If you’re running a business, there’s a good chance that you’ve considered using a marketing agency at some point. Whether you’re looking to improve your website’s search engine rankings, generate more enquiries through Google Ads or simply increase awareness of your brand, there are hundreds of agencies across the UK offering to help. However, with some charging thousands of pounds a month for their services, it’s understandable that smaller businesses might question whether employing an agency is really worthwhile, particularly when many of the same activities could potentially be carried out internally.
Having spent many years working in digital marketing, including time working within agencies and directly with businesses, I’ve seen the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. While a good agency can make an enormous difference to a company’s marketing performance, I’ve also encountered businesses spending substantial amounts of money on services that don’t appear to be achieving very much. Personally, I don’t think every business necessarily needs a marketing agency, and there are several things I’d consider before deciding whether to outsource your marketing or manage it yourself.
What Does a Marketing Agency Actually Do?
This might sound like a strange question, but I think it’s worth considering because the term ‘marketing agency’ can cover an enormous range of different services. Some agencies specialise in particular disciplines, such as SEO, PPC or social media advertising, while others offer everything from website development and graphic design to public relations and traditional advertising.
One of the main advantages of working with an agency is that you can potentially gain access to several specialists without having to employ them individually. For example, a relatively small agency might have somebody responsible for SEO, another person managing Google Ads campaigns and a developer who can make technical changes to your website. Employing three people with those skills internally would obviously be considerably more expensive than paying an agency for a few hours of their time each month.
However, it’s important to understand exactly what you’re paying for. Just because an agency advertises a particular service doesn’t necessarily mean it has somebody with substantial expertise in that area, and I’ve come across plenty of agencies that appear to offer almost everything without necessarily specialising in anything.
Could You Do It Yourself?
Depending on the size of your business and what you’re trying to achieve, there’s a reasonable argument that you might be better off handling at least some of your marketing internally. If you’re running a relatively small company, for example, you might be perfectly capable of maintaining your website, publishing occasional blog posts and updating your social media accounts without needing to pay somebody else to do it.
There are also plenty of free resources available to help you learn more about digital marketing, including Google’s own training materials and numerous online guides covering SEO, advertising and analytics. However, I’d be cautious about assuming that being able to use a particular marketing platform necessarily means you’re using it effectively.
Google Ads is a good example of this. Almost anybody can create an account, choose some keywords and start spending money, but that doesn’t mean their campaigns will actually generate profitable business. Understanding keyword matching, conversion tracking, bidding strategies and campaign optimisation takes experience, and mistakes can become expensive surprisingly quickly.
There’s also the question of how much your own time is worth. If you’re spending ten hours a week trying to understand SEO when you could be concentrating on running your business, employing somebody who already knows what they’re doing might actually work out considerably cheaper.
What About Employing Somebody In-House?
For larger businesses, employing a dedicated marketing person or team can offer some significant advantages over using an external agency. An employee working within your business will generally have a much better understanding of your products, customers and day-to-day operations, particularly once they’ve been with the company for a while.
They’ll also be available to respond to things as they happen, rather than having to arrange meetings or wait for an agency to schedule work around its other clients. If you’re regularly launching products, updating your website or running complicated marketing campaigns, having somebody available internally can make a considerable difference.
However, there’s a problem with expecting one person to be an expert in every aspect of marketing. Somebody who’s excellent at writing content and managing social media campaigns might know relatively little about technical SEO or website development, while an experienced Google Ads specialist might not be particularly good at graphic design.
I’ve seen businesses advertise for marketing employees with job descriptions that effectively combine the responsibilities of an entire agency, often without offering a salary that would realistically attract somebody with all those skills.
How Much Should You Be Paying?
Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward answer to this because agency fees vary enormously depending on the services being provided, the complexity of the work and the experience of the people involved. Some agencies offer relatively inexpensive monthly packages, while others charge considerably more for bespoke campaigns or specialist consultancy.
Personally, I’d be cautious about choosing an agency purely because it’s the cheapest option, particularly for services such as SEO where the quality of the work can have a significant impact on your website’s performance. However, I’d be equally cautious about assuming that an agency charging £2,000 a month must necessarily be better than one charging £500.
The important thing is understanding what work is actually being carried out and whether it’s producing worthwhile results. If you’re paying £1,000 a month for SEO, for example, I’d expect to know what activities are being undertaken, why they’re necessary and how their effectiveness is being measured.
That doesn’t mean every activity needs to generate an immediate financial return, particularly when you’re investing in longer-term improvements, but there should at least be a clear explanation of what you’re paying for.
Make Sure You Retain Control
One issue I’ve encountered over the years is businesses allowing agencies to take complete control of their marketing accounts without retaining adequate access themselves. This can become particularly problematic if the relationship eventually breaks down and the business discovers that it doesn’t have the login details for its own website, Google Analytics account or advertising campaigns.
I’d strongly recommend ensuring that important accounts are registered under your business’s control, with appropriate access provided to whichever agency you’re working with. Google Ads, for example, allows agencies to manage clients’ campaigns through manager accounts without requiring businesses to surrender access to their own accounts.
It’s also worth checking the terms of any agreement before signing, particularly regarding notice periods, ownership of creative work and what happens when the contract ends. A good agency shouldn’t need to make it unnecessarily difficult for you to leave.
How Do You Know Whether an Agency Is Any Good?
Probably the best starting point is looking at the results an agency has achieved for businesses similar to yours. Testimonials and case studies can be useful, although I’d be more interested in understanding the actual commercial outcomes than simply seeing impressive-looking graphs showing increases in website traffic.
If an agency claims to have doubled a client’s organic traffic, for example, that’s obviously encouraging, but did those additional visitors generate any enquiries or sales? Similarly, an agency managing Google Ads campaigns should ideally be concentrating on the cost of acquiring customers rather than simply increasing clicks or impressions.
I’d also recommend finding out who’ll actually be working on your account. The person delivering the sales presentation might have twenty years of experience, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be the person managing your campaigns.
So Do You Really Need an Agency?
Personally, I think the answer depends largely on the resources and expertise you already have available. For a small business with relatively straightforward marketing requirements, employing an agency might be unnecessary, particularly if you’re comfortable managing your own website and advertising.
However, if your business relies heavily on digital marketing, or you need specialist skills that aren’t available internally, a good agency can be extremely valuable. There’s also nothing wrong with combining the two approaches, employing somebody internally to manage your overall marketing while outsourcing specialist activities such as SEO or PPC.
Ultimately, I’d suggest deciding what you actually want your marketing to achieve before worrying about whether you need an agency to do it. If you can achieve those objectives effectively using your existing resources, there’s little reason to pay somebody else.
If you can’t, an agency might be exactly what you need, but I’d concentrate on finding one that understands your business and can demonstrate worthwhile results rather than simply choosing whoever gives you the most convincing sales pitch.