Executive Summary
- • A "good" Senior Media Buyer costs $120k/year + benefits. An agency costs a fraction of that.
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Knowledge Silos: An in-house specialist has deep company context; an agency may bring patterns from multiple client situations.
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Action: Only bring media buying in-house when you are spending >$100k/month and need a dedicated brand evangelist.
One in-house generalist may cover media, copy, creative, and reporting, but the workload and skill depth need an honest review. Compare the role you can hire with the actual agency team and scope you would receive.
The True Cost of "In-House"
Let's do the math on a mid-level Media Buyer in 2025:
- Salary: $90,000
- Benefits/Tax (20%): $18,000
- Recruiting Fee: $15,000
- Software (Motion, TripleWhale, Figma): $10,000/yr
- Total Year 1 Cost: $133,000
Compare the full employment cost with the actual agency scope. Some agencies provide several specialists; others provide one account manager. Ask who will perform each part of the work before comparing prices.
The Perspective Gap
An in-house specialist sees one business in depth. An agency may see patterns across several accounts, which can provide context during seasonal changes. The tradeoff is that an internal team often understands the product, customer, and operations more deeply.