Comparing In-House Marketing vs. Hiring an Agency

Your business is growing, and now it’s time to double down on marketing. You have something that your customers absolutely love, and you know that if your product or service were better known, so many more consumers would become YOUR loyal customers. But how do you grow without taking out a giant loan, using your home as collateral, or selling a kidney?

Well-intentioned friends who have never owned a business will tell you in confidence, “You need to invest in marketing”, and DUH, you know that. But how do you start? And what type of marketing is best? And what if you invest and it doesn’t work out? Who will pay that bill?

Not to worry, there are two paths forward, and both have perks. First, bring it in-house. Yes, this is a great way to save money. No agency fees; you will have complete control over your message, and it seems like the next right thing to do.

Here are three questions you need to ask yourself:

“Am I capable of leading and guiding whoever I bring in?”

When you hire anyone, you need to be completely able to lead them, articulate what you want them to do, and give clear directions. Do you know enough about marketing to tell them what they need to do to bring your business to life? Even if they are trained in marketing and have had other marketing jobs, have they always worked for someone? If so, they will probably still need you to guide them. If you feel comfortable with leading and guiding your new hire, keep reading. If not, skip down to the bottom for the second path forward.

“Do I know my KPIs?”

Please promise me that if you do not know what a KPI is, you will quickly look it up and come back here. Leading someone without clear expectations and KPI benchmarks is a sure way to go in circles, get frustrated, and lose a well-intentioned employee or contractor. Make sure that whatever channels you are working on, you understand your numbers. For example, what would your break-even ROAS be? This will tell you when it’s time to scale or pull back and re-evaluate. So if you know your KPIs, please keep reading. If not, jump to the second path forward.

“Do I have the time to invest in a new department for my business?”

I’m guessing you are busy, right? You have multiple balls in the air and somehow manage to not drop them. Even if that means that you reply to all of your emails at 11 pm after putting the kids to sleep? You might be all of the departments right now, and that’s ok! It’s how all the greats started. But do you have time to manage another department? If you feel like you have answered all of these questions with an enthusiastic “Yes!”, then bring it on! Here is my advice for building out your own in-house marketing department.

If not, please jump to path two; there is another solution for you!

There are two paths towards growth, and I don’t believe one is better than the other. It is unique to your business and your plan. I have built my own in-house marketing agency, and while it was very overwhelming and not always as robust as it could have been, I would do it this way if I had to build it again.

Path 1: (Build your own team or Hire Your Own Team)

Hire experts for everything and make sure they have plenty of experience! You will want a copywriter, video editor, videographer, designer, email specialist, and media buyer. Those are the key jobs that will help you to not lose your mind. People who are good at this stuff will be able to make your in-house marketing agency run like a well-oiled machine.
Use Asana or your project management tool of choice. This keeps tasks flowing and your team working. Set clear expectations in the tool for deadlines (I like to give creative people at least a week for due dates so they have plenty of time to do what they do best). Make sure you are always the final set of eyes on everything. This is your brand, and you do not want to leave the messages your clients and customers see up to just anyone - even if you fully trust them. I make sure my team always assigns everything back to me when they are done for final approval. I know I am picky and can give feedback to keep everyone on track.
Know how to do the work. Want a video edited in CapCut? Make sure you know how to use the platform so that when your editor asks for video approval and it looks like it was filmed in a basement with the windows closed, you can tell them to dial up the brightness. Know how to get into Meta Business Suite so that if your media buyer's wife goes into labor the night before Black Friday, you can turn on your ads. You don’t have to be the expert, but you need to know enough about each thing to properly lead your new team.
Have grace for yourself. There is a reason why people in marketing make good money. It is almost impossible to teach creativity, buyer psychology, and manage ad spend all at the same time. It won’t be easy, but if done right, it is worth it.

Path 2: Hire an Agency

Alright, if none of that sounded like something you are able, willing, or want to do, that is ok! There is another path forward. You will need to hire an agency, which will be like a mini marketing department that will hopefully help your business grow. Hiring an agency is a very big deal, and you should feel like you are 100% sure when you make that decision, so interview a few before taking the plunge.

Here are some green flags with agencies:

Making a custom plan for your business. Yes, they might have some packages they offer, but at the core, every business is a little different. The right agency won’t try to stick you in a box you don’t belong in. They will first want to sit down and ask you how you grew your current business, what your goals are, and see how their services can complement what you’ve already built.
Experts on staff. If they are a one- or two-man show, taking client requests, doing the media buying, building the websites, etc., they are probably overwhelmed or close to burnout. Even if it’s a small agency, it’s impossible for one person to be good at everything. Look for an agency that has a lot of support, so whoever is managing your accounts is doing final approvals and not building the whole thing.
They’ve been in your shoes. Having someone who has empathy and understanding is good for every part of your life, but especially for your marketing person. They will be pulling some big levers for your business, spending money on your behalf, and acting in one of the most important roles in your company. You need the agency owner to not be cocky and full of what they can do, but to understand that this is a very big responsibility and every decision needs to be carefully considered.

So, listen, you might take path two and then grow to the point that you get a good grip on how to do it on your own and go to path one, or vice versa. There is no one-size-fits-all for marketing, and whatever path you take, have confidence that it was the right path. You made it this far, didn’t you?