What certifications should I look for?

Google Ads certifications are minimum bar (baseline, not credential). Google Premier Partner status on their current employer's account is the meaningful signal, it requires demonstrated performance across a book. Ask for the agency's Partner ID.

Should the strategist also run Meta and other channels?

Usually no. Google Ads and Meta Ads have diverged enough that specialists win. Cross-channel oversight is a separate role (usually senior lead or agency lead).

How do I test seniority in an interview?

Ask them to explain, in a 90-second answer, how Performance Max attribution differs from Search attribution. Then ask when they'd tell a client to spend LESS. Both are impossible to fake.

Role

Hire a Google Ads Strategist: agency, freelancer, or in-house?

TL;DR

A Google Ads strategist owns campaign architecture, bid strategy, conversion tracking, and the monthly narrative that ties spend to revenue. Fully-loaded in-house cost in a US metro is $95K-$155K/year plus tools. Agency retainer for equivalent seniority is $2K-$6K/month. Freelancer contracts run $4K-$8K/month for 15-25 hours. Which one wins depends on your spend, complexity, and how much strategy hand-off you can absorb.

US in-house salary

$95K-$155K

Agency retainer

$2K-$6K/mo

Freelancer

$4K-$8K/mo

Best-fit spend

$20K-$200K/mo

Written by

Anirban

Social Media Strategist

Updated July 20, 2026Reviewed by Eric Mascarenhas

No sales call

A 47-point written audit of your Google, Meta or Shopping account, back in five business days.

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Day-to-day

Weekly review of bid strategies, negative keywords, search-term reports
Monthly restructure decisions on campaigns that stopped compounding
Owns the Google Ads <> GA4 <> Shopify (or CRM) reconciliation
Ships written monthly report tying spend to booked revenue
Owns Performance Max asset-group structure decisions
Runs quarterly ROAS-target re-baseline against margin table
First responder on Search Console + Ads policy issues

Salary & rate benchmarks

Agency

$2,000-$6,000/month retainer (senior bench, US market)

Freelancer

$4,000-$8,000/month for 15-25 hours (equivalent seniority)

In-house

$95,000-$155,000/year fully-loaded (US metro; add 15-25% for tools + benefits)

Which hiring option wins?

agency

Pros

Access to senior operator without the salary commitment
Cross-account pattern recognition (they see 20+ accounts a week)
Bench depth if the primary strategist is out
Bundled tooling access (Optmyzr, call tracking, GA4 experts)

Cons

Divided attention across multiple accounts
Slower turnaround on urgent changes
Ramp-up cost when strategist rotates out

freelancer

Pros

Dedicated attention to one or two accounts at a time
Direct contract, no agency margin
Faster informal communication

Cons

No bench, sick day or vacation stalls the account
You buy the tooling separately
Harder to verify seniority claims

in-house

Pros

100% of their time in your business
Direct alignment with product roadmap
Compounding brand knowledge over years

Cons

Only viable above $75K+/mo ad spend to justify fully-loaded cost
Single point of failure if they leave
No cross-account learning; the market moves without them

When to upgrade

Move from freelancer or agency to in-house at $75K+/mo ad spend with a stable product. Below that, the tooling + benefits load makes in-house economics fail. Above $500K/mo, most eCom brands run a hybrid: in-house owner + agency for specialised channels (Amazon DSP, LinkedIn ABM, LSA). See our full agency vs in house ppc breakdown for the math behind that threshold.

FAQ

Common questions

For a $40K/mo spend, 10-15 hours per week. For $100K/mo, 20-25. For $500K/mo, dedicated 30+ or a team of two. Below 10 hours anyone is buying is either a junior in disguise or a Frankenstein bench.