Many growing businesses hit a common inflection point: the website needs regular updates, campaigns require new landing pages, and someone has to manage the day-to-day digital execution.
The reflex is to hire a full-time Marketing Manager.
But is that the smartest financial move — especially if the role is largely focused on web maintenance and execution?
In many cases, augmenting your team with a web development agency is not only more cost-effective, it’s faster, more scalable, and a better fit for the type of work being done.
Let’s take a look at the numbers.
1. You’re Paying Full-Time Salary for Part-Time Work
A typical mid-level Marketing Manager in the U.S. earns $75,000–$105,000/year or roughly $6,250–$8,750/month in salary alone. Add benefits, and you’re easily looking at $115,000–$135,000/year in total cost.
Yet, in many cases, the actual workload — particularly for website updates, light copy changes, or page creation using Content Management platform — only requires 10–15 hours per week.
By partnering with an agency like Wakefly, you only pay for efforts used. Whether that’s a few hours a week or more during busy times, your costs stay aligned with your actual workload.
2. No Benefits, Overhead, or HR Burden
Hiring a full-time employee comes with more than just a salary. Here’s the breakdown of what a full-time hire really costs:
| Cost Category | Annual Estimate |
| Base Salary | $95,000 |
| Benefits (health, PTO, 401k) | $18,000–$22,000 |
| Hiring, Onboarding, HR admin | $4,000–$7,000 |
| Software, tools, equipment | $2,000+ |
| Total | $119,000–$126,000 |
These hidden costs can quickly add up, especially for roles focused on tactical execution rather than strategic leadership.
With an agency like Wakefly, you avoid all of that. You get skilled professionals ready to work—without the extra burden on HR, IT, or your budget.
3. Access to a Team, Not Just One Person
A Marketing Manager is typically a generalist — capable of strategy and light execution, but they often still lack deep technical or design expertise. This means they still need to rely on developers or designers to make actual updates, especially for more complex changes.
To do things well, you’d need to hire additional specialists or outsource anyway.
Agencies like Wakefly come with these roles baked into the engagement — offering a team that can quickly tackle a range of tasks, without incurring separate hires or freelance contracts.
4. Faster Turnaround = Quicker Campaign Execution
An in-house hire might be juggling multiple priorities, leading to slower turnaround times. Agencies, on the other hand, are built for focused execution and delivery. They often have established processes, QA systems, and project managers to ensure work gets done efficiently and accurately.
This means your website updates go live faster, your campaigns launch on time, and your digital presence remains sharp and up to date.
5. Financial Flexibility in a Volatile Market
Full-time employees are a fixed cost, whether or not you have active projects or campaigns. If marketing slows down, you still carry the full expense.
With agency support, you can scale up or down as needed:
- Need 5 hours/week during a slow quarter? Done.
- Need 40 hours for a big launch? Also done.
- Need to pause for a month? No severance, no problem.
6. Your Team Stays Focused on Growth, Not Maintenance
If your core marketing team is focused on strategy, creative direction, and growth — they shouldn’t be getting bogged down with:
- Website edits
- Button color changes
- Form integrations
- Blog formatting
An agency handles this tactical work so your internal team can stay focused on revenue-driving initiatives.
Bottom Line: You Don’t Need Another Full-Time Hire — You Need Better Execution
Hiring a full-time Marketing Manager for web updates might feel like the “safe” choice — but it can cost you $120K+ per year for what could be a part-time, lower-level executional need.
By partnering with a web development agency for team augmentation, you get:
- Lower costs
- On-demand execution
- Faster turnarounds
- Access to a broader skill set
- Flexible scaling
You can save $30,000–$70,000+ per year, depending on workload.
So before you post that next job listing, ask yourself:
Do I really need a full-time person — or do I just need a reliable, flexible execution partner?
Wakefly has been helping augment our partners’ teams for over two decades. Let us be your partner and help you get quality work for less.
