The real difference is who actually manages your account day to day. At most agencies, that’s a junior account manager following a playbook, with a senior strategist only involved at a distance. With an experienced freelance PPC consultant, the person running your account and the person who sold you the service are the same person, usually with more hands-on campaign experience than the agency account manager would have.
Neither model is automatically better. The right choice depends on how much you’re spending, how complex your account is, and whether you want a single point of contact or a full team.
When an agency makes more sense
Agencies are built for scale. If you’re running a large, multi-channel programme (Google Ads plus SEO, plus paid social, plus a content team) and need one contract covering all of it, an agency’s breadth is genuinely useful. You’re also buying redundancy: if one person leaves, the agency has others who can pick up your account without you needing to find someone new.
The trade-off is cost and distance. Agency fees carry the overhead of account managers, project managers and a sales team, and that layer sits between you and the person actually making bidding and targeting decisions.
When a freelance consultant makes more sense
If Google Ads (or Google Ads plus one or two other channels) is your main need, a freelance consultant usually gets you more senior attention per pound spent. There’s no account-manager layer translating your questions to a strategist elsewhere. You’re talking directly to the person who built and manages your campaigns.
This works best when you’re comfortable with a single point of contact rather than a team, and when your budget doesn’t yet need (or justify) full agency infrastructure. It’s a common setup for businesses spending anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of pounds a month who want senior-level management without paying for a layer they don’t need.
What to actually check, regardless of which you choose
- Who will be on your account day to day? Ask this directly of any agency. If the honest answer is “a coordinator, with a strategist reviewing periodically,” know that going in.
- What’s their actual campaign experience, not just years in the industry? Managing a £500/month account and a £500,000/month account require different skills. Ask what budgets they’ve handled and in what sectors.
- How do they report, and how often will you actually talk to them? A low-touch relationship with clear reporting suits some businesses well; others want more frequent contact. Neither is wrong, but mismatch here is a common source of frustration.
- The core difference is proximity: with a freelance consultant, the person managing your account is the person you hired. With most agencies, there’s a layer in between.
- Agencies suit larger, multi-channel programmes where you want one contract and built-in redundancy.
- Freelance consultants often suit businesses whose main need is Google Ads (or Google Ads plus one or two channels) and who want senior-level management without agency overhead.
- Whichever you choose, ask directly who will actually be running your account day to day, and what budgets they’ve managed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a freelance PPC consultant cheaper than an agency?
Usually, yes, because you’re not paying for an account-manager layer or a sales team. But cost isn’t the only factor. Compare what you actually get for the fee: who manages the account, how experienced they are, and how they report, not just the monthly price.
Can a freelance consultant handle a large Google Ads budget?
Yes, provided they have genuine experience at that scale. Ask directly about budgets they’ve managed previously. Enterprise-level experience is available outside agencies; it isn’t exclusive to them.
What happens if my freelance consultant is unavailable?
This is a fair concern, since there’s no built-in team behind them the way there is at an agency. Ask how they handle holiday cover or unexpected unavailability before signing on, rather than assuming it’s covered.
Should I switch from my agency to a freelance consultant, or the other way round?
It depends on what’s not working. If you’re unhappy with response times or the seniority of who’s managing your account, a freelance consultant may solve that. If you need broader services under one roof, an agency may suit you better. The right move follows from the actual problem, not a general preference for one model over the other.
Do freelance consultants offer the same reporting and tracking rigour as agencies?
A good one should, and often more directly, since you’re dealing with the person who actually built the tracking setup rather than a report generated by someone else on your behalf.
Not sure which fits your business?
Let’s talk through your Google Ads setup and find out.
Contact Us