The Agency vs. In-House Debate in Vertical SaaS

Many Vertical SaaS companies struggle with the decision of whether to build a demand generation function in-house or partner with an agency. While both approaches have their merits, the reality is that scaling a demand engine requires a mix of expertise, agility, and cost-efficiency that isn't always achievable internally.

Companies attempt to in-house everything, believing it's a competitive advantage. However, agencies bring broader experience and risk mitigation that in-house teams simply cannot replicate. What happens if your campaign manager managing several million dollars in spend decides to quit? You can't just grab any ole freelancer off of Fiverr. So what's the actual business case for a B2B Demand Gen Agency?

This article breaks down the pros and cons of both approaches and outlines the best approach for Vertical SaaS companies.

The Case for an In-House Demand Gen Team

Pros:

• Complete Control: The company owns every aspect of the demand generation strategy, from execution to optimization.

• Deep Brand & Product Understanding: Internal teams have firsthand knowledge of the product, positioning, and ideal customer profile.

• Cross-Team Collaboration: Marketing, sales, and customer success can align closely under the same company goals and processes.

Cons:

• High Fixed Costs: Hiring an experienced demand gen team is expensive, with salaries, benefits, and operational costs adding up quickly.

• Slow to Scale: Building a team from scratch, onboarding new talent, and training them takes time and can slow down momentum.

• Limited Perspective: Internal teams only gain insights from their own data, missing out on industry-wide best practices and emerging trends.

While an in-house team allows for deeper integration with the company's culture and vision, scaling demand generation requires diverse expertise across paid media, content, analytics, and sales enablement. Developing that level of expertise internally can take years and may not yield the speed or efficiency that a growing Vertical SaaS company needs.

The Case for Hiring a B2B Demand Generation Agency

Pros:

• Faster Execution & Ramp-Up: Agencies have tested processes and frameworks that allow them to onboard and execute quickly, often within weeks.

• Broader Market Experience: Agencies work across multiple industries, learning from diverse challenges and applying proven strategies that companies wouldn’t develop on their own.

• More Cost-Efficient: Hiring an agency can cost significantly less than building a fully staffed in-house team, especially when factoring in salaries, benefits, and operational overhead.

• Easier to Adjust & Scale: Agencies can quickly pivot strategies, increase or decrease budget allocation, and experiment with new channels without long hiring cycles.

Cons:

• Less Control: While agencies provide strategic direction, execution is still external, which requires trust and open communication.

• Requires Strong Collaboration: To be successful, agencies need access to internal data, CRM insights, and sales team feedback to align campaigns with revenue goals.

• Potential for Misalignment: If an agency lacks experience in Vertical SaaS or doesn’t fully understand the business model, campaigns may not resonate with the right audience.

Agencies have a front-row seat to what’s working across 100s of companies. They move faster, refine strategies in real time, and bring proven frameworks that in-house teams just don’t have access to. The playbook they build isn’t based on guesswork, it’s shaped by real-world results across multiple companies like yours.

The Case For Evron

Evron isn’t just another demand generation agency - we are a strategic partner built specifically for Vertical SaaS marketers. Unlike traditional agencies that focus on vanity metrics, we align every campaign with pipeline, ACV growth, and revenue impact.

Here’s why Vertical SaaS companies trust Evron:

1. We integrate directly into your CRM to track pipeline efficiency, uncover bottlenecks, and refine campaign performance.

2. We tailor our approach to Vertical SaaS buying cycles, leveraging industry-specific strategies that resonate with your niche audience.

3. We don’t just run ads; we orchestrate full-funnel demand programs, demand creation, capture, ABM, and content development ensuring marketing translates into revenue.

4. We operate with a revenue-first mindset. Instead of optimizing for MQLs, we focus on SQL conversion rates, sales velocity, and closed-won revenue.

5. For companies scaling beyond founder-led sales and needing a demand engine that works at scale, Evron delivers results without the overhead, delays, and risks of building in-house.

What’s Best for Vertical SaaS?

For Vertical SaaS companies, the choice between an in-house demand generation team and an agency often comes down to one key factor: growth velocity.

Early-Stage or Growth Mode: Companies that are scaling fast and need immediate pipeline impact benefit the most from hiring an agency. Agencies bring the expertise, speed, and frameworks needed to execute quickly and validate demand gen programs without the long hiring process.

Established Companies with a Strong Internal Team: If a company already has a well-built marketing team but lacks a specialized function (such as paid media execution or account-based marketing), a hybrid model works best. Hiring an agency to augment internal efforts allows for better execution without increasing headcount costs.

Companies Prioritizing Efficiency Over Headcount Growth: In today's market, CFOs and leadership teams are increasingly scrutinizing budgets. Instead of investing in a large in-house team, partnering with an agency can provide expert execution at a fraction of the cost of hiring multiple full-time employees.

Ultimately, the best approach is rarely an either-or decision. Many high-growth Vertical SaaS companies use agencies to accelerate demand generation while keeping core strategy and brand development in-house. This hybrid approach ensures the best of both worlds. Strategic control combined with fast, expert execution.

For Vertical SaaS companies looking to scale pipeline efficiently while keeping costs manageable, a demand generation agency is often the best route to sustained growth.

Conclusion

Hiring in-house vs. working with an agency isn’t a one-size-fits-all decision. The right choice depends on a company’s stage, growth goals, and internal capabilities. What’s clear, however, is that agencies provide a level of expertise, scalability, and risk mitigation that internal teams often can’t match.

For Vertical SaaS companies looking to scale efficiently and drive revenue growth, partnering with the right demand generation agency can be the key to unlocking sustained success.

Wrap Up

Evron is a B2B Demand Generation and Campaign Development Firm for vertical SaaS marketers. We deliver always-on, integrated B2B marketing campaigns for vertical SaaS marketers dealing with missed sales goals, disengaged audiences, and disconnected buyers.

Discover more about Evron at evron.io. Join the GTM and Demand convo on our socials: LinkedIn and YouTube. Listen to The A2B Series Podcast on Spotify, Apple, and YouTube.