Strategy
Clipping agency vs in-house.
Both work. They just optimize for different things: control versus speed to reach. Here is the math without the sales pitch.
| In-house | Clipping agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | $3-6K fully loaded per editor, before any distribution | From $1,990/mo + clipper spend at cost ($1-3 per 1K verified views) |
| Time to volume | 2-4 months: hire, train, build the posting system | First clips live in week one |
| Output ceiling | One editor tops out around 40-60 clips/mo | ~30-100+ clips/mo plus a clipper network posting in parallel |
| Owned pages | Usually just the main account | Fan pages, theme pages, and sub-accounts built and run for you |
| Quality control | Fully yours, once the editor is ramped | Briefs, hook banks, and QA handled; you approve direction |
| When spend stops | The editor stays on payroll | Month to month; the pages and clip library remain yours |
Go in-house when...
You already know your winning formats, you post to one or two channels, brand control is worth more to you than volume, and you have someone to manage the editor. In-house is the endgame for brands where content IS the product.
Hire an agency when...
You want volume across platforms without hiring, you want owned pages and a clipper network rather than just edited files, or you need reach fast enough that a 3-month hiring ramp costs more than the fee. The hybrid also works: agency for distribution scale, one in-house person for brand-critical content.
The number that decides it.
Cost per 1,000 views. An in-house editor producing 50 clips/mo averaging 5K views each delivers 250K views for $4K-ish: a $16 CPM. A managed clipping campaign with a clipper pool prices verified views at $1-3 per 1,000 and trends under $1 blended as the page network compounds. Run your own numbers in the owned reach calculator, see the full breakdown in what a clipping campaign costs, or check clipping campaign pricing.
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