When it comes to starting a new AdTech or MarTech development project, or even building new features for your existing platforms, you’ll need to consider more than just what programming languages, frameworks, and infrastructure you’ll use.
One of the important decisions you’ll make will be selecting the right development resources.
For most companies, one of the first choices is to hire new in-house developers. This option is often seen as the safest as it typically provides more accountability.
However, there are also many disadvantages, such as a lack of knowledge and experience with building AdTech and MarTech platforms (which can be very costly), and the costs and time associated with hiring new in-house developers.
But what’s the true cost of hiring in-house developers? And how long is the recruitment, onboarding, and training process?
We’ve research these areas and compiled our finding in the infographic below:
Click here to view the infographic in a new tab or click on the infographic to enlarge it.
The True Cost of Hiring AdTech & MarTech Developers
How much does it really cost to hire developers for your AdTech or MarTech project?
Whether you want to build a new AdTech or MarTech platform or expand your existing product, one thing is certain: You will need to increase your development resources.
The main challenges with expanding your technical resources for your AdTech/MarTech development project
- Keeping down costs associated with hiring new developers.
- Finding experienced developers with the required skills and knowledge of AdTech and MarTech.
- Ensuring new projects start on time and aren’t interrupted by onboarding, vacations, sick leave, or AdTech/MarTech training.
The 2 main options tech companies have when they need to increase their development resources
- Recruit in-house developers.
- Team up with an AdTech & MarTech development partner.
Q: What is an AdTech & MarTech development partner?
A: A software development company that specializes in designing and developing advertising and marketing technologies. Unlike generic outsourcing or body-leasing companies, an AdTech & MarTech development partner has the domain expertise and experience needed to build platforms that meet your business and technical requirements.
Summary
It typically costs $65–$86 per hour to employ an in-house developer and takes about 3-6 months to start a project.
It typically costs $65–$100 per hour to partner with a specialized AdTech & MarTech development partner and takes less than a month to start a project.
Developer salaries
Base yearly salaries for experienced software engineers with 5-10 years of experience
New York, USA: $115,787
London, UK: £55,612
Berlin, Germany: €58,125
Paris, France: €48,605
Base yearly salaries for senior software engineers with 10+ years of experience
New York, USA: $143,852
London, UK: £68,855
Berlin, Germany: €66,748
Paris, France: €60,036
How much does it cost to hire developers?
A software engineer’s true salary is 18% to 50% higher than their base salary.
Expenses that add to the total cost of hiring a developer:
The USA
Recruitment: Recruiting through an agency adds 18% to 25% on top of the developer’s salary. Advertising a job position online costs $199 to $495 per month.
Employee-related taxes: 10%
Retirement contributions: 3% to 6%
Office equipment, perks, company integrations etc: 2% to 15%
The UK
Recruitment: Recruiting through an agency adds 18% to 25% on top of the developer’s salary. Advertising a job position online costs £160 to £400 per month.
Employee-related taxes: 13.8%
Retirement contributions: 3%
Office equipment, perks, company integrations etc: 1% to 8.2%
Germany
Recruitment: Recruiting through an agency adds 18% to 25% on top of the developer’s salary. Advertising a job position online costs €180 to €450 per month.
Employee-related taxes: 9.3%
Retirement contributions: 3% to 9.75%
Office equipment, perks, company integrations etc: 1% to 8.2%
France
Recruitment: Recruiting through an agency adds 18% to 25% on top of the developer’s salary. Advertising a job position online costs €180 to €450 per month.
Employee-related taxes: 4.8% to 25.6%
Retirement contributions: 10.45% to 17%
Office equipment, perks, company integrations etc: 1% to 8.2%
The true cost of hiring AdTech/MarTech developers
A software engineer’s true salary is 18% to 50% higher than their base salary.
The total cost of hiring an experienced software engineer with 5-10 years of experience
The USA
Base salary: $115,787 per year
True yearly salary: $136,628 to $144,733
If you use a recruitment agency, the true cost increases to $163,953 to $173,679.
The UK
Base salary: £55,612 per year
True yearly salary: £65,622 to £69,515
If you use a recruitment agency, the true cost increases to £78,746 to £83,418.
Germany
Base salary: €58,125 per year
True yearly salary: €68,587 to €72,656
If you use a recruitment agency, the true cost increases to €82,304 to €87,187.
France
Base salary: €48,605 per year
True yearly salary: €57,353 to €60,756
If you use a recruitment agency, the true cost increases to €68,823 to €72,907.
The total cost of hiring a senior software engineer with 10+ years of experience
The USA
Base salary: $143,852 per year
True yearly salary: $169,745 to $179,815
If you use a recruitment agency, the true cost increases to $203,694 to $215,778.
The UK
Base salary: £68,855 per year
True yearly salary: £81,248 to £86,068
If you use a recruitment agency, the true cost increases to £97,497 to £103,281.
Germany
Base salary: €66,748 per year
True yearly salary: €78,762 to €83,435
If you use a recruitment agency, the true cost increases to €94,514 to €100,122.
France
Base salary: €60,036 per year
True yearly salary: €70,842 to €75,045
If you use a recruitment agency, the true cost increases to €85,010 to €90,054.
Time-consuming activities involved in recruiting in-house developers
1–2 hours: Time spent reviewing CVs each day.
1–6 months: Time spent finding developers with the required skills and experience.
3–8 hours: Hours spent interviewing each candidate.
2–4 weeks: The time it takes to complete this stage of the recruitment process.
3–10 hours: Hours spent reviewing the coding challenges and tasks per candidate.
2–4 weeks: The time it takes to complete this stage of the recruitment process.
1–3 months: Once you’ve found a successful candidate, it can then take another 1–3 months for them to actually start, depending on their notice period at their current employer.
Lost productivity and costs with in-house developers
20 days: The number of vacation days per year.
10 days: The number of sick days per year.
1 to 6 months: The time it takes to onboard and train a new developer.
How quickly can your AdTech or MarTech development project begin?
Building advertising and marketing technology is not like other areas of software development.
To build high-performance platforms, developers need to understand the inner workings of the digital advertising and marketing ecosystems.
If they don’t know why it’s important for a DSP to respond to a bid request within 250ms or what VAST stands for, then your project is already behind the 8 ball.
Training new developers about AdTech and MarTech can take months, resulting in lost productivity, costs, and delays in starting the project. Also, training developers about AdTech & MarTech while working on the project can lead to them making costly mistakes and result in a product that’s unfinished or doesn’t work.
The benefits of teaming up with an AdTech & MarTech development partner like Clearcode
1. Domain knowledge and experience
We’ve been designing and building AdTech & MarTech platforms since 2009.
Our development teams have worked on all types of AdTech & MarTech platforms, including RTB, data management, analytics, and reporting tools.
2. Flexibility
Our engagement can last anywhere from a few months to a few years.
This flexibility means that you won’t be stuck paying full-time developer wages when you’re testing your new product with users.
3. Immediate start
We usually have a team that can start immediately. If not, then we can assemble a new team for you.
We can also ensure project continuity by adding new developers to your project to cover for vacations and sick leave.
4. Easy payment terms
We bill hourly and don’t bill you for holidays, vacations, sick leave, or company events. You only pay for the hours we work.
We’ll set up an account for you in our Jira so you can view all the billable hours for your project whenever you like and view the status of the tasks in the sprints.
