How Much Does It Cost to Outsource vs. Hire In-House Marketing for Your Cleaning Company?

By ERIN LARISON

COO, Five Door Media 

Most cleaning company owners hit this point eventually: your word-of-mouth business is steady, you’ve dabbled in social media, and you’re ready to grow.

Then comes the big question: do you hire someone to handle your marketing full time, or do you bring in an outside team?

Both can work. The trick is knowing what you’re really paying for with each.

Hiring In-House

Let’s start here, because this is usually the first instinct.

A full-time marketing hire gives you someone focused only on your company. They can handle day-to-day stuff, posting on social, updating your website, maybe sending a few email campaigns.

The tradeoff? Cost and skillset.

Most cleaning companies pay between $55,000 and $80,000 a year for a marketing manager or coordinator. Add in benefits, taxes, software, and you’re closer to $65,000 to $100,000 all-in.

And while you get one person’s full attention, you also get one person’s bandwidth. That person might be great at writing but not design. They might understand social but not SEO. You’ll still need to outsource some things.

Outsourcing To An Agency

Now let’s talk about outsourcing. When you hire a marketing agency — ideally one that knows the cleaning industry — you’re getting a full team: strategy, design, SEO, ads, and content.

Most cleaning companies spend between $1,500 and $4,000 per month, depending on how much ground they want to cover.

That’s roughly $18,000 to $48,000 a year — often less than one full-time salary.

Instead of managing one person, you get access to a group of specialists who already know what works for your type of business. You’re not paying to train them or buy tools — they already have them.

When In-House Makes Sense

If you’re a big commercial cleaning company doing seven figures and need someone on-site every day, in-house can work. You’ll have consistent control and someone who lives and breathes your brand.

But most small to midsize cleaning businesses aren’t there yet. They need flexible, skilled support that can scale with them — and that’s where outsourcing usually wins.

What’s the better investment?

If you look at the numbers, outsourcing gives you more experience, more strategy, and a wider range of skills for less money than hiring one person.

In-house gives you control. Outsourcing gives you expertise.

At Five Door, we act like your marketing department — just without the payroll. We handle the content, SEO, ads, and strategy that actually get cleaning companies found online and booked more often.

If you’re trying to figure out which option fits your goals and budget, let’s talk it through. We’ll help you see the real costs and outcomes of both paths before you make the call.