LinkedIn agency, freelancer or in-house: which should you hire?

Once you decide you need help with LinkedIn, there are three real options: a freelancer, an agency, or someone in-house. We run an agency, so we obviously have a side. But each option suits different people, and picking the wrong one wastes months. Here's an honest comparison.

A freelance ghostwriter

Good for: one person who mainly needs posts written, and who's happy to steer the strategy themselves.

• Usually the most affordable option.
• You work directly with the writer, so the voice can get very close.
• Quality varies hugely. The best freelancers are excellent and booked up.
• Most freelancers write. Fewer handle positioning, networking, newsletters or a company page.
• If they get ill, busy or move on, your posting stops.

An in-house hire

Good for: larger companies with several leaders and a company page that all need consistent attention.

• Full-time attention and deep knowledge of the business.
• The most expensive option once you count salary, management and tools.
• Hard to find one person who can do strategy, sharp writing, design, video and networking.
• Often pulled into other marketing work, so LinkedIn slips.

A LinkedIn agency

Good for: founders and executives who want the whole thing handled, from positioning to posts to the people they need to know.

• Strategy, writing, design, newsletters, networking and the company page under one plan.
• Continuity: the work doesn't stop when one person is away.
• Costs more than a freelancer and less than a senior hire.
• The big risk: at many agencies a senior person sells the work and a junior person does it. Ask who will actually write your posts.

Five questions that decide it

• Do you need strategy, or just writing? If you know exactly what you want to say, a good freelancer might be enough.
• How many people need to post? One person suits a freelancer or agency. A whole leadership team plus a page starts to justify an agency or in-house team.
• Do you need networking and collaborations too? Most freelancers don't do this.
• How much of your time can you give? The less time you have, the more strategy and initiative you need from whoever you hire.
• What happens if they leave? Ask about continuity before you sign.

Our honest take

If you're a founder or executive who wants LinkedIn to bring in real opportunities and you don't have time to run it, an agency where senior people do the work is usually the best value. If you just need a few posts tidied up, hire a good freelancer. If you're a large company with ten leaders, build a small in-house team and bring in specialists where needed.

Whichever you choose, read the ten questions to ask before you hire a LinkedIn agency first. And if you want to see how we do it, here's everything we handle.