Are you trying to decide between hiring a digital marketing freelancer vs. agency?
With almost everything being online nowadays, digital marketing plays a large role in the marketing strategy of every small business and startup. There are a number of new tools and software that can be used to make marketing fast and easy. For small businesses and startups, it is an important consideration to hire a digital marketer when work becomes overwhelming.
Most business owners and online entrepreneurs are now having difficulties when it comes to juggling several things in a day. A lot of tasks are needed to be taken care of, such as answering emails, managing ads, creating new campaigns, adding new inventories, making purchase requests – you name it. With all these things going on a day-to-day basis, they may discover at the end of the day that eight hours is not yet enough to complete them all!
To solve this problem, a business owner should consider outsourcing marketing operations. This is to make sure that their marketing strategy is looked after and more importantly, will significantly contribute to the success of the business!
If you’re one of those business owners struggling to find time to do your marketing, you can hire a digital marketing agency or work with a freelance marketing specialist. You may now be asking: which one is better for your case?
Difference between digital marketing freelancers and digital marketing agencies
To make the best decision when hiring a digital agency or a freelancer, it is crucial to learn first their different characteristics.
A freelancer is an individual who works as a marketing consultant independently. A freelancer is a professional that either is specialised to one particular skill or has multiple ranges of skills from content and copywriting to social media, search engine optimisation, ad creation, building websites, strategy building, and design.
A digital agency refers to a larger team composed of marketing professionals managed by the traditional hierarchical system.
Digital Marketing Freelancer vs. Digital Marketing Agency: The Pros and Cons You Need to Know
If you’re deciding between hiring a digital marketing freelancer vs. agency, here are the pros and cons of each one that may help you to decide:
Hiring a digital marketing freelancer
Pros
- Freelancers work on their own, and they aim to provide excellent service to build their reputation.
- Freelancers are well-rounded professionals. They are usually equipped with various skills and competencies; thus, the knowledge that they can contribute to the business is diverse.
- They are often knowledgeable in various marketing strategies, including website building, SEO, social media marketing, data entry, content writing, and more.
- Freelancers usually handle fewer projects so that they can make your projects a top priority.
- Freelancers work in a more flexible schedule.
- Freelancers tend to be more affordable than agency because they have fewer overheads
- Freelancers can be more productive because they can work on their most comfortable schedule.
Cons
- Not every freelancer is a man of all skills; therefore, you may need to hire 2-3 freelancers to cover all the marketing jobs you require
- It may take a longer time for a freelancer to finish a project due to a lack of resources
Hiring a digital marketing agency
Pros
- Can provide more resources to complete a project quickly.
- May have a more established structure when it comes to implementation and managing business progress.
- Is typically composed of experienced marketers who have a wide array of skills.
Cons
- Agencies have more clients than freelancers. For this reason, they might be unable to provide the dedication your business deserves.
- A digital agency is composed of different individuals who have different traits and capacities; thus, achieving a uniform effort to keep their reputation can be challenging.
- A digital agency may assign you an experienced marketer if your company is larger, but you may get an intern to look after your marketing operations
- Hiring a digital agency tends to be more expensive. They usually have more overhead costs, such as their own space and their own marketing specialists, like SEO specialists, graphic designers, and ad experts, and web developers.
Conclusion
Whether you are hiring a digital marketing freelancer vs. agency to help you achieve your marketing goals, make sure to evaluate their skills, competencies, charges, and expertise.
It’s also crucial to check if the freelancer or digital agency has experience in your industry or niche. Look into the brands they’ve worked with and their knowledge about the industry. If they’re clueless about the industry, chances are they’ll have difficulty working on a business plan!
SKCreative: Freelance Digital Marketer in Melbourne

If you’re looking for a marketer for your business in Australia, SKCreative can help you. I’m a freelance digital marketing consultant in Melbourne and help small businesses and startups through creative digital solutions including:
- Website Design
- Digital Strategy
- Google Ads Management
- Facebook Advertising
- Linkedin Advertising
- Email marketing
Contact me today for a free consultation to find out how we could work together.