Hiring

Agency, freelancer or in-house for video and ads?

By Stefan Twomey, Co-Founder, Performance Marketing20 October 20266 min read

Short answer: for most Irish small businesses, the set-up that works is a hybrid: someone in-house handles the daily posting, replies and lead follow-up, and an agency plans the shoots, makes the videos and runs the ads. Hire a freelancer for a defined one-off job, and hire in-house only when there is enough video and ad work to keep one person busy all year and you can cover the kit, the employment costs and their time off.

We are the outside team in this comparison, so read it with that in mind; we say plainly when the answer is not an outside team.

What skills does video and ad marketing actually need?

Video that brings in enquiries is four jobs, not one:

• Planning and scripting. Deciding what to make, for whom, and what each video should get the viewer to do.
• Filming. Camera, sound and light, plus the harder skill of putting a nervous customer or staff member at ease so they sound like themselves.
• Editing. Cutting for 9:16 Reels, 4:5 feeds and 16:9 YouTube, with captions, music licensed for paid ads and a colour grade.
• Ads and tracking. Setting up Meta and Google campaigns, installing conversion tracking through Google Tag Manager, testing creative and judging it on cost per lead.

Then there is the daily layer: stories, replies and calling new leads back fast, which needs someone there every day. Few people are strong at all four jobs; a good camera operator is rarely a good media buyer. If you are hiring an in-house social media manager, check which of these you are asking one person to do.

What does hiring a marketing person cost in Ireland?

The salary is only the start. On top of it:

• Employer PRSI. Since 1 October 2026, employers pay Class A PRSI at 11.4% of an employee's pay if their weekly earnings are above €552 (9.15% if €552 or less), and that threshold rises to €600 in 2027 (Citizens Information).
• Pension. If they are aged 23 to 60, earn €20,000 or more and are not in a pension through payroll, they are auto-enrolled in MyFutureFund and you pay 1.5% of their salary, rising to 6% by the scheme's tenth year (Citizens Information).
• Kit and software. Camera, lenses, microphones, lights, an editing computer and subscriptions, replaced as they age.
• Management. Someone has to brief them, approve the work and decide whether the ads are working. If that is you, count your hours.
• Time off. Most employees are entitled to 4 working weeks of paid annual leave (Citizens Information), and Ireland has 10 public holidays (Citizens Information). That is around six weeks a year when a one-person video team is not filming, editing or watching the ads.

Ad spend goes to Meta or Google whichever route you take, so compare the full cost of employing someone with an outside fee for the same deliverables. Our video production cost guide gives Irish market ranges for outside options (market figures, not our rates); Blue Motion Media quotes per project after a free strategy call. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.

When is a freelancer better than an agency?

A freelancer, such as a freelance videographer, is usually the best value for a defined job with a clear brief: filming one event, editing footage you already have, or setting up tracking once. You pay for the work, not for quiet weeks.

The risk is relying on one person. If they are sick or booked, the shoot moves. Most freelancers are specialists, so with a videographer and a separate ads freelancer, you become the project manager. Before you book, ask who edits, whether the music is licensed for paid ads, whether you get the raw footage, and who owns the copyright in the finished video.

When does an agency make sense?

An agency earns its fee when you need several of those skills at once, on a steady schedule, measured on leads. You get a team, cover for holidays and one party accountable for the result.

When owners tell us an agency did not work, the story is usually one of these. It only ran ads and never made fresh content, so results faded as the same few videos wore out. Nobody set up tracking, so no one knew which ads produced which leads. Leads were never filtered, so sales chased people who would never buy. Ask who will be on set, who runs your campaigns day to day, and whether the monthly report shows leads and cost per lead.

How do agency, freelancer and in-house compare?

When is hiring in-house the right answer?

Hire in-house when most of these are true:

• You need content daily, not monthly, such as a shop posting new stock or a venue showing what is on tonight.
• Most of it can be shot on a phone, and speed matters more than polish.
• There is enough work to keep one person busy all year without being pulled onto the till or the phones.
• You can build a small team rather than expect one person to do four jobs.

Even then, use outside help for a brand film, a testimonial series or the paid campaigns.

Which hybrids work best for a small business?

Good hybrids split the work by what needs a daily presence and what needs a specialist, and put the split in writing: who approves videos, who answers new leads.

1. In-house marketer, outside specialists. Your marketing person owns the plan and the brand; an outside team shoots, edits and, if needed, runs the campaigns. SolarSmart, a Dublin solar installer with its own marketing director, has used us as its video partner for more than eighteen months, for customer films used on social and in sales meetings.
2. Staff handle the daily, an outside team handles the planned. Staff post stories, reply to messages and call leads back; the outside team plans shoot days and runs the campaigns. That planned side is what we do: we script and plan the shoot days, film and edit with our own crew, and run the Meta and Google campaigns.
3. Outside shoot days, in-house posting. One well-planned shoot day can deliver two to three months of finished videos, and a staff member schedules them week by week: a calendar job, not an editing one.

How do you stay in control whichever you choose?

• Own the accounts. Your Meta and Google ad accounts, Google Tag Manager and analytics should be in your business's name, with the agency, freelancer or employee added as a user. If they leave, you remove access and keep the history.
• Pay ad spend directly. Your card on the ad account, billed by Meta or Google, with any management fee charged separately.
• Keep the files. Finished videos, and raw footage if agreed, in a shared drive you control.
• Agree deliverables in writing. How many videos a month, in which formats, and what the monthly report includes.

How does Blue Motion Media handle it?

Blue Motion Media is a Dublin studio that sits in the agency column but works like an in-house marketing team. The same team that shoots and edits your videos runs and optimises the ads. We work inside your own ad accounts: you give us access to Meta Business Suite and Google Tag Manager, and we set up the tracking. Finished videos usually come back within 7 to 10 days of the shoot, in a shared Google Drive, in every format you need, and you own them. Warren, founder of Evolve Eco Solutions, describes it as "nearly like having an in-house marketing team."

If you already have a marketing person, we can work alongside them. If in-house is the better answer for your business, we will tell you. Book a free 30-minute strategy call and we will work out which split fits.

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