More and more, companies are looking to partner with marketing agencies that can not only plan and run a campaign for them, but also create a website or app to accompany it.

To meet this demand, marketing firms have several options: hire in-house developers, work with freelancers or partner with a development firm. Below, we'll discuss seven reasons why working with a development company is a smart choice for so many marketing agencies.

Our free guide covers everything you marketing agency needs to know about choosing the right development solution for you.

1. Increased Capacity

If you already have enough on your plate, then partnering with a development firm lets you take on more projects and serve more clients, yet still with the same amount of internal resources. You have an entire team at your disposal, rather than a single freelancer who may not always be available.

When you use a development firm, you can also scale your level of activity up and down as needed. This helps you stay profitable by saving money that you would otherwise spend on a full-time employee's salary and benefits.

2. Experienced Development Team

The members of a development team have already been vetted for their knowledge, experience and skill set. Through the wisdom of the crowd, these team members can suggest solutions that a single developer might not think of, or might not be able to complete on their own.

Development teams are also usually a wiser choice in terms of project management. Most large, mature firms have a dedicated project manager that serves as a liaison between you and the development team. This absolves you of the need to directly manage and oversee the development process — you can be reassured that the project is in good hands.

Project managers are an advantage in another respect as well: translating between the two worlds of marketing and programming. Although both sides may not speak each other's language, the project manager can help them come to an understanding about what each side considers to be a success, and what each needs to be successful.

3. Focus on Marketing and Strategy

Because you don't need to micromanage in-house talent or freelancers, working with a development firm gives you more time to focus on marketing and strategic opportunities for your clients and your brand as a whole.

If something breaks or crashes, you don't need to stop everything that you're doing to go fix it. Instead, you're confident that your choice of partner will handle it — or even identify it before it becomes an actual problem.

4. Lower Overhead Cost

Because you don't have to pay the costs of hiring, training, salaries and benefits, development firms are usually cheaper than full-time employees in the long run. In return, you get a team of expert developers who have the advanced skill sets that you need for your projects.

Firms typically charge per project rather than per hour, while the opposite is true for freelancers. Pricing is usually much more predictable with a development firm. You don't know how many hours freelancers will take to finish the job, and they could bill you for the research that they need to do before starting the development work.

By saving money with a development firm, you can dedicate more of your budget to growing your own agency's brand.

5. Less Risk to Your Reputation

Working with freelancers has its upsides, but it's also a greater risk. Finding a new freelancer is risky because you haven't worked with them before, and there's also the risk that they'll disappear halfway through the project or be unable to complete part of the job. Meanwhile, you'll be left holding the bag while your clients wonder why the project hasn't been completed on time.

Using an experienced development team is much less of a risk to your company:

• Your partner wants to keep receiving your business (they have their own reputation to uphold, after all) so they feel the pressure to do a good job.
• The team members have experience in the technologies that you need, so they're more likely to know how to solve your problems.
• Because you sign a contract with your partner, there's much less of a chance that they'll miss a deadline.

6. Faster Turnaround Time

Working with a development company, in general, is faster than working with a freelancer. There are more people working on the project, and they're able to start work on it right away because it's their full-time job to do so.

In addition, as mentioned above, development firms have less risk of encountering roadblocks or making critical mistakes during the development process.

7. Clear Definition of Services

Partnering with a development firm means that you're able to offer your clients everything that they offer you. This gives you a better idea of the skill set that you can use to attract new clients.

Instead of saying "we can do app development," your firm can start saying "we do app development." Having this proven method of creating digital projects for your clients is a huge win for agencies that want to break into the development game.

Conclusion

For most marketing agencies, partnering with a development firm just makes sense. They're usually easier, less risky and more reliable to work with. What's more, both you and your partner have an incentive to do a good job and continue the partnership.