Averi vs Hiring a Content Agency

At some point, most growing startups ask: should we hire an agency to handle content, or invest in tools that help us do it ourselves? Here's an honest look at both paths.

What Each Approach Looks Like

Hiring a content agency means engaging a third-party firm that produces content on your behalf. Typically this includes a strategy phase, content briefs, freelance or staff writers, editorial review, and delivery of finished content. Some agencies also handle publishing, promotion, and performance reporting. Prices vary widely — from boutique agencies charging $5,000–$15,000/month to enterprise firms charging significantly more.

Using Averi means your team runs the content program using an AI content engine. You define your brand voice and strategy in the tool, use AI to accelerate drafting, and publish through your CMS directly. A human — typically a marketer or founder — drives the process.

The Core Tradeoff

Agencies sell execution with expertise. You're buying their writing team, their SEO experience, their editorial process, and their bandwidth.

Tools like Averi sell leverage. You're buying a system that makes your team faster and more strategic — but your team is still doing the work.

What Agencies Do Better

Deep Subject Matter Research

A good agency will interview your SMEs, research your topic thoroughly, and bring journalistic discipline to content that goes beyond what AI can synthesize. For thought leadership, original research, or technical content that requires genuine expertise, human writers who do their homework produce better results.

Strategy Ownership

Strong content agencies don't just write — they tell you what to write. A senior strategist who's worked in your category, studied your competitors, and built content programs for similar companies brings hard-won pattern recognition that's genuinely valuable.

Accountability and Deadlines

An agency is contractually responsible for delivery. You pay, they publish. There's no bandwidth problem on your end, no blank page to stare at, no context-switching from your day job.

Network Effects

Good agencies have writer networks, media relationships, distribution channels, and tools that individual teams can't easily replicate. If distribution and backlink building are priorities, agency relationships can accelerate those.

What AI-Assisted In-House Production Does Better

Cost

A content agency at $5,000–$10,000/month is $60,000–$120,000/year. Averi is a fraction of that. For many startups, especially at seed or early Series A, that budget difference is significant.

Speed and Iteration

AI-assisted drafting is fast. You can go from idea to draft to published post in hours, not weeks. Agencies work on delivery timelines — typically weeks per piece. If your content strategy calls for high-frequency publishing, in-house AI-assisted production is faster.

Brand Voice Control

The more hands on content, the more brand voice drift. With an agency, you're constantly briefing, reviewing, and providing feedback on voice. With Averi, your brand context is baked in from the start — every draft begins with your positioning, tone, and audience.

Institutional Knowledge

Your team knows your product, your customers, your positioning, and your market better than any agency ever will. Content produced by your team, even with AI assistance, carries that internal knowledge. Agency content often feels generic because the writers don't have it.

Flexibility

Agencies are contracted for a scope. Pivoting strategy, testing new formats, or rapidly expanding in a new topic area requires renegotiation. With in-house tools, you can adjust instantly.

When an Agency Makes Sense

• Your team has no content capability and no bandwidth to build it
• You need a specific type of content that requires deep research or expert writing
• You're at a stage where $8,000/month is a reasonable investment for the expected return
• You need brand credibility building that benefits from agency credentials and connections
• You want accountability and delivery without internal management overhead

When Averi Makes More Sense

• Budget is a constraint and you need to be capital-efficient
• Your team has a marketer who can own content production with AI assistance
• Speed of publishing matters and weeks-long agency timelines won't work
• You want tight brand voice control without constant briefing cycles
• You're building a content program that compounds over time and don't want strategic knowledge living outside the company

The Hybrid Model

Many successful content programs use both: in-house AI-assisted production for the core content volume (SEO blog posts, product content, educational resources), with agencies or specialized writers engaged for specific high-value projects (original research, video content, thought leadership series).

This hybrid approach maximizes ROI: Averi handles the high-volume, brand-aligned content that builds organic traffic over time; agencies are brought in for specific projects where the investment is clearly justified.

FAQ

Is hiring a content agency worth it?

It depends on your stage, budget, and what you need. Agencies are worth it when you genuinely lack the internal capability to produce content and have budget to match the investment. They're not worth it when the cost is prohibitive, the quality doesn't justify the price, or when you'd get more leverage from investing in tools that empower your team.

How much does a content agency cost?

Content agency pricing varies widely. Small boutique agencies or content production firms might charge $2,000–$5,000/month for a modest content package. Mid-market agencies typically charge $5,000–$15,000/month. Full-service agencies including strategy, creation, and distribution can run much higher. Always clarify exactly what's included.

Can an AI content tool replace a content agency?

For the execution side — drafting and publishing — AI tools have significantly closed the gap. For deep strategy, specialized expertise, and content that requires investigative research, experienced human writers still produce better results. Most startups find that AI-assisted in-house production handles 80% of their content needs more cost-effectively than agencies.

How long does it take to get results from a content agency?

SEO content takes time to rank regardless of who writes it — typically 3–12 months for meaningful organic traffic. An agency doesn't compress that timeline; it just means someone else is doing the work. The question is whether you'd rather invest that budget in agency fees or in your own team's capability.

What should I look for in a content agency?

Look for an agency that understands your specific category, has writers with relevant expertise, provides transparent reporting, owns the strategy (not just execution), and has a track record with companies at your stage. Ask for examples and client references in your specific niche.