Should you run paid ads in-house or hire an agency, and what does the fee cover?

Hire in house when you spend enough on one platform to keep a good media buyer busy and you have steady creative needs. Hire an agency when you need several skill sets part time. Our fee is 10 percent of ad spend with a $1,500 per month minimum, plus $350 per month per additional platform.

What in house actually costs

Salary is the smallest part of the honest comparison. A competent paid media specialist is a full salary plus benefits, plus tools, plus the fact that one person is rarely strong at strategy, copywriting, creative production, landing pages, analytics and CRM integration all at once. In house also carries key person risk: when they leave, so does the account knowledge. The upside is real though. An internal buyer knows your business deeply, sits in sales meetings, and can move the same day.

What our fee buys

Strategy and account build, including tracking and CRM connection.
Ad copy and creative within the plan's included counts.
Weekly optimization: search terms, bids, pacing, conversion validation.
Landing page review and recommendations.
Monthly reporting on cost per qualified lead by campaign.

What it does not buy: your media. You pay Google and Meta directly on your own account and card. We never front spend and never mark it up, so the number you see in the platform is the number you paid.

When in house wins

High single platform spend, steady creative needs, and a business complex enough that context matters more than technique. If you are spending well into five figures monthly on Google alone and you have someone good, keep them.

When an agency wins

Multiple platforms, a budget that would not justify a full salary, a need for creative and analytics as well as buying, or a marketing leader who needs execution rather than another direct report. Many of our clients run a hybrid: internal marketing owns brand and content, we own paid media and tracking.

Billing terms, so you can compare fairly

Net 15, monthly, 30 days notice to pause, change tier or cancel. No fixed term on advertising management.