Navigating digital marketing as a small business owner can feel like a full-time job on top of the full-time job you already have. You didn’t start your business to spend hours tweaking Google Ads or figuring out why your Facebook reach dropped — you started it to do the work you love and serve your customers. So who should actually be handling your marketing?
The answer depends on your budget, your goals, and where your business is right now. Here’s an honest breakdown of your main options.
Option 1: Do It Yourself
Plenty of small business owners handle their own marketing, especially in the early stages. DIY marketing makes sense if your budget is very tight, if you have time to invest, or if you genuinely enjoy the process of learning and experimenting.
The upside is obvious — it costs nothing but your time, and you know your business better than anyone. You can write blog posts, manage your Google Business Profile, post on social media, and respond to reviews without paying anyone.
The downside is just as real. Digital marketing is broad and constantly changing. SEO, paid ads, social media strategy, email marketing, local listings, and analytics are each their own specialty. Learning all of them to a useful level takes time — time most small business owners don’t have. And mistakes, like running ads without a strategy or ignoring your Google Business Profile, can quietly cost you leads every month.
DIY works best as a short-term solution while you build revenue, not as a long-term plan if growth is your goal.
Option 2: Hire Someone In-House
As your business grows, you might consider bringing a marketing person on staff. A dedicated in-house marketer lives and breathes your brand, responds quickly, and can coordinate closely with your team.
The challenge is cost. A qualified marketing coordinator in the Philadelphia area typically runs $45,000–$65,000 per year in salary alone, before benefits. And one person rarely covers everything — they might be great at social media but need support on SEO and paid ads. You also take on the responsibility of managing them, training them, and covering gaps when they leave.
In-house hiring makes the most sense for businesses doing $1M+ in revenue who need consistent, brand-immersed marketing support. For most small businesses still scaling, it’s an expensive step to take too early.
Option 3: Work With a Freelancer
Freelancers are specialists you hire for specific tasks — a copywriter, a social media manager, an SEO consultant. They’re flexible, lower commitment than an employee, and often very skilled in their niche.
The limitation is coordination. If you hire three separate freelancers for three different channels, you’re now the person connecting all the dots. Someone still needs to own the overall strategy — and if that’s you, you’re right back to spending significant time on marketing.
Freelancers work well for project-based needs: a new website, a logo refresh, a batch of blog posts. They’re harder to rely on for ongoing, integrated marketing.
Option 4: Partner With a Local Marketing Agency
A local marketing agency brings a full team — strategists, SEO specialists, paid ad managers, content writers, and analysts — under one roof. For small businesses that want real results without hiring a full department, it’s often the most cost-effective option.
When you work with an agency that specializes in small and local businesses, you get people who understand your market, your competition, and the specific levers that drive local growth. They know which keywords matter in your area, how to optimize your Google Business Profile for local search, and how to run ads that reach your actual customers.
A good agency also tracks results and adjusts. Marketing isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it activity. Campaigns need to be monitored, tested, and refined based on what the data shows.
What to Look For in a Small Business Marketing Partner
Not every marketing agency is built for small businesses. When you’re evaluating who to work with, ask these questions:
- Do they specialize in local and small business marketing? A generalist agency may not understand the nuances of competing in a local market.
- Do they offer transparent reporting? You should always know what you’re paying for and what results it’s generating.
- Do they take time to understand your business? Cookie-cutter marketing rarely works.
- Do they have relevant case studies or client results? Ask to see examples from businesses similar to yours.
- Are they local? A nearby agency understands your community and is easier to communicate with.
The Real Cost of Not Marketing
One thing that often gets overlooked: the cost of doing nothing. Every month your website sits without traffic, every week your Google Business Profile goes unmanaged, every quarter you let a competitor outrank you — those are real revenue losses, even if they don’t show up as a line item on your P&L.
Small businesses that invest consistently in marketing — even modestly — outperform those that treat it as an afterthought. The businesses that grow are the ones that show up online, build their reputation, and stay in front of their market.
Making the Right Call for Your Business
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. What matters is that someone is doing it — deliberately, consistently, and strategically. If you’ve been in business a few years and feel like your growth has plateaued, that’s usually a sign that DIY or piecemeal marketing has taken you as far as it can.
RedKnight works exclusively with small and local businesses in the Greater Philadelphia area and Lehigh Valley. If you’re tired of guessing at what’s working and want a marketing partner who understands your market, get in touch for a free consultation.