Hiring an In-House Marketing Team vs a Marketing Agency | Lawnline Marketing Blog

Hiring an In-House Marketing Team vs a Marketing Agency


In-house vs specialized marketing agency; which works best for lawn and landscaping companies?

This question has stumped several businesses throughout a variety of industries. Now, many companies probably think that marketing agencies like ours charge tens of thousands of dollars a year, maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And why should someone spend that money out the door when it’s possible to just hire somebody in-house?

The main answer is simply because, when hiring in-house, people are going to spend a whole lot more money for subpar results.

Everything that's involved with digital marketing doesn't happen with just one person. In fact, it takes five people at a minimum to execute our marketing services. Our marketing specialists cover everything from organic SEO to paid advertising and more.


What roles are needed to properly execute digital marketing tasks?

If hiring in-house, there are really 5 positions you should be hiring. Here is what you'll need:

1. Content Writer

First, the marketing team will need a good content writer. The content writer needs to understand search engine optimization, how Google's algorithms work, and be creative enough to come up with good topics that can be written properly into long-form blogs the way it should be done.

Our company has never had one content writer, in all of the content writers we’ve worked with, that has the ability to do this out of the gate.

That basically means the content writer will have to be trained on how to properly create and write content that will rank for search engines like Google.

2. Senior Web Developer

The next person that needs to be hired is a web developer or even a senior web developer.

Why a senior web developer? Because a junior web developer may not be capable or have enough experience to put out a website that's going to represent a lawn and landscape business accurately. A senior web developer knows how to code, create web page designs, and can put it all together to make it flow into one seamless user experience.

Asking the right questions during the interview is another aspect of the hiring process. Will the interviewer know what those questions should be? How are they going to vet them? How will they know which are the right questions to ask to gain a better understanding of their skill level?

3. Social Media Specialist

Understanding all the various social media sites and how they can help build a business is a large part of digital marketing.

Who's going to make sure that the content being posted to the company’s social media platforms are actually going to get engagements and encourage people to click? The more online interaction there is, the more a business will get noticed! This means posts need to be interesting and unique enough to get people sharing the content and commenting on posts.

Part of the job of a social media specialist is also being able to gauge what posts are performing well, which ones aren't, and knowing how to pivot their social media strategy to get more post engagement from their audience.

Plus, how will this specialist know if they're judging the quality of the content correctly? Are they comparing everything to past results or to other companies in the green industry? Do they understand how to advertise a company's brand and services so they stand out, or will it blend in with the other hundreds of lawn and landscaping companies online?

4. Paid Advertising Specialist

The online ad space is a murky and difficult road to navigate if you don't know how it all works. Some people end up spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars on paid advertising and end up being no closer to seeing the number of leads they wanted that year. A paid ads specialist focuses on Google and Microsoft ads specifically, and these platforms are not something that can be learned overnight.

It’s possible for someone to spend time on these platforms every day for 10+ YEARS and still not have a full understanding of how it all works.

Paid advertising specialists are also extremely expensive. Just one of these salaries is typically higher than what it costs to pay a digital marketing agency for one full year.

Again, this is only for ONE person. This is where vetting becomes incredibly important. Are all the right questions going to be prepared? Can the paid ads specialist make sure, without a doubt, that they're going to be able to take the company’s marketing budget and get the results that they’re looking for?

5. SEO Specialist

While content writers should have some SEO knowledge, they also have other parts of content creation that they have to focus on. An SEO specialist will already have the training and skills needed to help build inbound links the way they should. SEO ensures the right content topics are being chosen and that they're coded properly.

An SEO specialist also makes sure that everything outside and inside of the website is properly written to Google standards, in other words, the way that Google requires people to write content in order to get rankings on their search engines.

During the interview process, the interviewer will have to know what they're talking about, which means they'll need to familiarize themselves with SEO and how it works as well. This is why SEO specialists are extremely expensive.

Just like senior web developers. Just like paid advertising specialists. Just like content writers.

These are all people that need to be hired onto the in-house marketing team, which will easily exceed six figures in salaries alone.


Don't forget about employee benefits!

Just like with any other full-time employee, the in-house marketing team is going to need benefits. This includes:

  • Paid-time off (PTO)
  • Vacation time
  • Health insurance
  • Dental and vision
  • 401k's

The company is responsible for providing them with all these benefits and more. If you want multiple high caliber employees from the marketing industry, you must keep in mind that the tech industry has tons of benefits that landscape companies typically don't have. Because of this, it's going to be harder to pluck one of these senior people out of their current position in the marketing industry and entice them enough to work for a lawn or landscaping company full-time.

These are just a couple of the issues a business is going to face when trying to run its own in-house marketing team.


Hiring a marketing agency allows lawn and landscape companies to focus on what they do best.

Lawn and landscape companies specialize in either one or even both of these categories, but consider this; what does anybody do when they can’t perform or don’t understand a particular service very well?

The answer? They sub it out.

Most people hire somebody who is a specialist in that service because it's going to take far more effort to figure it out for themselves. It's easier to find somebody who does it, does it well, and then pay those people to get the job done.

Marketing is the same way.


Our marketing agency has the tools to get lawn and landscape companies the results they want!

It’s wise to keep these things in mind when thinking about hiring a marketing agency versus hiring someone in-house. It's also important to think about the end result. In truth, an in-house marketing team may never come near to the results that our team at Lawnline Marketing produces. Some businesses may hire people they believe to be the best marketing team in the world, and they still aren't going to get the results that we have continuously attained for our past clients.

The reason for this is simply because they don't have the proper training. They don't work with a ton of lawn and landscaping companies every day like we do. They're not going to have the same essential tools available to them as we do.

Did you know that we spend THOUSANDS of dollars a month on marketing tools alone? We use tools that allow us to post across all social media platforms and allow us to pre-schedule every single post. So, not only is the company going to need a team with the proper talent and training, but the marketing team is also going to need the right online marketing tools as well to effectively do their jobs.

The reality is that if an in-house marketing team falls short on any of these factors, they’re not going to get the results the company is expecting. Hundreds of thousands of dollars will have ended up being spent on marketing with nothing to show for it.

So when considering hiring an agency like ours, which is going to have the same financial impact on a business as that of a single in-house employee, the reality is, it's a no brainer to hire a marketing agency.

Why? Because we can do it cheaper and we can do it better. It's as simple as that.

Share This Post!

Did you enjoy reading this post? Share it with others.

Let's hear your thoughts.

We want to hear your opinion, let us know what you think!

Thanks for your comment!

Thanks for your feedback! Your comments have been successfully submitted! Please note, all comments require admin approval prior to display.

Error submitting comment!

There is a problem with your comment, please see below.

On Monday, February 14, 2022, Ben Hawkshaw-burn wrote:
In my opinion, I believe hiring an agency has cheaper costs than that of an in-house team, especially an agency that has been established for a number of years as they tend to have a plethora more experience than some people, and it's a combined experience too whereas hiring a couple of people in-house doesn't diversify skillset and could still lead to hiring an agency somewhere along the line anyway
Respond to Ben Hawkshaw-burn

Showing Posts In Category:

Hiring an In-House Marketing Team vs a Marketing Agency
Friday, February 12, 2021

Hiring an In-House Marketing Team vs a Marketing Agency

In-house vs specialized marketing agency; which works best for lawn and landscaping companies? This question has stumped several businesses throughout a variety of industries. Now, many companies probably think that marketing agencies like ours ...
Press Release: Lawnline Website changes to Lawnline Marketing
Tuesday, December 01, 2020

Press Release: Lawnline Website changes to Lawnline Marketing

Lawnline Websites, one of the green industry’s leading digital marketing agencies, announced earlier this month its decision to begin operating under the name Lawnline Marketing. According to business owner Tony Ricketts, the name change...
What is Online Advertising & Should Lawn Care Companies Use It?
Friday, October 04, 2019

What is Online Advertising & Should Lawn Care Companies Use It?

Utilizing the Internet to gain business is something that all companies, especially service-based companies should be doing. It is a tool that can vastly help you with gaining more leads, growing your business, and finding the best quality jobs....
A Guide to GIE 2019: Time to Plan out Your Expo Experience
Thursday, September 26, 2019

A Guide to GIE 2019: Time to Plan out Your Expo Experience

Every year in October, the GIE+Expo is hosted in Louisville, KY by the National Association of Landscape Professionals and other organizations such as Hardscape North America. It’s the biggest green industry event of the season, and at...
What Is Web Design & Why Green Industry Businesses Need It
Friday, September 13, 2019

What Is Web Design & Why Green Industry Businesses Need It

Around 3.5 billion Google searches are performed every day, as people are using the Internet more and more to look for potential restaurants, hotels, hair salons, and lawn care/landscaping services. It's more important than ever to have an...
What is SEO & How It Works for Lawn & Landscape Companies
Thursday, August 01, 2019

What is SEO & How It Works for Lawn & Landscape Companies

When lawn and landscaping companies are trying to increase their customer base or leads on a new job, it can be tough to figure out how to create a solid online presence. In this day and age, many people are using the internet to find new companies...
Case Study: J&C Lawn Care
Thursday, August 30, 2018

Case Study: J&C Lawn Care

I'm Tony Ricketts, founder of Lawnline Websites. This is an inside look from my perspective on how J&C Lawn Care in Portland, Oregon is growing their lawn care and maintenance business using the Internet. In this case study, I'll outline ...
Review Building Strategy to Increase Your Search Engine Rankings
Thursday, June 14, 2018

Review Building Strategy to Increase Your Search Engine Rankings

As with just about anything in business, it isn’t enough to know that something is important. It is perhaps more vital to understand why that item is important and how it can be leveraged through a viable strategy. With this core sentiment...
How to Get Your Customers to Leave an Online Review
Tuesday, May 29, 2018

How to Get Your Customers to Leave an Online Review

Whether you're providing lawn care, landscaping, or hardscaping services, online reviews help you get more leads and close more deals. We all know this and many studies have proven it. What you may not know is that online reviews help increase...
Google's New Search Console Beta - Great Start, but Missing Key Features
Thursday, February 01, 2018

Google's New Search Console Beta - Great Start, but Missing Key Features

Recently, many of our clients have been getting notifications from Google Search Console that they have been moved to the new beta version. I've taken a few minutes to review this new beta version but was left feeling a little empty. When I say...
Tear Graphic
Tear Graphic
Tear Graphic
Tear Graphic
Torn Edges
5 Star Reviews More 5-star reviews than the market competition.
Read the reviews. Schedule a consultation.
Read the ReviewsCall (813) 944-3400
Torn Edges
Rt?aid=23464&e=1&img=1