What Does It Really Cost to Hire an In-House Marketing Person vs. Working With All Contractor?
Hiring someone to handle your marketing sounds straightforward. You have a person on your team, they know your business, and you can walk into their office when something needs attention.
For some home service contractors, that is the right move.
But before you write the job description, it helps to understand what “handling the marketing” actually includes—and what it costs beyond a salary.
Website updates, SEO, social posts and ads are the pieces you see. Research, tracking, testing and ongoing improvements happen behind the scenes. Those responsibilities belong in the comparison, too.
What does an in-house marketing person cost?
The answer depends on your location, the person’s experience and what you expect them to handle.
For a national reference, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual salary of $78,760 for market research analysts and marketing specialists in May 2025. That covers a broad group of roles, but it gives owners a useful starting point.
For planning purposes, here is an estimated budget for a full-time marketing hire:
| Expense | Estimated annual budget |
|---|---|
| Salary | $65,000–$95,000 |
| Employer taxes and benefits, using a 25% allowance | $16,250–$23,750 |
| Marketing software and tools | $2,400–$6,000 |
| Training and professional development | $1,000–$3,000 |
| Estimated total | $84,650–$127,750 |
That works out to roughly $7,100–$10,600 a month, before advertising spend, recruiting, equipment or outside specialist help.
These are illustrative planning estimates, not a standard industry rate. The salary scenarios sit around the national benchmark; the other amounts are budget allowances that should be adjusted to your business.
You may already own some of the software. Training can include free courses. Your benefit costs may be lower or higher. The point is to budget for what the employee needs to do the job—not just their paycheck.
What are you asking that person to handle?
A job description might say:
“Manage our website, SEO, social media and advertising.”
Each of those responsibilities includes more work than the description suggests.
SEO involves researching what homeowners search for, improving service pages, checking local business information and reviewing performance.
Website work includes updating offers, adding content, checking links and making sure forms still work.
Advertising requires watching budgets, reviewing searches, improving campaigns and checking whether inquiries are being tracked correctly.
Social media needs photos, ideas, writing, scheduling and responses.
Then someone has to connect all of that work to the business: Which services need more demand? Which areas are you trying to grow? Are the inquiries turning into booked jobs?
A good marketing employee can handle a lot. What they can reasonably cover depends on their skills, available time and your priorities.
One person brings a set of strengths
Someone who is excellent at gathering job photos and creating social content may need support with technical website issues.
An experienced SEO specialist may need help with graphic design or paid advertising.
That is normal. These are different skills.
The challenge comes when the business expects one person to provide strategy, writing, design, website support, SEO and ad management at the same level—all within a regular workweek.
If that employee also answers phones, helps with dispatch or handles office tasks, their marketing time gets smaller.
Before hiring, decide what they will own, what can wait and where they may need outside help. A focused role gives them a better chance to succeed.
Your time belongs in the comparison
An employee still needs direction, access to information and someone who can help set priorities.
As a simple example, two hours a week spent managing marketing adds up to about 100 hours a year.
That may include discussing promotions, reviewing content, approving campaigns and helping the employee understand which services or territories matter most.
Working with an outside team also requires your involvement. You still provide business knowledge, photos, approvals and feedback.
The useful question is how much time each approach requires—and whether you have that time available.
What working with All Contractor brings
Working with All Contractor gives you access to support across areas such as strategy, SEO, websites, content, local visibility and advertising, depending on your agreement.
That can make sense when you need several skills but do not have enough work to hire a separate person for each one.
It also gives you a way to assign the ongoing work that can be easy to overlook: checking tracking, testing forms, improving pages, reviewing campaigns and keeping business information accurate.
The comparison should start with a clear scope:
- What work is included?
- How often will it happen?
- Who is responsible for it?
- How will progress be reported?
- What costs are separate?
Advertising spend deserves its own line in either budget. Hiring an employee does not remove the cost of placing ads, and a marketing service fee should not be assumed to include that spending.
Sometimes the best answer is both
An in-house person can bring valuable access to your technicians, customers and day-to-day business.
They can collect project photos, share customer questions, coordinate promotions and help your marketing sound like your company.
An outside team can support them with agreed areas such as SEO, website improvements or advertising.
That combination can work well when responsibilities are clear. Your employee gets support, and the business gets the skills it needs without expecting one person to cover everything.
Compare the work before you compare the price
In-house marketing can be a good investment. Working with All Contractor can be a good investment. The right choice depends on what your business needs and how you want to manage it.
Before deciding, write down the recurring tasks, the larger projects and the expertise each one requires.
Then compare the full hiring budget with a clear marketing scope.
You are choosing who will do the work, how they will be supported and whether the plan can keep moving when your business gets busy.
Want help understanding what your marketing actually requires? All Contractor can help you map the work and decide what to handle internally, what to get support with and what to prioritize next.
Sources and estimate notes
Salary reference: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Market Research Analysts.
Employer-cost context: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Employer Costs for Employee Compensation.
Free training example: Google Ads training on Skillshop.
Estimates prepared in October 2026. The salary range, 25% employer-cost allowance, software budget and training budget are planning assumptions—not surveyed industry averages. Actual costs vary by location, experience, benefits and scope. Advertising spend is excluded.
