"Marketing without data is like driving with your eyes closed." – Dan Zarrella
Marketing is a critical driver of business success, especially in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. Yet, business leaders often find themselves staring at a tough decision: Should we hire an in-house marketer or partner with a marketing agency?
This question isn’t just about preference—it’s about making a strategic choice that aligns with your business goals. While both options come with their pros and cons, there’s one undeniable truth: The success of your marketing efforts depends on choosing the right resources and starting the right way.
Hiring the right marketer is an investment. So before you decide, make sure your investment can deliver the returns you expect.
Below, we break down the differences, so you can approach this decision with confidence, backed by data and proven insights.
Table of Contents
The Cost Equation for In House vs. Agency Marketing
One of the biggest factors executives consider is cost. But here’s the kicker—money spent doesn’t always equal money well-spent.
Option 1: Hiring an In-House Marketer
Cost of Salary: Hiring an entry-level marketer costs around $60,000 per year.
Hidden Costs: It takes an average of 6 months for a new hire to produce good work and sometimes longer if they are greener. If we are honest, they will be green at a $60k salary. If they don’t work out, replacing them costs up to 150% of their salary—around $90,000 in turnover costs, in addition to the resources spent to hire and train them.
Training Time: Additional resources (and time) are required to train someone and align them with your business operations.
Option 2: Partnering with a Marketing Agency
Transparency with Workloads: Agencies like ours only charge for the work delivered. You’re not overpaying for downtime or paying out employee benefits. Simply put, we do not use retainers because they lack transparency and accountability.
Quicker ROI: A good agency starts producing measurable results within 3–6 months, easily outpacing the ramp-up period for most in-house hires. For example, we deliver a complete, bespoke Strategy & Playbook for your marketing within the first 2 months of working with us. If you choose to have us implement that strategy, we start at the beginning of month 3.
Expertise at a Fraction of the Cost: Instead of investing over $60k in a gamble on a single hire, you gain access to an entire team of experienced experts who require no learning curve.
Reality Check: A single misstep in hiring can cost you over $100,000 in one year alone. Can your business afford this risk?
Expertise and Productivity for an Agency vs. In House Marketers
Not all marketers or agencies are created equal. That’s why understanding your exact needs is critical.
The Depth of Expertise Matters
Agencies that specialize in strategy (like ours) excel at creating marketing specifically for your target audience, that finds the white space opportunity within your industry, and provides a full ecosystem recommendation. We relentlessly align all your marketing to business goals. Whether you want us to build your entire marketing strategy, or just focus on your content strategy, we know that all marketing must be efficient, effective, and sustainable.
With marketing professionals who’ve crafted and implemented hundreds of successful strategies for brands across all industries, you gain specialized knowledge that’s nearly impossible to replicate with a single hire.
Meanwhile, you may find that an in-house marketer brings niche insights into your specific industry or audience. Their internal alignment with your goals and processes can make them better collaborators—once they’re properly trained and equipped with the strategy.
Time to Results
An in-house hire could take 6 months of onboarding, training, and trial-and-error to begin generating value.
Agencies typically need 1–2 months to onboard and deliver impactful work, followed by measurable results in 3–6 months.
The Business of Marketing requires 2 weeks of onboarding followed by only 2 months to create a Marketing and Content Strategy + Playbook that will deliver.
Which sounds like a better investment for your business?
Tools and Resources
Agencies are equipped with advanced tools and relationships for website builds, SEO, social media management, content creation, advertising, analytics, and more—without you needing to foot the bill for subscriptions or trainings. Hiring in-house often means purchasing and learning these tools independently, adding another layer of cost and complexity.
The Hybrid Solution You’re Not Considering
Here’s a thought—why not have the best of both worlds?
For businesses on the fence, starting with an agency to define your strategy is often the smartest move. An agency can identify what’s working, what’s not, and craft the most effective and efficient foundational plans to drive your marketing success.
Once strategy is in place, the agency can seamlessly help you transition into hiring an in-house marketer for execution. This way, you avoid costly mistakes like unclear roles and misguided investments. You don’t just hire someone; you hire smart.
This approach also addresses ROI concerns—start with guaranteed results, then build internal capacity for long-term growth.
Pro Tip: Did you know 100% of business owners say ROI is a priority for marketing, but only 20% know how to hire the right marketers? Solve this disconnect by strategizing before you hire.
The Business of Marketing is a firm that supports our clients with all these choices. We will help you create job descriptions, find the right hire, and train them quickly on the strategies we've built. We do what's best for our clients 100% of the time.
Key Comparisons at a Glance
Metric | Hiring The Business of Marketing | Hiring any Other Agency | Hiring In-House |
Cost | Transparent pricing, pay for work delivered | Required Retainer Fees | Salary + onboarding + training costs |
Ramp-Up Time | Onboarding 2 weeks, results start within 1-2 months, measurable goals within 3-6 months | 1-2 months of onboarding, work starts 2-3 months, Measurable goals in 4–9 months | ~6 months is the earliest to see value |
Expertise | Access to a team of specialists who prioritize individual client needs | Access to a team of specialists | Limited to one person’s knowledge |
Risk | Flexibility to pause or shift strategies | Flexibility entirely depends on the structure of the retainer | High ($100k+ in lost opportunities if wrong) |
Tools Included | State-of-the-art, used by industry pros at no extra cost | State-of-the-art, used by industry pros at no extra cost - but always ask! | Must be purchased and learned independently |
What about Hiring Freelance Marketers?
Freelance marketers often provide a cost-effective solution for businesses looking to manage specific tasks or projects. Their flexibility allows targeted work with fewer overhead expenses. Freelancers can also provide highly specialized skills, and their one-on-one collaboration creates an opportunity for personalized attention and faster communication. However, relying solely on freelancers can pose challenges, such as limited scalability and potential gaps in availability, particularly during busy periods or when managing larger campaigns.
On the other hand, marketing agencies bring a wealth of resources and a team of diverse talents under one roof. Agencies excel in managing complex, multi-channel campaigns that require vast expertise and strategic planning. While they often come with higher costs due to organizational overhead and service packages, their infrastructure ensures consistent delivery and the ability to meet tight deadlines. Additionally, agencies often provide valuable insights based on industry trends and comprehensive data analytics, offering a broader perspective on growth opportunities.
We've created a solution that combines the best of freelance marketers with the best of marketing agencies in The Business of Marketing. Our job is to save our clients time and money. So, we created a system that gives you the best of both worlds.
Evaluating what aligns with your company's priorities will help ensure your marketing efforts are both cost-efficient and impactful.
The Right First Step for Marketing Team Hires
One thing is clear—every marketing hire, whether internal or external, hinges on having the right strategy as its foundation. A misstep at this stage can create long-term problems that reverberate across your business goals.
At The Business of Marketing, we specialize in helping businesses like yours take this critical first step. Our proven strategies are tailored to deliver ROI and ensure you make smarter hiring or partnership decisions.
Schedule a Free Marketing Strategy Call today and gain clarity about your next move. Whether you decide to work with us short-term or long-term, we guarantee you will start on the right track.
Every business deserves marketing that drives action and results.
Start yours with strategy.
Your ROI starts now. Click here to speak with an expert.
Questions to Ask a Marketing Agency Before You Partner, or Questions to Ask Your Current Marketing Company
To ensure you make the best choice, start by asking the right questions. The answers will help you gauge their expertise, alignment with your goals, and ability to deliver measurable results.
Here are some essential questions to ask a marketing agency or marketing company before moving forward:
Do you believe specialization is important? Why or why not? How does that experience benefit our goals?
Understanding their expertise ensures they're familiar with your landscape and can create customized strategies. As a caution, do not fall prey to the trap of needing an industry specialist! Sometimes that is essential for execution, but be careful not to let biases overrun your strategy.
How do you measure success, and what benchmarks will you use to track progress?
This question sets the foundation for transparency and accountability with clear ROI- oriented deliverables. You are looking to understand if they know how to align marketing to your business goals.
Can you provide case studies, testimonials, or examples of your work?
Their track record offers insight into their ability to replicate success. But be wary of an agency that only gives you examples within your industry. If you have growth goals, doing what everyone else is doing in your industry is not always the best path to success. Think strategically here.
What does your team structure look like, and who will be directly involved with our account?
Knowing who will manage your campaigns ensures you're in skilled hands with a dedicated team.
What kind of reporting and communication should we expect during the partnership?
Frequent, detailed updates are critical to evaluating performance and making informed decisions.
By addressing these questions with a potential marketing company, you position your business for a smart, strategic investment. At The Business of Marketing, we're confident in helping you get all the answers you need.
Get the clarity you deserve by scheduling your Free Marketing Strategy Call today or Apply to Work with Us if you know you're ready to start.
Let's ensure your next partnership is built to deliver results.
Determine if you need an In-house vs. an Agency
You deserve to stop spinning your wheels.
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