Agency, freelancer or in-house marketer? How to choose
Short answer: No option is right for everyone. An in-house marketer gives you closeness and continuity, a freelancer gives you specialist skills without a fixed cost, and an agency gives you breadth and cover when someone is away. What decides it is how much marketing you need, how many channels it spans and how exposed you are if one single person disappears.
This guide covers what each model gives and costs, where the risks are, who should control your accounts and data, and which questions to ask. We are an agency ourselves, so keep that in mind as you read. In several situations an agency is not the best answer, and we say so.
What you’ll get from this article
Start with what you need, not with who
Many people start at the wrong end and compare agencies with freelancers before they know what needs doing. First write down what your marketing should achieve and which parts it is made of. For a typical small business it is usually a few of these:
- The website. That it loads fast, is up to date and makes it easy to get in touch.
- Visibility in Google. SEO, your Google Business Profile and reviews.
- Ads. Google Ads, Facebook and Instagram.
- Measurement. Knowing which enquiries came in and where they came from.
- Content and email. Copy, images, newsletters and lead follow-up.
If the need is one single thing, such as a new website or an ad campaign ahead of a season, the choice looks different than if you need ongoing work in four channels at once. If you are unsure which channels are worth investing in, read our guide on which channel to start with: SEO, Google Ads or Meta.
In-house marketer: closeness and continuity
An employed marketer gets to know your customers, your services and the way you talk. They sit close to sales, hear what customers ask about and can act the same day. For companies with a large and steady flow of marketing work, this is often a strong model.
What you get:
- Someone whose only job at your company is marketing.
- A short path from idea to execution, and full insight into the work.
- Knowledge that stays in the company for as long as the person does.
What it costs as a model: salary plus employer costs. On top of the salary, most countries require employer social contributions, and the level varies a lot from country to country, so check the current rate with your tax authority. Pension contributions, holiday pay, a computer and licences for the tools they need often come on top. The cost is fixed, whether it is peak season or a quiet period.
What to be aware of: one person rarely knows everything at the same level. It is unusual for someone to be as strong in content and social media as in technical SEO, Google Ads bidding and server-side tracking. The result is often that some parts are done well and others are left lying.
Freelancer: specialist skills without a fixed cost
A freelancer is often a very good choice for a defined assignment. If you need someone to write the copy for a new website, set up an ad campaign or review your SEO, an experienced freelancer can do it quickly and without tying you down.
What you get:
- Deep knowledge in one area, often from someone who has done the same thing many times.
- Direct contact with the person doing the work.
- A variable cost: you pay per hour or per project and can pause when the need is smaller.
What to be aware of: a freelancer has several clients and limited time. If they fall ill, go on holiday or land a bigger assignment, there is not always someone who can take over, and the work can stop. And just as with an employee, one person rarely covers every channel. If you need a website, SEO and ads, you can end up with three freelancers who do not talk to each other, and then you are the one who has to coordinate.
Agency: breadth and cover
An agency has several people with different specialities under one roof. The person building the website, the person running the ads and the person working on SEO can talk to each other directly, and the work does not stop because one person is away.
What you get:
- Several skill sets without having to hire or coordinate them yourself.
- Continuity when someone is ill, leaves or is on holiday.
- The option to scale up or down with the season and your needs.
What it costs as a model: usually an ongoing monthly arrangement, sometimes combined with project work. You pay for breadth and for an organisation, not just for hours. For a small company with a small need, it can be more expensive than a freelancer per hour of work done.
What to be aware of: an agency does not know your business as well as an employee does at the start. Someone at your company needs to provide material, answer questions and speak up when something is not right. Agencies also differ a lot. At some you become a number among many, and the salesperson you met is not always the one doing the work. You can read about how we work on our about us page.
Compare the monthly cost
The example values are made up. Fill in your own figures and quotes. The numbers stay in your browser.
Also compare what you get for the money: a full-time employee gives you the most hours but one person’s skills, a freelancer the hours you buy, and an agency several skill sets. Employer contributions vary a lot between countries, and the rules can differ depending on, for example, the employee or the type of contract. The 20 % above is only an example, so use the rate that applies to you.
Vulnerability: when the knowledge sits with one person
This is the question we most often see companies forget. If all the knowledge about the website, the ads and the measurement sits with one single person, employee or freelancer, the business becomes dependent on that person. Not because they do anything wrong, but because people fall ill, change jobs and sometimes stop answering.
Typical situations:
- Nobody knows the password to the web host or the domain when the website goes down.
- The ad account is tied to the freelancer’s private Google account and nobody at your company has admin access.
- Measurement stopped working six months ago, but nobody noticed because the person who set it up has moved on.
You can reduce the risk whatever model you choose: document what is set up, make sure at least two people have access to everything important, and make sure the company itself is listed as the owner. Google itself points out that if a Google Ads account has only one admin, you may lose access if that person becomes unavailable, and suggests adding at least one more (see Google’s help page on access levels).
Accounts and data should be under your company’s control
Whether you choose an employee, a freelancer or an agency, the company itself should have control over its accounts, its data and its content. The people you hire get the access they need for the job. This applies to:
- The domain. Registered to your company, not to an agency or a private individual.
- Ad accounts. Google Ads and your Meta ad account should belong to the company, not sit under the agency’s or a private person’s account, with you as admin and a payment method you control.
- Google Business Profile. Your company should be the primary owner. The people you hire can be added as managers, a role that can edit the profile but cannot add or remove users.
- Analytics and statistics. Google Analytics and other visitor statistics, so the history comes with you if you change supplier.
- The website and the content. Your own admin account in WordPress, and a contract that says the texts and images you paid for are yours. Copyright does not automatically transfer just because you paid. What applies depends on the contract and on the law in your country, so put it in writing.
This is not a sign of distrust. A serious supplier would rather see the accounts in your name, because it makes the collaboration clear. Anyone who hesitates when you ask for admin access to your own ad account has given you an important answer.
Ownership check: are the accounts in your name?
Go through the accounts one at a time. It takes a minute, and your answers stay in your browser.
Breadth: how many channels need to work together?
The more channels you use, the more important it is that they work together. The ads lead to the website, the website should get the visitor to get in touch, and measurement should show which channel produced the enquiry. If three different people are responsible for one part each, it is usually at the joins that things go wrong: the ads point to a page that does not convert, or the form sends no signals back to Google and Meta.
That is why it is worth asking who has overall responsibility. If you have your own marketing lead, they can. Otherwise you need a supplier who takes it on, or you accept that you will be the one coordinating. We measure enquiries in Tokig Insights, for example, so that both we and the client can see what actually came in and from which channel, regardless of who did which part.
Combinations often work best
The choice does not have to be either-or. Some set-ups we often see work:
- In-house marketing lead plus agency. The employee owns the strategy, the content and the contact with sales. The agency handles the specialist parts: technology, SEO, ad optimisation and measurement. You get both closeness and breadth.
- Agency for the foundation, freelancers for special assignments. The agency runs the website, hosting and maintenance and the ongoing channels. A freelance photographer or copywriter is brought in when needed.
- Freelancer for a project, agency or employee for the ongoing work. For example, a freelancer who creates a new visual identity, and a supplier who then takes ongoing responsibility for the website and the marketing.
What matters in a combination is that the roles are clear. Write down who does what, who has access to which accounts and who reports to whom.
How to choose: a simple decision guide
Use this as a starting point, not as the final answer:
- A defined project with a clear end? A freelancer is often the simplest and cheapest choice.
- Ongoing work in one or two channels, and you have someone in-house who can keep track of it? A freelancer or a smaller agency may be enough.
- Ongoing work in several channels that need to work together? An agency, or an in-house marketer together with an agency.
- So much marketing that it fills a full-time role and you want it close to the business? Hire, and add specialists where the employee is not enough.
- Nobody in-house who can provide material and make decisions? Then every model gets harder. Appoint someone to own the question, even if it is only a few hours a week.
Questions to ask before you decide
These questions work whether you are interviewing a candidate, a freelancer or an agency:
- Who actually does the work? And who takes over if that person is away?
- Which channels do you really know, and what do you leave to others?
- How do you measure results? The answer should be about enquiries and deals, not just clicks and impressions.
- What does reporting look like, and how often?
- Who owns the domain, ad accounts, business profile and statistics? The right answer is your company.
- What happens if we end the collaboration? How are accounts, files and documentation handed over?
- How is the contract structured? Minimum term, notice period and what is included.
If you are hiring help with search engine optimisation specifically, we have a separate guide to the questions that reveal whether an SEO agency knows its stuff. If it is about a new website, it can also help to know the difference between web design and web development, so you know which skills you are looking for.
What usually decides it
It is not about who is cheapest per hour. What costs money is the time before something delivers results, and the knowledge that disappears when a person leaves.
One person rarely knows everything. SEO, ads, website and measurement are different crafts. A lone marketer often becomes a generalist who needs help with the technical parts anyway.
Combinations often work best. Your own person who knows the business, plus an agency for the craft, is a common and good solution, as long as it is clear who does what.
How we work
- We tell you when you do not need an agency. If the need is a defined project, a freelancer may be right, and then we say so.
- More specialists when you need them. If you buy several services, several of us work on your account, each in our own area: website, ads, SEO or measurement. The work does not depend on one single person.
- You see what we do. In our client portal you follow the work, see the reports and send in requests. Because the whole team works in the same portal, the history is kept in one place, even when several of us work on your account.
- You own the accounts and the data. We get access, not ownership, so you can change supplier without starting over.
- We are happy to work with your own staff. You keep the knowledge of the business, we provide the craft.
Want to know if an agency is right for you?
Tell us what you want to achieve and what you have today, and we will tell you honestly whether you need an agency, a freelancer or your own person.
Book a free review or call +46 8 545 222 22, weekdays 08:00–17:00 (CET)
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to hire an in-house marketer than to use an agency?
Sometimes. Include salary, employer costs, tools and the time it takes to learn, and compare what happens when the person is on leave or leaves.
What does an employed marketer cost on top of the salary?
Employer social contributions, which vary a lot between countries, and often pension contributions, holiday pay, a computer and licences. The calculator above shows roughly how much it adds up to once you enter the rates that apply to you.
How do we find a good freelancer?
Ask for examples of similar assignments, ask who takes over if they fall ill, and make sure every account is created in your company’s name from the start.
Can we switch from an agency to our own staff later?
Yes, if the accounts and data are in your company’s name. Check that before you sign with anyone.
Account manager at Pixeltokig. Christoffer helps our clients choose the right channels, from a new website and search visibility to ads on Facebook and Instagram.
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