2026-10-10
In-house, freelancer or agency: who should run your ads
The question is not which is best. It is which one matches the size of your spend and the amount of attention your calendar needs every week.
A freelancer is the cheapest and the thinnest
One person, a few hundred dollars a month, and a campaign that gets looked at when they have time. For a small budget in a quiet market this can be enough, and plenty of businesses start here sensibly.
What you do not get is coverage. A freelancer on holiday is an account nobody is watching, and the part that matters most for bookings, which is answering enquiries within a minute, is not usually in scope at all.
In-house is the most control and the slowest start
A marketing hire gives you someone who knows your business and is there every day. They cost a salary, they take months to become effective, and their skill ceiling depends on who you hire and who manages them.
This begins to make sense when the advertising budget is large enough that a few percent of improvement pays a salary, and when there is enough work to keep a specialist busy. Below that you are paying full time for part time work.
An agency is bought capacity and shared experience
You get people who have seen the same problem in other accounts, cover when someone is away, and tools that would be expensive to buy alone. You give up some control, and you depend on being a client they still pay attention to.
The risk is being a small account inside a large agency. Ask who will actually be in the account each week, and ask to speak to that person rather than to the one selling.
Questions that decide it
How much are you spending on ads each month? Who answers an enquiry at eight in the evening today? Do you want to own the accounts and the data? How quickly do you need this to work?
Whichever you choose, insist the ad accounts, pages, numbers and contact lists are created in your name. That one condition makes every later decision reversible, and it costs nothing to ask for at the start.
See where your bookings leak. The audit is free.
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