If your team is five people and one of them wears the "marketing hat", this is your fork in the road. Three paths, one goal: turning traffic into conversations.
The three options in one table
| Path | Typical monthly cost | Speed to start | You keep control of… |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIY / in-house | Tool cost only | Days | Everything, including the mistakes |
| Freelancer (10–20 h/mo) | €800–€2,500 | 1–2 weeks | Strategy; freelancer executes |
| Agency retainer | €2,500–€8,000+ | 2–4 weeks | Direction; agency runs the machine |
Numbers vary
Ranges are rough starting points from what small B2B teams commonly report; not universal. Ask for a scoped quote before assuming anything.
DIY: when it wins
If your average customer is worth more than €10k and you have technical curiosity, DIY often beats both. You own the tools, the data, and the learning. The cost is time: expect 3–5 hours a week for the first quarter.
Tools you actually need: website tracking with company identification, an email client, and a shared doc for notes. That's it. Anything more is premature.
Freelancer: when it wins
A good freelancer is the highest-leverage step a founder can take before hiring. Ten to twenty hours a month buys you: content published on a rhythm, a working outbound cadence, and someone to keep the visitor-list ritual alive when your week explodes.
Signs of a good one: shows you the last three founders they helped, is comfortable being told "less strategy, more shipping", and asks about your ICP in the first call.
Agency: when it wins
Agencies win at scale and specialisation. If you're spending real money on paid ads, need SEO across many pages, or run a multi-brand site, the agency's process is worth the fee. For small B2B teams below €500k ARR, an agency is usually overkill — you pay for people managing people managing your work.
The hybrid that usually wins
Most small B2B teams end up here: DIY tools + one freelancer for 10 h/mo. You own the data and the customer conversations; the freelancer keeps content and lists moving. The founder still touches the top of the funnel — because at your stage, no external voice sells better than yours.
The three most expensive mistakes
- Hiring an agency for a €200/month tool problem.
- Signing a 12-month retainer before running a 3-month pilot.
- Outsourcing sales writing to somebody who has never sold in your category.
- Related: [The 10-minute weekly check](/blog/the-10-minute-weekly-check-leads-from-your-website-without-a-marketing-team)
- Related: [Your website is your best SDR](/blog/your-website-is-your-best-sdr)
- Related: [Tech-anxiety-free install](/blog/tech-anxiety-how-to-install-website-tracking-without-a-developer)
Published by
lead.box Team
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