Freelancer or agency for Facebook ads? An honest comparison
The short version
Hire an agency if you need breadth: a team, a creative studio, cover when people are off. Hire a freelancer if you need seniority: one experienced person who knows your account and does the work. Whichever you choose, ask who will actually run your account day to day.
I should say upfront: I'm a freelancer, so weigh this accordingly. But I've also worked agency-side at dentsu and two Sydney agencies, and in-house at Jaguar Land Rover, where I was the one hiring and briefing. I've seen this decision from every side.
Neither option is better. They're good at different things.
What an agency gives you
A team. Media buyers, strategists, designers, editors, analysts. If you need lots of things done at once, an agency has the hands.
Cover. When someone's on holiday or leaves, somebody else picks it up.
Creative production. Many agencies can make your ads as well as run them, which saves you finding and managing creators or designers.
Process. Good agencies have checklists, QA and people reviewing each other's work.
Breadth. If you need Meta, Google, TikTok, Pinterest and programmatic all at once, one agency can cover it.
Where agencies can fall short
Not every agency, but often enough to ask about:
The seniority gap. The experienced person in the pitch isn't always the person in your account every day. Day-to-day work is often done by someone more junior, looking after several clients.
Layers. You talk to an account manager, who talks to the strategist, who talks to the media buyer. Things get slower, and some detail gets lost on the way.
Cost. You're paying for the people, the office, the management and the margin. That's fair, but it means less senior time per pound.
Turnover. Agencies lose people, and every new account manager has to learn your business from scratch.
What a freelancer gives you
Direct access to the person doing the work. No messages relayed through someone else.
Seniority for the money. A good freelancer is usually someone with years of experience who no longer wants to manage a team or sit in pitches.
Knowledge of your account. One person, a small number of clients, and every decision in their head.
Flexibility. Easier to scale up, down or change scope without a contract renegotiation.
Where freelancers can fall short
Capacity. One person can only do so much. If you need twenty new ads a week designed, edited and launched, a freelancer will need help or you'll need a production partner.
Cover. If they're ill or on holiday, there may be nobody else in the account. Ask what happens.
Nobody checking their work. In an agency, someone senior might spot a mistake. With a freelancer, you're relying on them.
Quality varies a lot. "Freelance Facebook ads specialist" covers everyone from a twenty-year veteran to someone who did a course last month. Check their background properly.
Questions to ask either one
These work whichever way you're leaning:
Who will actually run my account every day? Get a name. Ask to meet them.
How many other accounts does that person look after?
What will you report on? If the answer is only ROAS, CTR and CPM, keep looking. You want business numbers: revenue, new customers, cost per new customer.
Who owns the ad account, pixel and data? It should always be you. Never let anyone run ads through an account you can't access.
What happens when they're off?
What's the notice period? Long lock-ins are a warning sign for either.
Can I speak to a current client?
So which should you choose?
An agency is probably right if you need lots of creative made, several platforms run at once, cover at all hours, or you simply don't want to manage anything yourself.
A freelancer is probably right if you want one experienced person who knows your numbers, you can sort creative production yourself or with partners, and you value direct access over a big team.
Some businesses use both. A freelancer to own strategy and run the main accounts, with a production studio or creators making the ads. Or a freelancer brought in to keep an existing agency honest.
The worst option is the one where you're not sure who's in your account or what they're doing there.
