In-House Team vs GTM Agency: Which is Right for You?
One of the biggest strategic decisions for B2B companies is whether to build an internal go-to-market team or partner with a GTM agency. Both approaches have merit, and the right choice depends on your company's stage, resources, and growth objectives.
Quick Comparison
| Factor | In-House Team | GTM Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Time to Impact | 3-6 months to hire and ramp | 2-4 weeks to onboard |
| Annual Cost | $300K-800K+ (small team) | $180K-600K (retainer) |
| Control | Full control | Collaborative |
| Expertise Breadth | Limited by team size | Access to specialists |
| Scalability | Slow (hiring cycles) | Fast (flex resources) |
| Institutional Knowledge | Retained internally | Shared with agency |
The In-House Approach
What It Looks Like
A typical early-stage in-house GTM team might include:
- VP/Head of Marketing: $180K-280K
- Demand Gen Manager: $90K-140K
- Content Marketer: $70K-110K
- Marketing Ops/RevOps: $80K-130K
Total: $420K-660K in salary alone, plus benefits (add 25-35%), tools, and overhead.
Advantages of In-House
1. Deep Company Knowledge
- Understands product nuances intimately
- Can respond quickly to market changes
- Builds institutional knowledge over time
2. Full-Time Dedication
- 100% focused on your business
- Available for ad-hoc needs
- Integrated with other departments
3. Cultural Alignment
- Part of the company culture
- Invested in long-term success
- Direct accountability to leadership
4. Asset Building
- Processes and playbooks stay with you
- Content and creative assets owned
- Customer relationships developed internally
Challenges of In-House
1. Hiring Difficulty
- Competitive talent market
- 3-6 months to hire senior roles
- Risk of bad hires (costly to correct)
2. Limited Expertise
- Small teams can't cover all specializations
- May lack experience in specific channels
- Hard to stay current with best practices
3. Fixed Costs
- Salaries don't flex with business needs
- Expensive to scale up or down
- Significant benefits and overhead costs
4. Management Overhead
- Requires leadership attention
- Training and development needs
- Performance management complexity
The GTM Agency Approach
What It Looks Like
A typical GTM agency engagement might include:
- Strategic Leadership: Fractional CMO or Strategy Lead
- Execution Team: Demand gen, content, ops specialists
- Specialist Access: SEO, paid, ABM experts as needed
Monthly retainer: $15K-50K depending on scope and agency tier.
Advantages of GTM Agencies
1. Speed to Impact
- Start within weeks, not months
- Pre-built playbooks and processes
- No ramp-up time for individual skills
2. Breadth of Expertise
- Access to full team of specialists
- Cross-industry experience
- Current best practices and tactics
3. Flexibility
- Scale up or down based on needs
- Access specialist skills when needed
- Easier to pivot strategies
4. External Perspective
- Fresh eyes on your challenges
- Benchmarks from other companies
- Challenges internal assumptions
Challenges of GTM Agencies
1. Less Context
- Learning curve on your business
- May not understand nuances deeply
- Requires strong internal partnership
2. Shared Attention
- Working with multiple clients
- May not be available instantly
- Competing priorities possible
3. Dependency Risk
- Knowledge may leave with agency
- Transition costs if relationship ends
- Need internal handoff planning
4. Communication Overhead
- Requires clear briefing and feedback
- Regular alignment meetings needed
- Approval processes can slow work
Cost Comparison
In-House Team (Annual)
| Role | Salary | + Benefits (30%) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| VP Marketing | $220,000 | $66,000 | $286,000 |
| Demand Gen Manager | $120,000 | $36,000 | $156,000 |
| Content Marketer | $90,000 | $27,000 | $117,000 |
| Marketing Ops | $100,000 | $30,000 | $130,000 |
| Total Team | $530,000 | $159,000 | $689,000 |
Plus: Tools ($30K-100K), contractors, training, management time.
GTM Agency (Annual)
| Engagement Level | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Advisory/Fractional | $8,000-15,000 | $96,000-180,000 |
| Mid-tier retainer | $20,000-35,000 | $240,000-420,000 |
| Full-service | $40,000-60,000 | $480,000-720,000 |
Note: Agency costs are more variable and can flex with needs.
Decision Framework
Choose In-House When:
- Long-term view: Building for 3+ year horizon
- Stable needs: Predictable, consistent workload
- Strong leadership: Have CMO/VP to manage team
- Cultural importance: Marketing as core competency
- Retention focus: Want to keep knowledge internal
- Budget allows: Can afford full team + overhead
Choose GTM Agency When:
- Speed matters: Need results in weeks, not months
- Variable needs: Workload fluctuates significantly
- Expertise gaps: Need specialists you can't hire
- Transitional period: Between hires or pivoting
- Cost flexibility: Want variable vs fixed costs
- External perspective: Need fresh strategic input
Hybrid Approach
Many companies use both:
Internal: Strategic leadership, brand ownership, key relationships Agency: Execution, specialist channels, overflow capacity
Example structure:
- In-house: VP Marketing + Marketing Ops
- Agency: Demand gen execution, content production, paid media
Transition Considerations
Moving from Agency to In-House
Plan for:
- Knowledge transfer period (3-6 months overlap)
- Documentation of processes and playbooks
- Handoff of vendor relationships
- Training on tools and systems
Moving from In-House to Agency
Consider:
- What internal resources to retain
- How to transfer institutional knowledge
- Maintaining relationships with stakeholders
- Clear scope and expectations
Questions to Ask Yourself
- Timeline: How quickly do you need results?
- Budget: What's your total marketing budget?
- Leadership: Do you have strong marketing leadership?
- Stability: Are your needs consistent or variable?
- Expertise: What skills do you need most?
- Culture: How important is building internal capability?
- Risk tolerance: Can you afford hiring mistakes?
Conclusion
There's no universally "right" answer. Early-stage companies often benefit from agency partnerships that provide instant expertise and flexibility. As companies scale and needs stabilize, building internal teams often makes more sense.
The best approach is often hybrid: maintain strategic leadership and critical functions in-house while leveraging agencies for execution, specialist skills, and capacity flexibility.
Need help finding the right GTM agency? Use our free AI matching tool to get personalized recommendations, or browse our agency directory to explore options.