Your business needs regular marketing, but there are only so many hours in a week. At some point, the question becomes who should own the work: an employee, an external agency or a combination of the two?
There is no universal winner. A good decision starts with the work you need done, the access it requires and the budget you can sustain. Comparing a salary with an agency's monthly fee tells only part of the story.
This guide walks through the trade-offs for small businesses in the United States and Australia, then gives you a way to choose.
Start with the work, not the job title
Write down the tasks you expect someone to complete over the next six months. For example:
- Set marketing priorities and plan monthly campaigns.
- Interview your team to understand products and customers.
- Write and publish articles.
- Create and schedule social media posts.
- Produce designs and short videos.
- Send email campaigns and improve lead follow-up.
- Measure enquiries and report what is working.
- Manage paid advertising, if that is a priority.
Next, decide which tasks require immediate access to staff and decisions during your working day. A marketer who collaborates with sales and product teams every day has a different job from a partner producing agreed monthly campaigns.
This exercise reveals whether you need one person working inside the business,an agreed bundle of external services, or both.
What does an in-house marketer give you?
An employee can build detailed knowledge of your customers, pricing, operations and internal priorities. They can attend meetings, respond quickly to changes and work on tasks that do not fit neatly into a monthly list of deliverables.
That access is valuable when marketing decisions happen throughout the week. An employee may be a good fit if you need ongoing coordination with sales, frequent product updates or someone to manage several outside suppliers.
The limitation is capacity and skill breadth. One generalist may plan campaigns and write well, but may need additional help for design, video, technical SEO, automation or paid advertising. Hiring one person does not automatically create a full marketing department.
You will also need to manage priorities, review performance, supply tools and provide cover when that person is unavailable.
What does an outsourced agency give you?
An agency can provide defined services without requiring you to recruit and manage a full-time marketing employee. Depending on its scope, it may coordinate planning, writing, design, social media, email and reporting.
The service is only as broad as the agreement. Ask what work is included, how much will be produced, who approves it, how often you will meet and how requests outside the scope are handled.
An external team also needs access to business knowledge. Someone inside your company must explain the offer, review claims, supply timely feedback and take responsibility for responding to leads. An agency cannot learn these things from a website alone.
An outsourced team gives you agreed capacity and deliverables. It is not the equivalent of having its members dedicated to your company full time.
What does a combined approach look like?
Some businesses keep an internal owner for marketing and use an agency for production or specialist tasks. The employee knows the company, sets priorities and coordinates approvals; the agency handles agreed work such as articles, creative production or campaign execution.
An older Semrush survey of companies considering agency services found many respondents used a combination of internal marketing and outsourcing. That is useful evidence that the combined model exists, though the survey is not a current measure of its prevalence in your market.
A combined setup also has costs: someone must manage the relationship, avoid duplicate work and make clear decisions about ownership. It tends to work best when each side has a defined role.
In-house vs agency vs combined: the practical comparison
Use the table to assess fit. The entries describe common structures, not promises about every employee or agency.
How should you compare the costs?
Calculate a six-month and a 12-month budget for each realistic option. Include items that will be needed to deliver the same work.
For an employee, consider:salary, employer costs that apply in your location, recruitment, software, equipment, training, leave cover and any outside specialists needed for skill gaps.
For an agency, consider:retainer or project fees, setup fees, software, extra production, advertising spend if relevant, internal time for briefings and approvals, and the agreement's payment terms. Treat a security deposit as a separate cash requirement; whether it is returned or applied depends on the contract.
For a combined arrangement, include both sets of costs and identify where work might overlap.
Published wage figures can help establish an order of magnitude, but occupations and pay vary substantially. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a USD $78,760 median annual wage in May 2025 for its market research analysts and marketing specialists category. Jobs and Skills Australia reports AUD $1,957 median full-time weekly earnings in May 2025 for its broader advertising and marketing professionals occupation group. These are different occupational groups and are not quotes for hiring the particular marketer your business needs. They also do not include your complete employer cost.
A direct “agency fee versus salary” comparison can therefore mislead. Define the required work first, then price the realistic ways to deliver it.
Where does our monthly package fit?
Our Outsourced Digital Marketing Team package is an example of the agency option. It covers ongoing strategy and management, up to three social platforms, up to 12 social posts, six poster or flyer designs, six AI-generated short videos, four SEO-focused articles and two email campaigns per month. Basic SEO strategy, Google Business Profile content and optimisation where applicable, basic automation, follow-up workflows and monthly reporting are also included.
The six-month option has free setup and requires a security deposit equal to one month's fee: USD $2,500 or AUD $3,500. The month-to-month option has no security deposit and a one-time setup fee of USD $500 or AUD $700.
Our package does not include PPC or paid advertising management, advertising spend or non-AI video production. Non-AI production is quoted separately. It includes basic SEO and content work rather than a comprehensive technical SEO engagement.
Over six months, service fees for the commitment option total USD $15,000 or AUD $21,000, excluding the separate deposit, any applicable taxes and separately quoted work. Six months on the month-to-month option totals USD $18,500 or AUD $25,900, including its one-time setup fee. These figures show the contracted fees for our stated scope; they do not establish that our service replaces a particular employee.
We work with a maximum of five active clients across the US and Australia. Our small roster is intended to support focused planning and communication, while the specific work and response expectations still need to be set out in the agreement.
When should you hire an employee?
An in-house hire deserves serious consideration when:
- Marketing requires frequent access to internal teams or sensitive operational knowledge.
- You have a steady volume of work that fills a role throughout the week.
- You can define the role, supervise the person and provide the tools they need.
- Your main challenge is coordination and day-to-day decision-making.
Before posting a job, decide which skills are essential and which can be supplied by freelancers or specialists. A long list combining strategy, design, video, SEO, ads and automation may describe several roles rather than one realistic hire.
When should you outsource?
An agency may fit when:
- You need predictable ongoing output across a defined set of activities.
- Recruiting or managing a full-time employee is not the right move yet.
- Your internal team can provide a brief, approvals and prompt lead follow-up.
- The provider's actual scope covers your priorities at a sustainable price.
Review work samples, reporting, account ownership and exit terms before signing. Australian small-business guidance advises checking services, total costs, communication, reporting and handover arrangements with digital marketing providers.
When should you use both?
A combined approach can make sense when you already have someone who understands your customers but that person cannot produce everything consistently. For instance, an internal manager might set priorities and handle sales feedback while an external team produces content and runs agreed campaigns.
Write down who owns strategy, publishing, approvals, data, customer follow-up and performance reviews. If both parties think the other is responsible, important work can be missed.
A five-question decision test
Answer these before requesting a proposal or writing a job description:
- What work must happen every week, and what can be planned monthly?
- Which tasks require close knowledge of our customers or daily access to staff?
- What can one realistic hire do well, and where will specialist help still be needed?
- Who inside the business will approve work and respond to enquiries?
- What is the full six-month cost of each option for the scope we actually need?
If the answers point toward a defined stream of content, organic marketing and follow-up, an outsourced package may be a practical choice. If they point toward constant internal coordination, hiring may deserve priority. If they point to both, design a combined role with clear boundaries.
Frequently asked questions
Is an agency always cheaper than an employee?
No. The answer depends on the scope, local employment costs, additional specialists, tools and how much of the agency's work you use. Compare equivalent work over the same period.
Can an outsourced team manage all marketing decisions?
It can manage decisions within its agreed authority. Your business still owns its commercial priorities, claims, customer relationships and final approvals unless you expressly arrange otherwise.
How long should we test a new arrangement?
Agree on a review period and what you will measure before starting. In the first months, assess delivery, collaboration, lead quality and early signals, while recognising that some organic activities take longer to show an effect.
Can we start with an agency and hire later?
Yes. Document processes, account access, content ownership and reporting from the start. That makes a later handover to an employee or another provider easier.
Choose the structure that fits the work
Hiring and outsourcing are ways to organise marketing work. The right choice is the one that gives your business the skills, capacity and access it needs at a cost it can sustain.
If your priority is coordinated content, social media, basic SEO, email and customer follow-up, view our Outsourced Digital Marketing Team package and enquire about availability. We can discuss the scope with you so you can decide whether it fits your business.