Difference in working on agency and client side as a marketer

It feels to marketers like a sort of primal trade-off: are you going to work on the agency side or are you going to work on the client side?

There is something to be said for both options. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. In this article, I'll tell you what they are (in my opinion).

Note: This is my view. Not necessarily the truth. And besides, the advantages and disadvantages are often interchangeable. What is an advantage for agency may be a disadvantage for client side.

Benefits of working at an agency

Since, of course, I have a desk of my own, let's start nicely on the desk side and also immediately but with the benefits ...

... because, of course, there are plenty of those!

• You will learn about all kinds of markets and niches
• You work with different specialists within different disciplines
• You can become a specialist or a generalist
• You often have plenty of opportunities for advancement
• You will work within a team with whom you can spar
• You learn to work with different budgets
• You will learn to work with different systems, CMSs and ways of working
• You will learn to work with juniors, mediors and seniors
• Should you not like a market/client, you can easily switch (at least, with us)
• At an agency, you generally learn faster

Disadvantages of working at an agency

But in addition to the advantages, there are, of course, disadvantages to working at an agency. And they are these:

• You work with many clients. So you often have to switch projects and consider many different agreements, interests, etc.
• Every customer should be equally important. No matter how big or small the budget.
• Declarable hours are important and so is tracking hours
• On the agency side, it's more often running and flying than on the client side. You work for multiple clients, so there are generally more deadlines and things to consider.

Benefits of working on the client side

Now that we've had "my" side, let's move on to the client side.

• You can focus well on 1 company and can get to know the company inside and out.
• You can really go in depth within the various online marketing disciplines. You have the time and space for that.
• You have fast and short lines of communication with your client
• You get a lot more exposure to what's going on inside the company. You're literally on location.

Disadvantages of working on the client side

And finally, we continue with the disadvantages of working on the client side.

• If you are the only marketer, you have no one to spar with
• It is difficult to be constantly up to date with all the latest developments
• You can't see into the kitchens of multiple companies. Say you've been negatively affected by a Google update, you don't immediately know if it's because of you or if multiple people have the problem
• You must have a real connection to the product or market the company is in
• On the customer side, you need to gain support for your ideas more often because many colleagues (or your supervisors) don't understand exactly what you're doing

Now you may be thinking: which of the two is better? I can't answer that question for you, you have to do that yourself. But I hope with these pros and cons you can answer it just a little better for yourself.