The Digital Marketing Dilemma: DIY, Agency, or Freelancer? A Guide for Small Businesses
As a small business, getting started and managing your digital marketing is a monumental task, and a hugely significant one. Your digital marketing presence can make or break your business, so there’s a lot at stake.
One question you might be trying to figure out is: who should manage your digital marketing? You have limited resources and limited budget, but you want to get great results.
In this post I’m going to discuss the pros and cons of 3 solutions: doing everything yourself, hiring an agency, and hiring a freelancer. Hopefully by the end you’ll have more understanding and be able to make an informed decision.
Option 1: DIY - Doing It Yourself
By “doing it yourself'“ I mean setting up your marketing strategy; creating social media accounts, then posting on those accounts; building, maintaining and improving the website; working on SEO strategies; running ads; and lots, lots more.
Doing marketing is an ongoing process no matter how many people on your team or how much budget. In the history of all companies, there’s no company that ever said, “We finished marketing. We don’t need any more budget and any more people.” If that ever happens, the company is dead.
So in some ways, doing digital marketing yourself is a good idea. You either know a bit already (and how hard can posting on Instagram really be anyway?), or you’ll figure it out as you go.
Problem is, digital marketing is going to be a huge source of your leads/clients/customers. If you don’t do it right, you’ll waste either budget or time, or both.
Let’s look at the overall pros and cons to doing everything yourself.
Pros
Budget-friendly: No agency fees or freelancer payments.
Full control: You dictate every aspect of the campaign, from messaging to targeting.
Learning opportunity: Gain valuable insights into the digital advertising landscape.
Cons
Steep learning curve: Mastering platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads takes time and effort.
Time commitment: Managing campaigns effectively requires regular attention and optimization.
Limited expertise: May lack the specialized skills and knowledge of professionals.
Potential for costly mistakes: Improperly managed campaigns can drain your budget without delivering results.
Option 2: Agency Powerhouse - Outsourcing to the Experts
“Hiring an agency” is both intimidating and easy simultaneously. It’s easy if you search for “best digital marketing agency near me” and choose the first company that shows up. They’ll be happy to take your money and get started really quickly, and might get you good results, but they’ll probably cost a lot.
You can also carefully vet lots of different agencies, weigh up your options, look at reviews and their portfolios, and get started slowly. Maybe let them audit your existing digital presence first (many agencies offer this for free), see if you like what they say, then gradually increase your work with them.
Here are the overall pros and cons to hiring an agency.
Pros
Access to diverse expertise: Leverage a team of specialists in various aspects of digital advertising.
Full-service experience: Agencies handle everything, from campaign strategy to creative development and analysis.
Proven track record: Many agencies have a history of delivering successful campaigns for similar businesses.
Cons
Higher cost: Agency fees can be significant, especially for smaller businesses. Typically they’ll have minimum fees of several thousand dollars a month.
Lack of control: You cede some decision-making authority to the agency.
Potential for impersonal service: Large agencies may prioritize larger clients over your smaller projects.
Communication complexities: Dealing with multiple agency contacts can be time-consuming.
Commitment: it’s not always easy to move from one agency to another, depending on how much work they’re doing for you. They might be running ads through their own advertising accounts (boo!) or have various different specialized people working on different parts of your business.
Option 3: Freelancer Flexibility - Finding Your Perfect Match
Your third option is working with freelancers. Freelancers provide the most flexibility at affordable rates, but it can be hard to find the right freelancer for your business.
Let’s look in more detail at the pros and cons of hiring a freelancer.
Pros
Cost-effective: Freelancers offer competitive rates compared to agencies.
Flexible engagement: Choose the scope of work and level of expertise you need.
Direct communication: Build a close working relationship with a dedicated individual.
Niche expertise: Find freelancers specializing in your specific industry or campaign goals.
Cons
Vetting and selection: Requires effort to find and evaluate qualified freelancers.
Management responsibility: You oversee campaign progress and manage communication.
Variable skill sets: Not all freelancers have the same level of experience or expertise.
Project scope limitations: Some complex campaigns may require a broader team than a single freelancer.
The Case for Freelancers vs Agencies
After weighing up each option, freelancers offer a strong value proposition for small businesses. Admittedly, I’m totally biased, being a freelancer myself, but let’s look at why I think they’re the best option for small businesses:
Cost-effectiveness: You get expert help without the higher cost of an agency, maximizing your return on investment. You can find freelancers who have experience in a range of digital marketing areas to be effective at lots of different things. Or if you prefer, you can hire different freelancers with different specialties
Flexibility: Agencies often have minimum budget and project requirements that might not make sense for your small business. WIth freelancers, you can get them to run a huge campaign one month, put most projects on hold the next month, then do something in-between the following month. You only pay for what you need.
Personalization: You can build a direct relationship with your freelancer, ensuring clear communication and a deep understanding of your goals. With an agency, you could be working with multiple different people; or at the very least you’ll have multiple people working on your business, and communication might be difficult. And agencies are impersonal.
Niche Expertise: Find freelancers specializing in your industry or platform, ensuring your ads resonate with your target audience.
Scalability: With no minimum requirements, with freelancers you can easily start with a manageable project, evaluate the work they did and they impact they made to your business, then scale your collaboration as your needs grow. Maybe that freelancer is there in the first 3 months of your business and also when it’s 10 years old and the next billion-dollar startup.
Making the Right Choice: Consider Your Needs and Resources
Ultimately, the best option depends on your individual circumstances. Consider:
Budget: How much can you realistically allocate to digital advertising?
Time commitment: Can you dedicate the time required for DIY management?
Campaign complexity: Do you need a comprehensive strategy or simpler ad management?
Desired level of control: Do you prefer full autonomy or expert guidance?
For many small businesses, a freelancer presents a compelling balance. You gain access to professional expertise while maintaining cost-efficiency and personalized service. This allows you to focus on running your business while your digital marketing is handled by an expert.
Regardless of your choice, I’d strongly recommend against doing all digital marketing yourself, unless you have prior experience and the time available to do it. It’s critical to your business, you can easily waste money if you don’t know what you’re doing, it can take time to recover from mistakes, and it can set your business back many weeks or months.
Finding the Perfect Freelancer: Your Journey Begins
Finding the right freelancer can be tough. The main question to answer is: are they experienced enough to get you success? Someone with only a few years of experience probably has a cheap rate because they’re looking for exposure, but they might not achieve what you’re looking for. Someone with a decade of experience might have an expensive price tag, but be worth it for what they provide.
Thankfully, you don’t have to decide. With my Small Business Package, you get:
Everything you need to get started with digital marketing for your small business (channel strategy, keyword research, ads setup)
Support from an experienced freelancer (read more about me here!)
A very affordable rate - only $300 USD (agencies and other freelancers would charge $1000-1500+ for the same services)
Note: This package is cheap because it doesn’t take me long to put together. The content of the package is custom and unique to your business, based on information you provide, but I’ve put together the same thing for other small businesses like yours. It’s a stepping stone to us building a relationship together.
