Should You Hire a Marketing Agency? When and Why It Might Not Be the Best Choice.

The One-Size Agency Playbook Doesn’t Fit All

Hiring a marketing agency might seem like the next logical step as your business grows, but it’s not always the best choice—especially early on. Agencies often come in with their predefined playbooks. They use what worked for previous clients as a starting point, and while this can be efficient, it’s also limiting.

The reality is that every business has unique challenges, products, and customers. A one-size-fits-all approach can overlook the nuances of your business and your target audience. Instead of crafting a strategy specifically tailored to your needs, many agencies try to replicate success from another client and apply it to your situation. This lack of personalisation can hinder real growth.

Why Agencies Struggle to Go Deep on Customer Insights

Predefined Playbooks Limit Customisation

Agencies often use standard templates and frameworks when they approach new clients. While these frameworks might work well enough for general industries, they don’t always account for the specific customer behaviours, mindsets, and journeys that can make or break a business’s marketing strategy.

For example, an agency might suggest a content-heavy SEO strategy because it worked for a previous SaaS client. However, if your business relies heavily on trade shows or word of mouth, a content-first approach might not resonate with your customer base. An internal team that deeply understands your audience would be far better suited to identify and develop strategies that are uniquely aligned with your market.

50 Clients Means 50 Priorities

Another issue with agencies is that you’re often one of many dozens of clients they need to manage. Even with the best intentions, they simply don’t have the bandwidth to dedicate as much time and effort to your business as an in-house team would. Agencies tend to touch on the basics—running the standard reports, doing the required optimisations—and then moving on to their next client.

In addition, agencies often prioritise their own growth and revenue, seeing clients as sources of long-term retainers rather than partners in growth. This focus on scaling their own business can lead to a superficial approach, where they prioritise easy deliverables over truly impactful strategies. Agencies can be more concerned about hitting concocted targets that justify their fees rather than helping you achieve meaningful, long-term growth.

This lack of deep focus can prevent an agency from diving deep into the data, understanding user journeys, and finding meaningful insights that could unlock real growth. An agency may not have the time to optimise your landing pages or improve conversion paths, and they may not be able to honestly care about your customers the way an internal team would.

Hire In-House Growth Marketers Supported by Fractional Growth Advisors Instead

The Power of an All-Rounder Supported by a Growth Advisor

For many businesses, especially in the early stages, hiring a full-service agency can be overkill. Instead, consider building an in-house team, starting with a versatile, data-driven growth marketer who can take ownership of your marketing strategy. This person can wear many hats—experimenting with performance marketing, optimising your website, and analysing data to see what works.

Pairing this all-rounder with an experienced growth advisor or Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) will give your team the expertise it needs without the risky cost of hiring an agency. The growth advisor can guide strategic decisions and help avoid common pitfalls while your in-house team executes and adapts quickly.

Agencies Are Best for Scaling, Not Starting

Agencies can be valuable once you’ve developed your own playbooks and are ready to scale. After you’ve identified which channels work for your business, you may want to bring in an agency to help you expand those efforts—whether it’s growing your paid media campaigns or scaling your content production.

At this stage, you’ll already have the knowledge of what works for your audience, which means the agency will be better positioned to help you achieve scale. Agencies are great for implementation at scale, but they aren’t always the best partners for figuring out the early stages of growth.

Build Internally First, Scale Externally Later

Before rushing to hire a marketing agency, think about your current stage of growth. Agencies can be great partners when you’re ready to scale, but in the early days, they may not provide the deep, customer-focused strategy your business needs.

Start by hiring an in-house all-rounder and supporting them with a growth advisor. This will give you more control, flexibility, and the ability to deep dive into the customer data that matters. Once your playbook is clear, that’s when an agency can step in to help you scale.