A client spending $1M a year on ads brought us in after their cost-per-lead spiraled out of control. It didn’t take long to find the first landmine.

Their in-house media buyer had committed $50,000 to a newsletter sponsorship. He didn’t know how to negotiate or how to evaluate the rate card that was sent over.

The publisher happily collected the money and delivered nothing in return.

Without market context or experience, their buyer was taken advantage of — and leadership had no way to know until the damage was done.

That wasn’t the only issue.

When we examined their funnel, we discovered that a significant percentage of prospects were abandoning the form because it was way too long.

When we shortened it, and immediately recovered $400K in annual value — nearly half the ad spend saved with a single adjustment.

And these are just the problems you can see on the surface.

Pulling creative in-house also has hidden traps.

Internal teams maximize their own function instead of acting like a fiduciary — for example, generating MQLs whether or not the leads are truly qualified.

Most marketers have never had to pick up the phone and make a sale resulting in messages that don't convert into real sales conversations.

On top of that, campaigns are subject to leadership’s whims, with few willing to push back.

An experienced agency cuts through that. If creative or media isn’t working, you know quickly — and it’s far easier to make a change than when the work is buried inside an internal department.

This is why the agency line item, while it may look large on the balance sheet, doesn’t tell the full story.

What you don’t see are the negotiations, the benchmarks across dozens of accounts, and the expertise to prevent waste before it happens.

The real risk is believing you can replicate that by pulling everything in-house. It feels cheaper and more efficient, but the hidden costs often stay buried until the CFO starts asking hard questions.

Why Media Buyers Don’t Belong In-House Beyond a Certain Spend

Media buying at scale isn’t just about pulling levers in Google, Meta, or LinkedIn. It’s about benchmarks. It’s knowing what other companies are paying for the same inventory, which platforms are overpriced this quarter, and where the hidden leverage points are.

Agencies live in those numbers.

We see what’s working across dozens of accounts, we recognize when a platform is quietly tightening CPMs, and we know when a “recommended buy” is really just sales fluff. That context prevents waste and secures better terms.

An in-house buyer, no matter how skilled, doesn’t have that visibility. They’re making decisions in isolation, with no way to know if $50K for a placement was a smart investment or a fleecing.

Ken Lempit calls this the absence of a fiduciary mindset:

• Agencies must justify every campaign.
• Every decision is weighed against growth.
• Every buy is tested against market benchmarks.
• Every dollar is spent transparently — because if CAC rises or pipeline shrinks, the agency has to explain why.

Agencies survive only if the spend performs.

Internal hires don’t live under that pressure. Their paycheck doesn’t hinge on CAC, and their job security doesn’t evaporate if a quarter’s worth of spend underdelivers.

And this isn’t just about individual mistakes.

Media buying is not one skill–it’s a collection of ecosystems — Meta, LinkedIn, Google, programmatic, direct buys — each with its own rules, quirks, and leverage points, and an in-house generalist can’t live at depth in all of them.

Agencies can, because we’re structured around specialists who share wins and warnings across accounts.

So, if you’ve reached $500K in annual spend and are still managing the media buys in-house, it’s almost guaranteed that you have waste.

Why Most Internal Creative Falls Flat

Creative can be brought it in-house — but certain conditions have to be met. ClickUp is a great example. They built a high-volume, low-cost internal creative engine that produced multiple ads each week.

The difference was that their marketing leader understood the value of experimentation, was supported by leadership, and given the latitude to run without committee interference. That freedom allowed them to compete with giants and punch far above their weight.

But most companies don’t have that much faith in marketing.

Most internal marketers are brought in to serve the sales function, especially under the Predictable Revenue model. They optimize for the metrics they’re measured on — often MQLs — and will maximize volume whether those leads are qualified or not.

And because few have direct selling experience, their messaging rarely sparks real sales conversations. And rather than being empowered, their work is too often reshaped by leadership until it’s “safe” and forgettable.

That’s why so much B2B creative looks the same as their peers.

Agencies avoid these traps. They work across industries, bringing perspectives that internal teams can’t replicate. They know what resonates with buyers, they push back when ideas won’t sell, and they measure success on outcomes, not activity. And if creative underperforms, it’s far easier to replace an agency than overhaul an entire department.

So yes, you can run creative in-house — but only with the right leadership, the right latitude, and the discipline to think like a fiduciary. Without those conditions, it becomes another hidden cost of the all-in-house model.

The Smarter Alternative to the All-In-House Model

Bringing everything in-house feels efficient because it removes a visible cost — the agency fee.

But that line item is misleading.

What looks like savings is usually offset, and then some, by wasted spend, missed negotiations, and creative that never translates into pipeline.

Agencies may look expensive on the balance sheet, but they pay for themselves in expertise, accountability, and results.

Internal teams can’t replicate that ecosystem — and when budgets reach $500K or more, the cost of trying becomes enormous.

The smarter play isn’t all-in-house or all-agency. It’s a hybrid.

Keep your brand’s voice and vision anchored internally, but partner with an agency that brings strategic perspective, market benchmarks, and fiduciary discipline.

A strong agency doesn’t just execute — it challenges assumptions, pushes for sharper messaging, and makes sure your spend is aligned with pipeline impact. That’s how you keep CAC in check while building real growth.

If you’re spending $500K+ on paid media, don’t assume your internal team has it covered. Waste is hiding in the system. The only question is whether you’ll uncover it now — or let it leak quarter after quarter.

That’s exactly why we built our Media Budget Analysis.

It’s a deep-dive diagnostic that reveals where your dollars are slipping away — and how to redirect them into growth.

Because efficiency isn’t about cutting headcount or line items. It’s about holding every dollar accountable and making sure your strategy actually drives results.