It’s only a few weeks since Rachel Reeves revealed her first budget for the Labour Party.

Businesses up and down the country were shocked to learn of the impact that the rise in National Insurance could have on their budgets. Not only will the threshold on employee earnings at which NI applies drop from £9,100 to £5,000, but the NI rate will increase from 13.8% to 15%.

We know that many small businesses in Ipswich will be panicking about what this means for them, from April onwards.

They may have had plans to invest in (or expand) internal marketing teams and they may be worried about how they can successfully compete against bigger budgets.

But with a thriving local freelance marketing sector, your business doesn’t need to panic just yet.

What is freelance digital marketing and how does it work?

Often businesses are unaware of how the freelance market works. They may be so used to hiring and recruiting internal staff, that it doesn’t occur to them that they could simply outsource the work that they need doing.

When you hire a skilled content marketing freelancer (like Amy), you’re simply contracting the work to someone with the exact skills and expertise that you’re looking for.

It can be used flexibly to provide additional resource to your internal teams, or it can be used to act as your external team, freeing your time up to focus on other areas of your business.

One of the reasons why we love working within the freelance digital marketing community is because it allows us to get involved with different clients across different sectors. We may be providing copywriting services to one client, acting as a media relations agency to another, or providing report writing expertise to someone else.

The business benefits of freelance marketing support

Here at Gatekeeper Communications, we love working with small businesses like you. We want to collaborate with you and help you discover how you can successfully build your brand profile. We’ll be with you as your external partner as you grow your business.

We understand that you’ve got other tasks to focus on, and marketing may not be seen as your number one priority. But if you’ve got a few ideas rattling around in your head and you’re keen to see how you can reach new customers, our external marketing services could be exactly what you’re looking for.

Did you know that there are many business benefits of investing in freelance marketing in the UK?

Freelance contractors are self-employed, so you won’t need to pay any tax or national insurance

Right here is the doozy of all reasons why you should hire a freelance copywriter or PR agency rather than recruiting in-house.

Freelance PRs and copywriters are self-employed.

This means that you pay for the output of what you receive, rather than the person themselves.

It’s far more affordable because you’re not having to pay for national insurance contributions, pension contributions, holiday or sick pay, or any of the other associated costs that occur from being an employer.

Instead, the freelance contractor will set out agreed fees in advance and establish a contract for you which will confirm where, how and when they work.

With the changes in the budget from next April, we anticipate that the freelance community could see a significant increase in clients searching for external support.

You can work with someone with more experience

You might be tempted to hire a junior marketing executive or invest in a marketing apprenticeship to save recruitment costs. But those costs still incur line management and training and development. Not to mention the technical subscriptions that you may need to invest in – such as MS Office subscriptions, access to Photoshop, photography libraries, SEO tools, media databases, and even data storage costs.

Businesses are often surprised to realise that the digital marketing sector is packed full of highly experienced self-employed marketing professionals. From freelance copywriters and freelance PRs to SEO specialists, PPC gurus, freelance marketing consultants and web developers, you can find an experienced person with the EXACT skills that you’re looking for.

What’s more, your chosen freelance contractor will have access to the tools that they need to work effectively, and those subscriptions are often built into fixed-price retainer agreements.

These cost savings mean that you could benefit from support from someone with years of experience who can hit the ground running.

You can easily outsource an entire marketing team

Freelancers are used to working effectively with other freelance creatives. They can project manage entire campaigns on your behalf or provide ad-hoc work when you need to get something finished quickly.

This is good for you as it means that you can find the specific skills you are looking for and have a team that will work as and when their skills are required.

The even better news for you is that we work with some incredible freelance marketing professionals. We are always looking to make recommendations and share suggestions of the right person for your project.

You can benefit from holiday cover – ideal during seasonal times of the year

A huge benefit of investing in freelance digital marketing support is that they can be there to scale up or down your work as needed.

For example.

You have a big campaign you’re working on. You may need additional support to manage the workload effectively.
Your business is seasonal. Perhaps you’re an eCommerce provider and you need additional support to tackle the busy Black Friday/Christmas shopping season.
You’re searching for holiday cover. Perhaps your in-house marketing team is taking an extended holiday, or you’re trying to balance the annual leave requirements of multiple people. Rather than simply leaving the workload to pile up, why not ask a freelance copywriter or freelance PR to cover the shortfall? You won’t have a dip in activity, and your in-house team will appreciate the efforts to reduce their workload and stress levels.

Freelance marketing support is affordable for small business owners

Freelance costs will vary, as each individual will set their own rates which they will invoice to you.

Typically, freelance PRs will work with clients on a retainer agreement. This can be anything from one to five days per month, with a set price agreed per day / cost per month.

Similarly, freelance copywriters will tend to provide you with a cost per article/blog post/landing page. If you’re searching for a website writer to overhaul your website, your copywriter may provide you with a project rate. This will likely feature an agreed price for a certain number of pages and one round of amends.

Where freelance support becomes beneficial is that if you know what your budget is, you can allocate your resource accordingly. With fixed prices set out upfront, you won’t have any hidden costs and you can remain in control of your budget.

However, please remember that freelance rates will be priced to factor in the following costs:

Salary
Sick pay
Holiday Pay
National insurance contributions
Income tax
Corporation tax (if appropriate)
Insurance
Phone costs
Computer costs
General office costs
Training and development
Subscriptions costs (e.g. Photoshop, media databases, journalist databases, licences etc)
Level of experience

Don’t get left behind – make use of freelance digital marketing support to grow your business

You might still have a few questions about freelance marketing support services.

We get it.

If you’re a small business, then every penny counts. You need to know that any expenditure will directly enhance your business – both reputationally and from a customer acquisition perspective.

At Gatekeeper Communications, we work across the UK, providing freelance content marketing support to businesses across a variety of sectors. From our Ipswich base, we’ve supported businesses as they take their first steps into marketing support. We’ve helped establish their brands and introduced them to new customers.

Map of the UK with pins showing where Gatekeeper Communications work

To find out more about what we can do for you, why not send a LinkedIn connection request or read through more of our articles?

When you’re ready to pick up the phone and book a discovery call, we’ll be ready to answer your questions.