When to hire in-house, when to outsource, when to do both. Full cost analysis and capability comparison.
Salary: $50,000-$80,000 for a marketing coordinator. Add benefits: $65,000-$105,000 total. Add tools and subscriptions: $500-$2,000/month. Add training and professional development: $2,000-$5,000/year. Total: $80,000-$130,000 annually for one person.
That one person needs to be skilled in: SEO, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, content creation, video production, social media management, email marketing, CRM management, analytics, and dental-specific compliance. Finding that unicorn is extremely difficult. More realistically, you get someone strong in 2-3 areas and weak in the rest.
The advantage: deep familiarity with your practice, immediate availability, full-time focus.
A dental marketing agency at $3,000-$10,000/month gives you access to an entire team: strategist, SEO specialist, ad manager, content writer, video producer, designer, analytics expert, and account manager. Each person specializes in their area.
Total cost: $36,000-$120,000/year — comparable to one in-house hire, but with a team of 5-8 specialists instead of one generalist.
The advantage: specialized expertise across every channel, no recruitment or management overhead, scalable up or down, and a track record with other dental practices that eliminates the learning curve.
Let's build a custom strategy for your practice.