What’s the ROI of hiring a digital marketing agency versus doing it in-house?

It depends on scale. Below a certain marketing spend (roughly under ₹2-3 lakh/month), an agency is usually more cost-effective than hiring a full in-house team, because you get access to specialists in SEO, ads, design, and automation without paying five separate salaries. Above that threshold, a hybrid model often works best — an in-house marketing manager who directs strategy, supported by an agency for specialised execution and overflow capacity. The real ROI question isn’t agency vs in-house, it’s whether whoever runs your marketing can show clear, attributable results each month.