Marketing vs. Consulting: What Early-Stage Startups Actually Need

One of the most common questions I get from founders is some version of: "Should we hire a marketing agency, bring someone in-house, or just get a consultant?"

My answer is always the same: it depends on where you are.

I know that's unsatisfying. So let me break down what I actually mean, based on what I've seen work (and not work) across dozens of early-stage companies.

The Real Difference Between Agencies, Consultants, and Consulting Firms

These three get lumped together constantly, but they serve fundamentally different purposes.

A marketing agency is a team that executes. They run your ads, manage your social, build your website, produce your content. You hire them to do the work.

A marketing consultant is an individual (or small team) that advises. They audit your current efforts, develop strategy, create frameworks. You hire them to think.

A consulting firm operates at the intersection of business strategy and marketing. They work with leadership to solve business problems through a marketing lens. You hire them to decide why and how marketing fits into the bigger picture.

Here's the key distinction: Agencies answer "How do we execute this?" Consultants answer "What should we do?" Consulting firms answer "Why should we do it?"

At Olunix, we've intentionally built something that sits across these lines, because most startups need a partner who can think strategically and execute. But more on that later.

What You Need at Each Stage

Pre-Product-Market Fit

What you need: Almost nothing external. This is founder-led marketing territory.

At this stage, your job is to talk to potential customers, validate your messaging, and figure out what resonates. You don't need an agency running Facebook ads. You need 50 conversations with real people who might buy what you're building.

If you need any outside help at all, a consultant for a specific question, maybe 2-3 hours of their time to gut-check your positioning, is plenty. Budget: $0-$2,000/month.

Early Traction

What you need: A fractional CMO or senior consultant, plus maybe one freelancer.

You've got some signal that people want what you're building. Now you need strategic direction. A fractional CMO gives you senior marketing leadership at $4,000-$8,000/month instead of the $250,000-$500,000 salary a full-time CMO would cost.

This person helps you define your ideal customer, nail your positioning, and identify which 1-2 channels deserve your attention. They might also help you manage a freelancer or two for execution. Budget: $5,000-$12,000/month.

Post-PMF, Pre-Series A

What you need: Strategic leadership + execution support + one in-house person.

This is where most startups should consider engaging an agency, but only for specific channels where you've already proven traction. Don't hand an agency your entire marketing strategy if you haven't figured out what works yet. That's setting them up to fail and yourself up to waste money.

The ideal setup: fractional CMO for strategy, an agency for 1-2 proven channels (paid acquisition, SEO, content), and one in-house generalist who maintains institutional knowledge. Budget: $10,000-$25,000/month.

The Red Flags Nobody Talks About

Whether you're evaluating an agency, consultant, or fractional CMO, watch for these:

They guarantee results. "We'll get you to #1 on Google in 3 months" is a lie. Anyone who guarantees specific outcomes in marketing either doesn't understand the work or is counting on you not knowing better.

They don't ask hard questions. If someone starts pitching a solution before deeply understanding your business, your customers, and your competitive landscape, they're selling a template, not a partnership.

They focus on vanity metrics. If their case studies emphasize follower counts and impressions rather than revenue, leads, or customer acquisition costs, their incentives don't align with yours.

They push long contracts. A 12-month lock-in with no performance benchmarks is a sign they know clients would leave if they could. Look for 90-day initial commitments with clear success criteria.

They don't push back on you. This is counterintuitive, but a good partner should challenge your assumptions. If they just say yes to everything, they're order-takers, not strategic partners.

The Industry Is Changing Fast

Here's something worth understanding about the broader landscape. Forrester predicted that marketing agencies will face an "identity crisis" in 2026, with a 15% reduction in headcount following 8% cuts in 2025. AI is automating execution work. Procurement pressure is squeezing margins. Clients want partners, not vendors.

The old model of "you brief us, we make the thing" is dying. The agencies that survive will be the ones that evolve into true growth partners, ones that own strategy and execution, measure by business outcomes, and embed themselves into their clients' operations.

That shift is exactly why we built Olunix the way we did. We're not just an agency. We're not just consultants. We're a growth partner for companies building the future. That means we think in systems, execute tactically, and measure by the only metric that matters: did we create real value?

The Bottom Line

Don't hire an agency because you think it's what you're supposed to do. Don't hire a consultant because someone on Twitter said you should. And don't build an in-house team before you can afford to.

Hire based on where you actually are, what you actually need, and what you can actually measure. Everything else is noise.

- MM