Guide · Who runs your ads
Agency, freelancer or in-house: who should run your Shopify ads?
What each option costs a home goods store, and what usually goes wrong with each.
In our view, for most home goods stores selling under a few million dollars a year, an agency or a good freelancer is a cheaper place to start than a full-time hire. An in-house hire makes sense when ads are a big enough share of your sales to keep one person busy full time, and when someone on your team can manage them.
What does each option cost?
| Cost | Where it usually goes wrong | |
|---|---|---|
| In-house hire | A salary plus benefits. A US marketing manager's median pay is $166,790 a year; a junior ad specialist costs less | One person sees one store, and when they leave, the know-how leaves too |
| Freelancer | Varies widely; ask for a fixed monthly quote | Holidays, illness or a bigger client, and your account waits |
| Agency | $1,500–$3,000 a month for one channel at a store under $500K a year, per one agency's 2026 price guide | You're sold by a senior and served by a junior |
Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics (marketing managers, May 2025) and AI Advantage Agency (June 2026), an agency that sells this service. A marketing manager does more than run ads, so read that salary as the ceiling of an in-house hire, not the price of a media buyer.
When does each one make sense?
In our view:
- In-house, when ads drive a large part of your sales, you have enough work for a full-time person, and someone on your team can judge their work.
- A freelancer, when you need one channel, your budget is small, and you can live with slower answers.
- An agency, when you want ads, tracking and email to work together, and you don't want everything to depend on one person.
What should I ask whoever I hire?
- Who exactly will make the daily changes in my account?
- Will the ad accounts and the email list be in my name?
- What will the report show: sales and orders, or reach and clicks?
- What results do you have in home goods, and were those stores your clients?
- How do I leave, and with how much notice?
We wrote the longer version, with our own answers, in hiring a marketing agency in Colombia.
Where does Métricamente fit?
We are an agency, and the founder, Joseph Ceballos, runs your account and your calls, in English. Our home goods results come from three European stores whose ads Joseph ran from inside each brand's team; they were not agency clients, and the case study shows every number. For furniture and decor stores, see Meta ads for furniture and home decor. Ads and reporting start at $1,500 a month, with ad spend paid by you. The ad accounts and the email list are created in your name. See pricing.
Questions about agencies, freelancers and in-house hires
Is it cheaper to hire an agency or an in-house marketer?
In our view, for most small stores an agency is the cheaper start, though the two numbers are not the same job: a US marketing manager's median pay was $166,790 a year in May 2025 (Bureau of Labor Statistics), before benefits, while one agency's 2026 price guide puts single-channel ad work at $1,500 to $3,000 a month for stores under $500,000 a year.
Is a freelancer better than an agency for Facebook ads?
A good freelancer can be, for one channel and a small budget. The risk is that your account depends on one person's time. Ask who covers when they're away, and get the ad accounts in your name either way.
When should a Shopify store hire in-house?
When ads drive enough of your sales to keep one person busy full time, and someone on your team can judge their work. Before that, an agency or a freelancer usually costs less.
Keep reading: How much a Shopify marketing agency costs · Hiring a marketing agency in Colombia · All guides
Comparing options? Add us to the list.
30 minutes with Joseph, in English. Ask him the questions on this page, and leave with what we would do first in your store. The call is free.