When a local business owner decides they need better marketing, they face a fundamental choice: hire someone internally or work with an outside agency. Here's an honest breakdown of both options to help you make the right decision for your specific situation.
The Cost Comparison
A part-time marketing coordinator at 20 hours per week in East Texas typically costs $15-20 per hour — $1,200-1,600 per month before taxes, benefits, and management overhead. A full-time marketing manager runs $35,000-55,000 per year — $3,000-4,600 per month before benefits, taxes, and equipment. Stone Digital's packages start at $1,000 per month with no benefits, no taxes, no management overhead, and no HR complexity.
The Skills Comparison
A single marketing employee typically has a narrow skill set — they might be great at social media but weak on SEO, or good at graphic design but not paid advertising. Stone Digital brings expertise across every digital marketing channel: social media, paid advertising, SEO, Google Business Profile, email marketing, automation, and website management. You get a full marketing department's worth of capability for the price of one part-time employee.
When an Internal Hire Makes More Sense
Hiring internally makes sense when: your business is large enough to justify a full-time marketing salary ($2M+ in revenue), you need someone physically present to document your work daily, you want to build proprietary marketing capabilities and institutional knowledge, or you need deep integration with operations that an external partner cannot provide efficiently.
When Stone Digital Makes More Sense
Working with Stone Digital makes more sense when: you need professional results without the cost and complexity of an employee, you want diverse expertise across multiple channels, you're in growth mode and need experienced guidance, or you want to see results within weeks rather than waiting months for an employee to get up to speed.
The Honest Bottom Line
For most local businesses in East Texas generating under $2M annually, an agency relationship at $1,000-2,000 per month delivers better results, more diverse expertise, and lower total cost than a marketing hire. For businesses above $2M with complex, high-volume marketing needs, building an internal team becomes increasingly justifiable.
Book a free discovery call to discuss what makes sense for your specific situation.