Every growing business reaches the same crossroads: do we hire an in-house marketer, or do we partner with an agency? The answer isn’t one-size-fits-all, but it should be grounded in one thing: results. Not job titles. Not busywork. Not optics. Just measurable growth.
Let’s get something straight: in-house marketers aren’t the enemy. In fact, they’re often the internal quarterback who keeps everything aligned. But expecting one person to run paid ads, write content, post to social, handle design, manage the website, optimize for SEO, build landing pages, and report on performance is unrealistic. Marketing has become too complex, too specialized, and too accountable to be a one-person show.
What’s the Real Cost Difference Between Hiring In-House and Hiring an Agency?
The average salary for a competent in-house marketer in Canada is $65,000 to $85,000/year. Add 15% for benefits, vacation, training, and overhead. That’s $75,000 to $100,000+ for a single person. Now ask: are you getting the equivalent value of a full SEO specialist, PPC strategist, senior designer, conversion copywriter, analytics expert, and strategist in that one role? Not even close.
An agency like ours brings an entire team to the table, each with deep expertise in their field. For the same cost or less, you get:
- A dedicated strategist focused on your goals, not just activity
- SEO specialists who understand how to drive visibility that converts
- PPC experts who obsess over ROI and budget performance
- Designers who know how to build for conversions, not just aesthetics
- Developers who fix what your CMS can’t
- A content team that writes to generate leads, not just fill space
You’re not hiring another pair of hands. You’re hiring a results-driven department.
Does an In-House Marketer Have the Experience My Business Needs?
Your cousin’s friend who “did marketing at a startup once” isn’t going to scale your business. Marketing is no longer about guesswork or intuition. It’s about tested frameworks, audience data, campaign strategy, and performance analytics. We’ve spent the last 30 years refining what works. We’ve been in the trenches when SEO was backlinks and when PPC was still a beta test. That experience shows in every campaign we launch.
Agencies that live and breathe marketing every day have one major advantage: pattern recognition. We’ve seen what works in dozens of industries. We know what tanks performance. And we know how to pivot fast.
In-house marketers can be incredible executors and brand stewards. But when it comes to launching new campaigns, solving complex performance issues, or building scalable lead systems, they shouldn’t have to do it alone.
Will an Agency Understand My Business Like an Internal Team Member Would?
One of the biggest fears business owners have about hiring an agency is, “They won’t understand my business like someone in-house will.”
Fair. But here’s the flip side: understanding your business is step one. Growing it takes strategic horsepower.
We embed ourselves into your business. We ask the right questions, study your buyer journey, analyze your competitors, and align every campaign with your revenue targets. More importantly, we bring objective insight and fresh perspective. Internal marketers can get stuck in “we’ve always done it this way.” Agencies can challenge that thinking and back it up with data.
Can My In-House Marketing Team Work With an Agency?
This isn’t a zero-sum game. Some of our most successful partnerships are with companies that already have in-house marketers.
Your internal team owns the brand voice, knows the internal politics, and keeps the ship running. We bring firepower in the form of:
- Advanced SEO tactics to outperform your competitors
- Google and Meta Ads that cut waste and scale ROI
- Brand strategy that builds equity, not just a logo
- Websites that actually sell (not just look pretty)
- Conversion optimization rooted in behavioral data
- Reporting that actually tells you what’s working
Your in-house marketer becomes the conductor. We become the orchestra.
How Do I Know If I Should Hire an Agency or Go In-House?
Before you make a decision, ask yourself:
- Do we need leads and revenue or just marketing activity?
- Are we looking for specialists or a generalist?
- Can we afford to delay results while one person figures it out?
- Do we need strategy, execution, or both?
If you need marketing that actually grows your business, you need more than one hat. You need a team of experts who are accountable for results. We’re not here to sell you on fluff. We’re here to grow your business. That’s what we’ve done for hundreds of companies, whether they have in-house teams or not.
If you’re ready to stop wondering and start scaling, let’s talk.
