Consultant or marketing agency: which one actually fits you.

I've been on both sides.

I spent more than 15 years in digital marketing, a good chunk of them running a Catalan agency. Not just any agency: we were a Google Premier Partner, the badge Google reserves for the top 3% of agencies by results, in each country. I watched over 50 million euros in ad spend flow through, with clients across more than 50 countries.

So when I talk about agencies, I'm not talking from the outside. I wrote commercial proposals, trained account managers, and saw how the work is organised from the inside. When I decided to step away and work as a consultant, it wasn't because the agency model is bad. It was because I wanted to work differently: fewer clients, much more depth. Now I take on 4 to 6 a year. Maximum.

This article is what I wish I could have sent to the people who ask me about this: when each model makes sense, told by someone who has lived both.

What an agency does well (and for whom it's the best option).

A well-run agency is an execution machine. It has specialists by channel: the person running Google Ads isn't the one doing social, the social person isn't the SEO person. It has processes, tools, cover when someone's on holiday, and the capacity to absorb volume that a single person simply cannot.

An agency is the right choice when:

• You have an internal marketing team to manage it. An agency executes best when someone on the inside knows what to ask for, reviews the work and sets priorities. Large brands operate this way, and it works.
• Your volume justifies it. If you're investing serious money across several channels at once, you need more hours and more specialisms than any single consultant can provide.
• You need operational continuity. Live campaigns all year round, several markets, constant launches. That requires a team, not one person.

If that's you, don't look for a consultant. Find a good agency. Seriously.

Where the agency model grates for a small business.

Now for the uncomfortable part, which I know first-hand because I used to run this model.

An agency lives on having many accounts. That's their business model, and it's legitimate: to pay for specialists, tools and overhead, every account manager needs to carry a portfolio of clients. The practical consequence is that your account is one of many in that portfolio. If you're a small account, you're a small account: you'll be looked after properly, but nobody is going to spend hours thinking about your specific business.

There's another detail almost nobody mentions: the person who sells you the service is almost never the person who delivers it. The senior profile attends the sales meeting; the day-to-day work is done by a more junior profile, who is learning on your account. Again, this isn't deception, it's just how the model scales. But if your budget is tight and every euro counts, you pay for that gap between the person who thinks and the person who acts.

For a small business with no internal marketing team, this often means monthly reports you never quite understand and a nagging feeling that you're paying for activity, not judgement.

What a consultant gives you (and what they should never promise).

A consultant gives you one very specific thing: the senior person who analyses your business is the same person who does the work. No layers in between. When I work with a client, I'm the one looking at the numbers, making the decisions and answering the phone.

That's only possible for one reason: few clients. I take on 4 to 6 a year because that's the maximum I can serve with the depth I promise. It's not a marketing stance; it's arithmetic. The hours in a day are fixed.

But be honest about what a consultant does not give you:

• No scale. If your business grows to the point of needing ten live campaigns across five markets, a solo consultant can't cover that.
• Not a 24/7 team. There's no cover, no shifts. If you need constant operational response, this isn't the right model.
• Not a specialist in everything. Nobody is. A good consultant will tell you where their expertise ends and where you'll need someone else. If you find one who claims to do everything, be sceptical.

How to decide: the questions you need to ask yourself.

Forget price for a moment. Ask yourself these:

• Do you have someone internally who knows how to manage marketing? If yes, an agency will multiply that person. If not, a consultant can be that person.
• What's missing: execution capacity or judgement? Hands to get things done, or someone to tell you which things are worth doing? They're different problems.
• How many specialisms do you need at once? One or two: consultant. Four or five in parallel, at volume: agency.
• Who do you want to really know your business? If you need the person executing to deeply understand your margins, your customers and your territory, the portfolio model of an agency works against that.
• Where will you be in two years? If the plan is to scale hard and fast across many channels, maybe the consultant is a first phase, not the final destination.

There's no universal answer. There's your situation.

The honest ending: not everyone should hire me.

I'll say it plainly: if you have an internal marketing team and a large budget spread across many channels, don't hire me. Hire a good agency. The model is built exactly for that, and it works.

And if you don't have budget for either, don't rush: there's a phase where the best marketing is fixing the product and talking to your existing customers. No honest consultant will tell you otherwise.

A consultant makes sense when you're a business that needs senior judgement genuinely applied to your situation, with no layers in the way, and you'd rather be one of a few than one of many. I chose this model because it's where I think I add the most. But I chose it knowing the other one from the inside, which is exactly why I can tell you without hesitation when the other one is the better fit for you.

The method page explains how I work and why I cap myself at 4 to 6 clients a year. If you want a quick picture of where your marketing stands right now before making any decisions, the diagnostic tool takes three minutes.

Frequently asked questions.

Is a consultant cheaper than an agency?

It depends what you're comparing. A consultant's monthly rate can seem similar to or higher than a small agency's, but you're paying for direct senior hours with no structure in between. What's genuinely expensive is paying either one for work you don't actually need.

Can a consultant do everything?

No, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. A consultant covers their specialisms and should tell you openly where you'll need an outside profile (design, development, high-volume content production). Part of the job is coordinating those things with judgement.

When should I choose an agency?

When you have an internal team to manage it, investment spread across several channels and a need for consistent execution capacity. In that scenario an agency is objectively the better option.

What if I grow and outgrow the consultant?

That's a good problem to have, and an honest consultant sees it coming before you do. The natural next step is bringing in an agency for high-volume execution, keeping the consultant as external strategic oversight or not. I ran an agency: I know how to make that transition without drama.

Can I combine a consultant and an agency?

Yes, and beyond a certain size it's a common setup: the agency executes, the consultant acts as an external marketing director who sets priorities and reviews results. It requires clear roles from day one.