01 May SHOULD I HIRE A MARKETING AGENCY – THE BRUTALLY HONEST, PERSONAL TAKE NO ONE TELLS YOU

I’ll admit it: I’ve been on both sides of this question “should you hire a marketing agency?” —as a client wondering if a marketing agency is worth it, and as someone running a marketing agency (Amra & Elma) who has had to prove time and time again that we’re worth the investment. So if you’re sitting there, scratching your head, asking yourself whether you should finally outsource your marketing or just keep DIY-ing it with Canva graphics and late-night Instagram posts—this one’s for you.

Let’s rip the band-aid off:
The answer is—it depends.
And no, that’s not a cop-out. It’s the only honest answer there is. But let me walk you through how I figured that out the hard way, and what you need to know before you make the hire (or don’t).

The Obvious: You Need a Budget to Hire a Marketing Agency. Period.

Let’s not dance around this part: Good marketing agencies are expensive.

Like, “rethink your handbag splurges for the next six months” expensive. A legit agency can cost anywhere from $3,500 to $20,000+ a month depending on what you want —branding, SEO, social media, PR, content creation, paid media, all of the above. And that’s before you factor in ad spend or influencer fees.

So if you don’t have a budget to play with, don’t hire an agency. Not yet.

Don’t go broke thinking that some $500/month agency promising 50,000 followers and 300 leads a day is going to change your life. That’s snake oil. Marketing is not magic. It’s math, psychology, experimentation, timing, and consistency—and all of that takes resources.

Real example? A skincare startup founder I knew spent her entire $2,000 marketing budget on a “boutique agency” that promised “viral press placements.” She got one feature on a blog that no one read, zero backlinks, and not a single conversion. Two months later, she was back to square one—with less money and more skepticism.

When You Should Absolutely NOT Hire a Marketing Agency:

• You don’t know what you want.
• You can’t clearly articulate your offer.
• You think $500/month will get you a team of experts working 40 hours a week.
• You’re still testing whether your product even sells.

Let’s Pretend You Do Have the Budget to Hire a Marketing Agency —Now What?

Okay, great. You’ve got a solid product, and some sales are coming in. You’re overwhelmed. Your Instagram DMs are a mess, your website traffic is stagnant, and your competitor just got featured in Vogue and you’re having marketing FOMO. Time to call in the pros, right?

Not so fast.

According to Clickslice, an agency that helps boost your visibility across Liverpool area,  “before you even send that “I’m looking for help with marketing :)” email, you need to understand what a good agency actually does and—this part is so important—how to spot if they’re the real deal or just good at selling themselves.”

Here’s my rule of thumb:

Only hire someone who has already done the thing they are promising to do for you—for themselves.

Want an SEO agency? Ask to see the founder’s site.
Did they rank their own blog to the first page of Google? Even better—did they rank #1? That’s who you want.

Need help with Instagram growth? Great.
Did your social media manager grow their own following past 100K? Not their client’s. Their own.

❝Ideally, you want Warren Buffett to be your personal financial advisor, correct?❞

Why? Because he’s already done it. He didn’t read a textbook. He lived it. So why are you trusting someone who’s never ranked a single article with your SEO strategy?

Example? I know an SEO consultant who ranks #1 for multiple high-volume keywords in the marketing industry—on her own blog. She gets tens of thousands of monthly organic visitors without running a single ad. When she takes on clients, she applies the same strategies. That’s the kind of resume you want.

Another? I once met a “social media growth expert” who pitched her services to me. She charged $6K/month… and had under 300 followers herself. When I asked about past success, she only had screenshots from clients—no public proof, no consistency, and no personal traction.

Would you hire a personal trainer who doesn’t work out?
Would you hire a stylist who dresses like they got lost in 2007?
Exactly.

Why You Might Want to Hire a Marketing Agency (And Be Glad You Did)

Now let me be fair here. When you find a killer agency—a team that has been in the trenches, tested campaigns with their own money, built viral brands from scratch—it’s not just a service. It’s a marketing MBA. On steroids. Delivered to your business.

A great agency does two things:

1. They teach you.

2. They execute faster and more effectively than you ever could alone.

They’ll help you figure out who your customer is, how they behave online, where to reach them, and how to get them to buy—not just once, but again and again. And they’ll build systems around that.

Example? We worked with a sustainable fashion brand that had a great mission but terrible conversion rates. After a deep audit, we realized their messaging was too vague and their email flows were nonexistent. Within three months, we restructured their entire funnel—rewrote the homepage, installed post-purchase emails, and launched a micro-influencer campaign. Revenue jumped 270%.

They didn’t just get “pretty content.”
They got a strategy—and sales.

Let’s Talk Red Flags When Looking to Hire a Marketing Agency (Because There Are So Many)

There are way too many agencies out there that are all pitch, no punch.

🚩 They show you pretty presentations but zero performance data.
🚩 They have a flashy website but no original content that ranks.
🚩 Their own social channels are dead zones.
🚩 They can’t name a single thing they’ve built from scratch.
🚩 They speak in buzzwords (“omnichannel synergy,” “brand authenticity,” “community-led virality”) but not results.

Example? I once got on a call with a “growth strategist” who told me they could 10X my traffic in three months. When I asked what site they had ranked before, they hesitated… and then said they hadn’t focused on their own because they were “too busy growing client brands.”

Please.

That’s like a chef who never tastes their own food.

What a Good Agency Relationship Actually Looks Like

Let’s clear this up because people get this wrong all the time:

• A good agency doesn’t promise overnight results.

• They ask thoughtful questions and challenge your assumptions.

• They educate you while they build for you.

• They have clear KPIs, reporting systems, and transparency.

• They treat your business like a partner, not just a project.

You should be walking away from your first month of working together saying, “Damn. I just learned more about marketing in 30 days than I did in the last three years.”

Example? One of our longest-term clients started with a one-month trial. We focused only on landing PR and influencer buzz around her vegan cookie brand. We got her in VegNews, Forbes, and on two wellness YouTuber channels. She now runs a subscription snack business and is in Whole Foods. All because she trusted the process—and we showed her proof before she signed anything.

So Should You Hire One? My Final Take

Only if:

✅ You have a solid product and offer.
✅ You’ve validated demand (people actually want it).
✅ You have a marketing budget of at least a few thousand dollars a month.
✅ You’ve vetted the agency and they have receipts.
✅ You’re ready to learn and collaborate.
✅ You value strategy over shortcuts.

And don’t do it if:

❌ You’re hoping someone else will magically make your business work.
❌ You don’t even know what your product’s positioning is.
❌ You haven’t looked at your competitors.
❌ You can’t tell the difference between a viral trend and a sound strategy.
❌ You can’t afford to stick it out for at least 3–6 months.

The Real Secret? Learn Just Enough to Not Get Burned

If you’ve read this far, here’s the best advice I can give you:
Even if you don’t hire an agency today, you owe it to yourself to learn enough marketing to not get scammed. You need to know the basics of SEO, social media, email, and paid ads—not to master them, but to know if someone else is bullshitting you.

The people who win in business either:

1. Know marketing.

2. Know how to hire marketers who actually know marketing.

You don’t have to do it alone.
But you do need to be smart enough to know who’s worth bringing on board.

TL;DR?

Yes—hire a marketing agency.
But only if they’ve done the work for themselves.
Only if you’ve got the budget.
Only if you’re ready to level up.

Anything less? Keep your money, learn the ropes, and come back when you’re ready to play in the big leagues.