising campaigns.

The key is not to use all these services.

The key is to determine which each company really needs.

Serene: an external marketing department for SMEs

Serene is born precisely with this idea.

We don't want to be an agency a company calls every time it needs to hire a service.

We want to work as a external marketing department.

The company maintains its structure and we provide the marketing equipment.

In this way, a pyme can have access to strategy, creativity, advertising, content, design, SEO, web and other areas without having to hire all the necessary professionals individually.

The proposal is summarized in a sentence:

Your marketing department, no internal structure.

Who's he thinking about?

An external marketing department can be especially interesting for companies that already have a consolidated business, want to grow and need to professionalize their marketing.

For example:

Independent restaurants

A restaurant may need strategy, social networks, advertising, photography, campaigns and local positioning, but it does not need to hire a full team.

Private clinics

A clinic may need patient recruitment, advertising, SEO, content, branding and a coordinated digital strategy.

E-commerce

An online store may need SEO, advertising, CRO, content, email marketing, design and analytics.

Professional despachos

An office may need positioning, branding, content, SEO and customer recruitment.

Sports centres

A gym or sports center may need recruitment campaigns, social networks, content and commercial strategy.

Personal marks

A professional may need strategy, positioning, content, design and advertising without having to hire an internal team.

In all these cases there is a common point:

The company needs professional marketing, but does not necessarily need to create a full department within its organization.

Is it cheaper than hiring an internal team?

In many cases, one of the main attractions of a external marketing department It is precisely the difference in structure.

To deal with several profiles internally means to assume wages, contributions, tools, equipment, holidays, casualties and other associated costs.

With a external marketing departmentthe company contracts the service of an already structured equipment.

This allows access to different specialities without necessarily assuming the cost of creating this whole structure from scratch.

Of course, the final cost will depend on the needs, scope and level of service of each company.

The point is not just to pay less.

The point is get the right marketing structure for the stage in which the company is located.

You don't need any more suppliers. You need an address.

A company may have a SEO agency, a social media agency and an advertising agency.

You can have designers, freelancers and developers.

And yet, you may not have a really integrated marketing strategy.

An external marketing department changes the perspective.

Instead of asking us:

"What service do you want to hire?"

The question becomes:

"What does your company need to get?"

From there it is decided which actions make sense.

Because marketing should not be built around services.

It should be built around targets.

Agency, internal department or external marketing department

We can summarize the three options in this way:

	Traditional agency	Serene · Department of external marketing	Internal Department
What do you hire?	Specific services	An complete marketing equipment	A team of employees
What includes	What was hired in the budget	Strategy + team + different marketing areas according to plan	Everything your team can cover
Additional services	❌ They're usually extras.	✅ Including by level	✅ Included within the equipment structure
Team	Specialists by service	Multidisciplinary equipment	Internal equipment
Coordination	It may be limited to services contracted	✅ A coordinated strategy and team	✅ Total integration with the company
Cost	€ Lower + extras	€€ Intermediate	€€€ Higher
Recruitment	You don't need to hire staff.	You don't need to hire staff.	❌ You need to hire and manage the equipment.
Structure required	Very low	Very low	❌ High
Risk	Low	Low	🔴 Stop
Flexibility	 High, but each new need can increase the cost	- High	- Depends on the size and capabilities of the equipment
Global vision	- Depends on the agency	🟢 Yeah, it works like an apartment.	- Yes
Main advantage	Price and flexibility	Complete equipment + strategy + flexibility	Total control and integration
Main disadvantage	Every need can become an extra	It requires a greater investment than a single service, but less than two additional services	Cost, management and risk of an own structure
Ideal for	Companies that need specific actions or without a clear strategy	Pymes that need an apartment without creating it internally	Companies with enough volume to maintain their own equipment

The external marketing department seeks to occupy the space between both models.

It has the closeness and strategic vision of an internal department, but it maintains the flexibility to work with an external supplier.

The future of marketing for SMEs

Not all companies need to have ten people working in marketing.

But that doesn't mean they have to settle for making marketing improvised.

The outsourcing allows access to expertise and expertise without having to build the entire structure internally.

And a external marketing department Take this idea one step further:

It's not just about outsourcing tasks.

It's about outsourcing. the marketing structure.

The company has a team.

He's got a strategy.

He has different specialists.

He has an address.

But you don't have to assume all the infrastructure needed to maintain an internal department.

What if your company had a marketing department without hiring it?

This is the question that Serene raises.

Maybe you still don't need to hire a marketing director, a designer, a SEO specialist, a SEM specialist, a community manager, a copywriter and a developer.

But that doesn't mean you don't need everything that team can bring.

An external marketing department may be the solution for companies that want to professionalize their marketing, grow and have a global strategy without taking over the structure of an internal department.

That's Serene.

An external marketing department designed to work as part of your company.

We don't sell loose services.

We built the marketing equipment your company needs.

Find out how Serene works and what includes each service level on our website.

Your marketing department.

No internal structure.