What it really costs to hire a marketing team, and when an agency makes more sense.
By the Reachwise team
It depends on three numbers: what you can spend a year, how many channels you need, and how fast you need results.
What in-house really costs
A senior SEO lead, a social producer and a paid ads specialist cost well over $300k a year in New York before tools, software and management time. That buys three people, each covering one channel.
- Salaries, benefits and recruiting fees
- Tools: rank tracking, ad software, editing, scheduling
- The months it takes before a new team ships anything
What an agency gives you
For a fraction of that you get a team that already works together, already owns the tools and has seen what works in other accounts this month.
Hire in-house when marketing is the product. Hire an agency when it has to work next quarter.
The honest answer
Most of our clients use both: one marketer in-house who owns the brand, and us for the channels that need specialists.
