Agency or in-house for performance marketing?
Choose an agency when you need cross-channel experience and fast creative testing without hiring a full team. Choose in-house when your marketing is big and complex enough to staff strategy, paid media, creative and data full time. Many online stores end up with a hybrid.
Pros of an agency
- Experience across many brands. Makerz has grown +200 brands and generates +750M DKK in revenue for its brands per year.
- Specialists in several channels from day one.
- Lower fixed cost than a full team.
Cons of an agency
- Less day-to-day closeness to product and customers.
- Depends on good communication and access to data.
Pros of in-house
- Deep product knowledge and fast internal coordination.
- Full control.
Cons of in-house
- One hire rarely covers strategy, Meta, TikTok, Google, email and creative.
- Recruitment, onboarding, salaries, benefits and tools are fixed costs, even in quiet periods.
Comparison
- Time to start: Agency: Weeks · In-house: Months
- Breadth of skills: Agency: High · In-house: Depends on team
- Fixed cost: Agency: Fee · In-house: Salaries + tools
- Closeness to product: Agency: Medium · In-house: High
The hybrid model
In-house owns brand, product and content planning; the agency runs paid media, testing and analysis. At Makerz we don't work alongside your business, we work inside it. See Full Funnel E-commerce and about us.
When should an online store hire in-house?
When you have the budget and workload to staff strategy, paid media, creative and data, so one person doesn't have to cover it all.
Can I combine the two?
Yes, a hybrid is often the most effective setup.
How do I get started with an agency?
Start with a free analysis.