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I’ve been there on both sides. Agency builds a client up from $6,000 to $160,000 in monthly spend with consistent growth and good ROI. Then company decides to hire in-house to save a few bucks. Maybe it works and maybe it doesn’t. Since that’s a risk they’re willing to take, here’s a few options:
1 – Hire a contractor/consulatant with experience to help manage the account and perhaps SEO help. Make sure things don’t fall apart or CPCs get outrageously high. You may not save a ton on fees here but the ship will stay afloat.
2 – Hire someone with a few years of experience. Hope for the best. Spend most of your time managing this person. Pay to train them only to watch them leave for a $5,000 raise in 10 months.
3 – Hire the consultant until you have someone in-house you feel confident turning over management. Ultimately you’re just paying consultant to train this person who may ultimately leave anyway. At least you’ll have a backup plan if that person doesn’t work out.
I can’t tell you how many people I’ve watched on board in-house jump to another job after 7-10 months for what seems like a small pay bump. Owning an agency you see it all the time as well. Good agencies have a transition plan and pool of talent to make sure clients don’t feel that pain as much. I think when you hire a good agency, it is more expensive. There are a lot of benefits to it which can help justify the premium.
