DIY vs Agency: When to Manage Your Own Meta Ads (And When to Get Help)

You're spending $2,000 a month on Meta Ads. An agency wants $1,500 minimum to manage them. That's 75% of your ad spend going to management fees before a single person sees your ad.

Or maybe you're on the other side: you've been managing your own ads for six months, and you're pretty sure you're leaving money on the table. You've heard agencies can 2x or 3x your ROAS. Is that real, or is it marketing?

This is the question every small business owner running Meta Ads eventually faces. And the answer isn't as simple as "agencies are better" or "DIY is cheaper." The right choice depends on where you are in your business, what you're actually paying for, and whether you have the tools to compete.

The Real Cost of an Agency

Let's start with the math that most agency comparison articles skip.

The typical agency pricing model works like this:

• Flat fee: $1,500-5,000/month regardless of spend
• Percentage of spend: 15-25% of your ad budget
• Hybrid: Lower flat fee plus percentage above certain spend

If you're spending $3,000/month on ads with a 20% management fee, that's $600/month or $7,200/year in fees. At $10,000/month, you're paying $24,000/year just for management.

That money could go toward more ad spend, better creative, or hiring a part-time marketing person. Whether it's worth it depends entirely on what you're getting in return.

What You're Actually Paying For

Good agencies provide real value. Bad agencies provide busywork that looks like value. Here's how to tell the difference.

What good agencies actually do:

• Strategic expertise: They've seen hundreds of accounts and know patterns you don't
• Creative production: They make ads, not just manage them
• Testing velocity: They can test 10 variants while you test 2
• Platform relationships: They get early access to features and sometimes better support
• Time savings: They handle the tactical work so you can run your business

What most agencies actually deliver:

• Monthly reports: Screenshots of Ads Manager you could pull yourself
• Minor optimizations: Budget tweaks and bid adjustments
• Copy changes: Swapping headlines that may or may not matter
• Meetings: Lots of meetings to discuss the reports

The gap between these two lists is enormous. A great agency can genuinely transform your advertising. A mediocre one is an expensive way to outsource something you could do yourself with the right tools.

When DIY Makes Sense

You should probably manage your own Meta Ads if:

Here's why: at lower spend levels, the percentage you'd pay an agency represents too much of your potential profit. A 20% management fee on a campaign that's breaking even means you're now losing money.

More importantly, no one understands your customers like you do. You know the objections they have, the words they use, the reasons they buy. An agency has to learn all of that—and they're learning on your dime.

When to Hire an Agency

Agencies make sense when you've outgrown what one person can handle, or when you need expertise you genuinely don't have.

The key question isn't "can I afford an agency?" It's "will an agency generate enough additional profit to cover their fee and then some?"

If you're getting 2x ROAS on your own and an agency can get you to 3x, the math usually works. If you're getting 2x and they get you to 2.2x, you're probably losing money after fees.

The Third Option: Better Tools

Here's what most articles about this topic miss: the choice isn't just "do it yourself in Ads Manager" vs. "hire an agency."

The reason agencies can outperform DIY advertisers often isn't their expertise—it's their tools. They have software that:

• Shows them what's working and what isn't at a glance
• Alerts them when campaigns need attention
• Makes optimization decisions faster
• Tracks attribution more accurately than Meta's default reporting

These tools used to cost hundreds or thousands per month, making them only viable for agencies managing lots of accounts. That's changing.

With the right platform, a small business owner can now get agency-level visibility into their campaigns without agency-level costs. You can see exactly which campaigns to scale, which to kill, and which need more time—without digging through Ads Manager for an hour.

"The gap between DIY and agency isn't expertise—it's information. Give a business owner the same information an agency has, and they'll often make better decisions because they know their business better."

How to Decide

Run through this checklist:

1. Calculate the true cost

Take the agency's monthly fee and divide by your monthly ad spend. If it's more than 15%, you're paying a premium that needs to be justified by real results.

2. Ask what you're bad at

If you genuinely don't understand Meta Ads and don't want to learn, an agency might be worth it. If you understand the basics but just need better tools and workflows, you probably don't need one.

3. Consider your time

Managing ads well takes 3-5 hours per week for most small businesses. If that time is worth more than agency fees when spent on your core business, outsource. If not, invest in better tools instead.

4. Test the middle ground

Before committing to an agency, try a modern ads management platform for a month. You might find you can get 80% of the benefit at 10% of the cost.

The Bottom Line

Agencies aren't inherently good or bad. They're a tool—and like any tool, they're right for some jobs and wrong for others.

For most small businesses spending under $5,000/month on ads, the math doesn't work. You're better off investing in tools that give you agency-level insights without agency-level fees, and keeping that 15-25% for more ad spend.

For businesses at scale, a good agency can absolutely be worth it. But "good" is the operative word. Ask for references, look at actual results (not just case studies), and make sure you understand exactly what you're paying for.

And whatever you choose, remember: no one will ever care about your business as much as you do. The best advertising—whether managed by you or an agency—starts with that understanding.