DIY marketing or an agency? An honest decision guide

In short: doing it yourself pays off when you have time and regularity, for example for your Google profile, reviews and social media. Help pays off for strategy, design, website and anything that would otherwise be left undone. Often a mix is right. Whatever you decide: access to profiles and accounts should stay with you.

We are a marketing service provider ourselves, so not entirely impartial. That is why we try to say honestly here what you can do well yourself. It is based on our own experience, guidance from Google and the pitch guide of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce's advertising association, as of October 2026.

What you can do well yourself

• Maintain your Google Business Profile: opening hours, photos, posts, replies to reviews. It costs nothing and often has the strongest local effect. How to do it is covered in the article create and maintain a Google Business Profile.
• Reply to reviews: nobody knows the job better than you. Tips in the article negative Google review.
• Photos and short posts: you see what happens in the business first.
• Ask customers: “How did you hear about us?” is the most valuable marketing figure, and only you can collect it.
• Keep an eye on Search Console: once a month, with the guide set up Google Search Console.

What these tasks have in common: they need little expertise, but regularity and closeness to the business.

Where help usually pays off

• Strategy: who is the target group, what sets you apart, which channels fit? From outside this is often clearer than from inside. More in the article develop a marketing strategy.
• Design: logo, colours, typeface, i.e. a look that is the same on website, sign and vehicle.
• Website: technology, structure, copy and findability. Mistakes are expensive here because they have a long-lasting effect.
• Bigger campaigns: when several channels run at once and have to fit together.
• Everything that gets left undone: if the Instagram channel has been silent for months, handing the task over sometimes helps more than resolving to do it “soon”.

Google puts it like this for search engine optimisation: a service provider can save time and improve visibility, but also carries risks. The best time to bring one in is when you are planning a website redesign, the earlier the better (Google Search Central: do you need an SEO?).

The mix: often the best solution

In practice, a split often works for small businesses: the foundations, i.e. strategy, look and website, are created with help. The ongoing upkeep, i.e. profile, reviews, photos, is done by the business itself, with a fixed slot each week. Once a quarter someone from outside takes a look: what worked, what didn't?

Questions to ask an agency

Google lists questions to ask an SEO provider, and they fit any marketing agency:

• Do you have references you can show me?
• What results do you expect in what timeframe, and how do you measure success?
• What experience do you have in my industry and my region?
• How long have you been in business?
• How will we communicate, and will you inform me of all changes to my website?

And a clear warning sign: according to Google, nobody can guarantee a first place in the search results. Anyone who promises that or claims a “special relationship with Google” should be treated with caution. Google also stresses that you as the client are ultimately responsible for what the firm you hire does.

The brief: the most important page of paper

The pitch guide of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce's advertising and market communication association calls the brief the binding and most important basis of the task. For small jobs one page is enough: who are you, what is the goal, who is the target group, what budget, by when? If you compare several agencies, the guide says you should invite no more than three, and if you ask for a worked-out presentation, you should pay for it. The rights to the ideas presented do not usually pass to you as a result (WKO: pitch guide, PDF, German).

Access stays with you

This is the point we consider most important, because it is the one that goes wrong most often. Agencies come and go; your profiles should stay.

• Google Business Profile: the owner has full control; managers cannot, for example, manage users or delete the profile (Business Profile Help: users and roles). Stay the primary owner; the agency becomes a manager.
• Search Console: only owners can change other users' permissions (Search Console Help: permissions). Google advises giving a provider only read access for an initial review.
• Social media, domain, website hosting: here too the account should be in the business's name, with at least one second person from the business as admin.
• Files: have the logo and designs handed over in open formats, and clarify in advance who owns texts, photos and drafts.

Funding: check before it ends

In Austria, the KMU.DIGITAL programme funded advice on digitalisation and online marketing. According to the Chamber of Commerce, applications could be made again in 2026, with a grant of up to 3,000 euros in the advice module (WKO Carinthia: KMU.DIGITAL 2026, German). According to the Chamber, the programme ends with 2026 and will not be continued from 2027 (WKO Styria: FAQ, German). Whether funds are still available and which regional programmes exist, your Chamber of Commerce can tell you.

An electrician splits the work

The case is constructed, but typical. An electrician with four employees has an old website, a half-maintained Google profile and an Instagram account with three posts. She has the logo, website and vehicle graphics redesigned, with a clear page per service. The agency sets up the Google profile together with her; she remains the owner. After that she takes over: every Friday two photos go into the profile, and she replies to reviews on the same day. She deliberately lets Instagram rest. Once a quarter she looks at the figures with the agency.

Our view

We are happy to take over what gets left undone for you. But we don't advise handing everything over: nobody tells the story of your business as credibly as you. Good cooperation, for us, means that after a project you can do more yourself than before, and that all access stays with you. What we offer is on our page marketing & lead generation, and how it all fits together in the overview marketing for small businesses.

Checklist

• Which tasks mainly need regularity, which expertise?
• How much time per week can you or someone in the business really set aside?
• Does the agency have references, name realistic goals and avoid guarantees?
• Is there a one-page brief?
• Are you the owner of all profiles and accounts, with a second person as admin?
• Is it clear who owns texts, images and drafts?

Frequently asked questions

Can a small business do its own marketing?

Much of it, yes: maintaining the Google Business Profile, replying to reviews, posting photos, asking customers how they found you. What it takes is time and regularity. Help usually pays off for strategy, design, website and copy, where expertise and distance from your own business are lacking.

How do I recognise a reputable marketing agency?

It shows references, explains which results it expects in what timeframe and how it measures success, and informs you about all changes to your website. Beware of guarantees: according to Google, nobody can guarantee a first place in the search results.

What should I watch out for when working with an agency?

Account access should stay with you. Remain the owner of your Google Business Profile, Search Console, social media accounts and domain yourself, and give the agency only the rights it needs. Also clarify in advance who owns texts, images and designs.