Not having an in-house team doesn't mean you have to improvise. The real question is who sets the strategy, who spots what actually deserves to be communicated, and who makes sure it gets done.
Plenty of companies grow faster than their marketing structure. Leadership, HR, sales or operations each end up owning a small piece of communication, while the website, LinkedIn, content, brand and campaigns all move forward without a shared direction.
That doesn't automatically mean you need to build a full department.
First you need to be clear about which function you're trying to cover.
When there's no clear marketing or communication function, the work gets spread across whoever has some time — or some judgment — at that moment.
Missing content is usually the symptom. Missing direction is usually the problem.
There's activity, but not necessarily a system. And producing content without someone setting priorities creates pieces that are fine on their own yet never add up to a coherent picture of the company.
This isn't a lack of professionalism. It's what happens when a business grows faster than its communication structure.
When several of these show up at once, what's missing usually isn't a tool. It's a function.
There are at least five reasonable ways to cover this function. Each one fits a different moment in a company's life, and none of them is better than the others in the abstract.
When volume is low, someone with judgment has genuine time for it, and communication isn't a strategic priority yet.
Marketing stays a secondary task and loses continuity exactly when the business starts to need it.
When there's enough recurring work to keep a person busy and the company wants to build the knowledge internally.
A junior hire and a marketing director solve different problems: one executes well inside a defined framework, the other defines that framework. Worth deciding which problem you're hiring for before opening the role.
When marketing is already a critical function and there are multiple business lines, campaigns, markets or ongoing needs that justify a structure of its own.
It takes sustained investment, processes, tools and genuinely different profiles: strategy, content, production, data and coordination are not the same capability.
When someone internally is already able to brief and lead them. Photography, video, paid media, web, design and social all work well when the brief is clear.
Specialists can execute their part very well, but someone has to connect the pieces and decide what gets produced, to what end, and in what order.
When there's no internal department yet, the company needs to start reasonably fast, strategy has to be defined and delivered, leadership wants to validate the model before building a team, HR and sales both need support, or there are internal stories and capabilities that simply aren't becoming communication.
It's one option among several, not a universal answer. It works when a company wants judgment and production in the same conversation; it fits less well when internal direction is already clear and only production capacity is missing.
A quick read to place your own situation. It isn't a ranking — it's a way to see what each model covers and what you'd still be missing.
Swipe to see the full table
| Model | Strategic direction | Execution | Time to get going | Internal structure needed | When it tends to make sense |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Informal internal setup | Split across several people | Ad hoc, driven by urgency | Immediate | None beyond what exists | Low volume and communication not yet strategic |
| In-house hire | Depends on the seniority hired | In-house, with external support | Medium (search + onboarding) | Someone to lead and support the role | Steady recurring work and a wish to build knowledge internally |
| Own department | Internal and complete | Internal and continuous | Slow | Processes, tools and several profiles | Marketing already critical, across lines or markets |
| Specialist suppliers | The company has to provide it | Strong within each speciality | Fast, project by project | One person to brief and coordinate | Clear internal direction and a need for capacity |
| External direction + execution | External, with its own judgment | External and continuous | Fast | One contact with access to the business | No internal function, and decisions and output are both needed |
A company can commission two, four or twenty pieces of content a month. Production isn't the bottleneck any more.
The bottleneck appears when no one is defining:
Creating content and directing communication are two different jobs.
Without those decisions made, the supplier ends up waiting for instructions — or making strategic calls that were never part of the engagement.
Where internal direction is already clear, commissioning production alone can be a very efficient answer. Where it isn't, it usually makes more sense to combine strategy and execution in the same engagement.
Nacho Barrio Studio works between strategy, creative direction and production. That's what makes it possible to go beyond recommendations.
Depending on the project, the work can combine
The tool depends on the problem. The goal isn't to sell every service — it's to decide which ones the company actually needs.
Find and organise the value that already exists inside the company: people, knowledge, experience, processes, culture, technology, product, decisions and stories.
Turn that value into visible, consistent communication: messages, photography, video, content, LinkedIn, the website, campaigns or whichever formats are relevant.
Sustain that presence so clients, candidates, partners and other audiences understand who the company is and why they should consider it.
Value → Recognition → Trust.
The VRC Programme™ doesn't start by asking “what should we post?”. It starts by asking “what already exists inside this company that nobody can see from the outside?”
In industrial, logistics, technology, professional-services and B2B companies especially, growth usually happens inside first:
But the external presence can still look like the company of five years ago.
That can affect:
Sometimes you don't need to invent a new brand. You need to make the existing company visible.
Build a perception that matches the business.
Help clients and prospects understand capabilities, experience and differentiators — before and after they speak to someone in sales.
Show the people, culture, projects and day-to-day reality so candidates can understand why they'd work here.
A good communication strategy can serve all three without turning every need into an isolated project.
Understand the business, audiences, objectives, current structure and points of friction.
Decide what the company should communicate — and what isn't a priority yet.
Build the messages, pillars, calendar, ownership and channels.
Photography, video, copy, content, interviews, campaigns or whichever tools the work calls for.
Review what's working, what needs to change and what's worth scaling.
In some companies this model stays in place as an external structure. In others it serves to build and validate the function before bringing a team in-house later on.
Before hiring an agency, bringing someone in-house or producing more content, I can review how your company is currently perceived and pinpoint where the main opportunities are.
Content & Communication Checkup — €59
Usually delivered within 48–72 working hours.
If we go on to work together, the full €59 is deducted from the first project or monthly retainer.
No. It depends on size, complexity, objectives and workload. Some companies work well with one internal person; others need a full team; and others can outsource part of the direction and the execution.
An agency usually brings execution capabilities. An external marketing director takes on more responsibility for priorities, strategy and coordination. Some models — Nacho Barrio Studio's among them — combine direction and execution depending on scope.
Certain functions can, although it's always advisable to have an internal counterpart with access to information, teams and business decisions. How far you outsource depends on the company.
If the company is already clear on its strategy, audiences and messages, commissioning recurring production alone can make a lot of sense.
That's usually a sign that a layer of strategy and direction is needed before producing anything.
Someone who takes on part of the strategic responsibilities of a marketing lead without necessarily joining the payroll full time. Scope can include diagnosis, positioning, planning, coordination, campaigns, content and measurement.
Not necessarily. It can act as an external structure, complement an existing team, or help build the system until it makes sense to bring part of the function in-house.
Nacho Barrio Studio is based in Barcelona and works both on site and remotely, depending on the project and what it needs.
