Agency, freelancer or in-house: who should run your ads?

Doing it yourself

Cheapest in cash, most expensive in time. It works while you have the hours to learn, make new ads regularly and check results every week. It breaks when the business gets busy and the ads go stale.

Hiring in-house

A good in-house marketer knows your business inside out. But one person rarely covers strategy, design, video, copy and analysis, and the salary, tools and management add up long before results arrive.

Freelancers

Flexible, and often very good at one thing. You'll usually still need to coordinate creative, tracking and reporting across several people yourself.

Agencies

A team with a range of skills. Watch for minimum terms, fees that rise with your ad spend, a small number of new ads each month, and who owns the ad account.

Done-for-you services

A fixed scope at a fixed price: you know what you'll get each week and what it costs. Check that the work is made for your business rather than templated, and that you keep your accounts and data.

That's the model we chose for Weekly Ads: new ads every week, built on your results, in your own ad account, with no lock-in.

Questions to ask whoever you choose

• Who owns the ad account, the ads and the data?
• How many new ads will we get, and how often?
• How are you paid, and does it rise as our ad spend rises?
• What's the minimum term, and how do we leave?
• What will you report, and how often?