--- title: "In-House Insight vs. Research Agencies: Which is Best?" description: "It's the age old market research debate. Which is better: the insight gleaned from dedicated agencies or in-house research teams? Read the perspective of one researcher here." image: https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/202931-agency-vs-in-house-insight.png --- close ## Ready to level up your insights? Get ready to streamline, scale and supercharge your research. Fill out this form to request a demo of the InsightHub platform and discover the difference insights empowerment can make. A member of our team will reach out within two working days. close ## Cost effective insights that scale Quality insight doesn't need to cost the earth. Our flexible approach helps you make the most of research budgets and build an agile solution that works for you. Fill out this form to request a call back from our team to explore our pricing options. 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[Listen Now](https://resources.flexmr.net/mrx-lab-podcast) - ### Featured Stories - [Specsavers Informs Key Marketing Decisions with InsightHub](https://resources.flexmr.net/specsavers) - [The Coventry Panel Helps Maintain Award Winning CX](https://resources.flexmr.net/coventry-building-society) - [Isagenix Customer Community Steers New Product Launch](https://resources.flexmr.net/isa-insights) - [Curo Engage Residents with InsightHub Community](https://resources.flexmr.net/curo) - [Tech & Trends](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/tech-trends) / - [Research Methods](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/research-methods) / 4 MIN READ ## In-House Insight vs. Research Agencies: Which is Best? #### Chris Martin # [Workshops and Beacons: A Guide to Building Custome...](https://blog.flexmr.net/workshops-beacons-customer-salience) Most organisations are not short of data, insight or decks.Their biggest challenge is not whether cu... [Read more](https://blog.flexmr.net/workshops-beacons-customer-salience) 9 MIN READ #### Ed Hill - [Events (1)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/events) - [Insights Empowerment (38)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/insights-empowerment) - [Practical Application (178)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/practical-application) - [Research Methods (285)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/research-methods) - [Strategic Thinking (232)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/strategic-thinking) - [Survey Templates (7)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/survey-templates) - [Tech & Trends (397)](https://blog.flexmr.net/topic/tech-trends) It’s that age old debate; which approach should you take to ensure maximum insight is gained from your market research project? Do you use an in-house insight team or employ an independent market research agency? Aside from the tangible constraints that influence every business decision e.g. time, budget, etc. the ultimate goal is to ensure the greatest level of insight is drawn from the project. ### Depth vs. Breadth There are advantages and disadvantages to both routes, but I believe it ultimately comes down to breadth vs depth. An in-house insight team has a greater depth of knowledge than an agency can ever hope to have in terms of; brand knowledge (both past and present), company values, goals and future of the company. Insight teams are also likely to know much more about competitors and the potential threats they pose. They are able to draw strategic recommendations from research projects that can be fed back into the company both quickly and effectively. An agency, on the other hand, can offer a breadth of research knowledge far greater than an insight team ever could. They are experts in the field of market research and have access to a wide range of research professionals. Research design is likely to be more comprehensive; drawing on all of the research tools available to the agency. This ensures that research objectives are more effectively met. | ![Tweet from FlexMR](https://www.flexmr.net/images/webpage-images/45-tweet-this-from-flexmr.png) | ***Tweet This*** | | --- | --- | | ["In many regards. in-house teams offer depth of research while agencies offer greater breadth."](http://ctt.ec/kd7u0) | | Whilst their knowledge of any one brand in particular may be limited, they are able to draw on experiences with other industries to offer out of the box ideas and research solutions that may missed by an internal insight team. ### The Impact of Time Time will always play an integral role in the decision. Keeping research in-house is likely to be quicker in terms of both research design and the practicalities of gaining internal buy-in. However, given that an insight team is likely to be limited in size, it may mean they do not have the capacity to spend quality time dedicated interpreting & analysing results. On the flip-side, an agency is likely to slow the research process down considerably (adding more people to the design and buy-in stages). However, they will be working towards a clear deadline upon which insightful findings must be delivered. Additionally, agencies are able to pool the knowledge and resources available to them to ensure that the high level of analysis quality required is adhered to. ### Creating an Objective Environment Another key consideration is that of objectivity. Given all of the internal factors placed on the insight team, it is unlikely that they can remain truly objective. An agency, on the other hand, is able to remain objective throughout. The need for objectivity is driven by the subject matter. Though sometimes it will make little difference to the outcome, other times it is paramount to the success of the project. ### The Role of Respondents In order for any market research study to be truly representative, anonymity is essential. Therefore, how respondents’ identity will be handled is a crucial consideration when choosing how to implement your next research project. | ![Tweet from FlexMR](https://www.flexmr.net/images/webpage-images/45-tweet-this-from-flexmr.png) | ***Tweet This*** | | --- | --- | | ["The role of respondents. and how their identity is handled. is vital to market research success."](http://ctt.ec/B1vj3) | | A research agency, signed up the MRS code of conduct, can provide the reassurance required to participants that their participation will be truly anonymous. Without anonymity researchers can never be 100% sure that the results received are a true reflection of the participant base, especially if they are customers. Again, the importance of this is led by the nature of the project itself, so its relative importance can fluctuate. ### The Ideal Research Project In my mind, the most effective approach is a combination of the two disciplines working together. The insight team would build a comprehensive research brief. In turn, the agency would provide research design that ensures the project will fully meet the research objectives. I would suggest that it should be the agency that conducts the research project, utilising their pool of research specialists to provide a comprehensive and objective presentation of results. It should then be the role of the insight team to take those results and interpret them so that key strategic business decisions can be made. #### About FlexMR We are The Insights Empowerment Company. We help research, product and marketing teams drive informed decisions with efficient, scalable & impactful insight. #### About Chris Martin Chris is an experienced executive and marketing strategist in the insight and technology sectors. He also hosts our MRX Lab podcast. #### Stay up to date ## You might also like... ![Blog Featured Image Header](https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/Marketing_Files/Blogs/Headers/retaining_human_touch_customer_salience_cx_ai.png) ### [Retaining a Human Touch with Custom...](https://blog.flexmr.net/customer-salience-cx-ai) In recent years, companies have embraced artificial intelligence (AI) at pace, swept up in a technological momentum that promises efficiency and cost savings. However, in their rush to pursue quickly ... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/customer-salience-cx-ai) 5 MIN READ ![Blog Featured Image Header](https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/Marketing_Files/Blogs/Headers/casual_conversation_iosetta_santini.png) ### [A Casual Conversation... with Ioset...](https://blog.flexmr.net/casual-conversation-iosetta-santini) Most research projects still currently end with a powerpoint report and a debrief. This has become deeply entrenched as the industry standard, and it is what stakeholders have come to expect when they... [Continue reading](https://blog.flexmr.net/casual-conversation-iosetta-santini) 4 MIN READ ![Blog Featured Image Header](https://blog.flexmr.net/hubfs/Marketing_Files/Blogs/Headers/synthetic_data_richer_market_insights.png) ### [Synthetic Data: The Key to Richer M...](https://blog.flexmr.net/synthetic-data-richer-market-insights) In the dynamic world of market research, the need for robust and accurate data is critical. Whilst the increased prevalence of generative AI has provided a range of benefits to market research process... 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