We believe in transparency. Here's an honest comparison of working with us versus hiring in-house, going to a big agency, or doing it yourself.
| Feature | SearchSoda ✓ | In-House Team | Big Agency | DIY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | From £750/mo | £3,500–£6,000/mo | £2,000–£10,000/mo | Tools only ~£200/mo |
| Full-service capability | Yes | Usually 1–2 people | Yes | Limited by your skills |
| Specialist expertise | Cross-discipline | Generalist only | Yes | No |
| Time to start | This week | 3–6 months hiring | 4–8 weeks onboarding | Immediately |
| Transparent pricing | All prices published | Salary known | Custom quote only | Tool costs visible |
| Proven results | Transparent benchmarks | Unknown until hired | Usually yes | Learning curve |
| AI & automation tools | Built in | Extra cost | Varies | Extra cost |
| Dedicated account manager | Yes | That's the employee | Often junior AM | Just you |
| No long-term contracts | Rolling monthly | Permanent employment | Usually 12-month min | Yes |
A full in-house marketing team costs £60,000–£100,000/year in salaries alone, before tools, training and management overhead. You'll typically get a generalist who's good at 2–3 things but needs agency support for the rest anyway. Great for very large businesses; expensive for growing ones.
Large agencies are excellent at certain things, brand, creative, big media buys. But for SMEs, you'll pay premium rates and often be handled by junior staff. You won't see the senior team after the pitch. Minimum contracts of 12 months are standard. Budget: £3,000–£10,000+/mo.
Totally valid for bootstrapping stage, but the true cost is your time. Running SEO, paid ads, social, email and a website yourself is essentially a full-time job on top of running your business. Most business owners who try this end up spending more, not less, when you factor in your hourly rate.
A full-service team at a fraction of the in-house cost, with no long-term contracts. You get specialists in SEO, ads, social, web and AI, not one person trying to cover everything. Transparent pricing, clear benchmarks, and an account manager who actually knows your business.
SearchSoda works best for small and medium businesses that need professional digital marketing but do not have the revenue to justify an in-house team or the budget for a large agency. The typical client is spending between £750 and £5,000 per month on marketing and wants specialists, not a generalist wearing multiple hats.
The flat-fee model matters more than it might initially seem. Most agencies charge a percentage of ad spend, which means their revenue grows when your spend grows, regardless of whether the results justify it. SearchSoda's fees are fixed. If your Google Ads spend doubles because it is working, our fee stays the same. That alignment matters.
The rolling contract model suits businesses that have been burned by long-term agency contracts before. You are not locked into 12 months of payments if the relationship is not working. You give 30 days notice and you stop. The goal is for clients to stay because the results are there, not because a contract requires it.
SearchSoda is probably not the right fit if you need a large creative team for brand campaigns, if you have the scale to justify a full in-house department, or if you primarily need media buying at significant spend levels where a specialist buying agency has advantages. We will tell you this on the free consultation call if it applies to you.
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