Modern digital marketing is an ecosystem of growing complexity. At the heart of this ecosystem almost always lies Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – a fundamental process for building visibility and acquiring traffic. For years, the dominant model for providing these services has been the specialized SEO agency. Today, however, we are observing a market evolution towards more integrated models. One of these is the approach proposed by We Automate Marketing, based on the “manager and ecosystem” concept. The purpose of this article is not to designate a single “winner,” but to provide an in-depth, fair, and balanced analysis of both models. We will consider their philosophy, cost structure, operational efficiency, and strategic fit for various business needs.
Chapter 1: Philosophy and Scope of Services – Deep Specialization vs. Broad Integration
The fundamental difference between the two approaches lies in their core philosophy and scope of responsibility.
Model 1: The Traditional SEO Agency
An SEO agency is, by definition, a specialized provider. Its primary value is deep domain expertise in a narrow but complicated field. The agency’s team consists of technical SEO specialists, keyword analysts, link builders, and SEO-oriented copywriters.
Main Goal: To improve ranking positions for specific phrases, increase visibility (e.g., Senuto/Semstorm metrics), and grow the volume of free organic traffic.
Typical Activities: Technical audits (often delivered as a comprehensive PDF document), on-site optimization, content strategy (usually limited to a blog), link building (acquiring backlinks).
Limitation (Silo): The agency’s greatest strength – specialization – is also its greatest limitation. An SEO agency rarely has insight into or influence over what happens to the traffic it acquires. Its responsibility ends “at the gate” of the website. It is not connected to the client’s CRM system, cannot see sales data, and does not manage lead nurturing processes.
Model 2: We Automate Marketing (Manager + Ecosystem)
The We Automate Marketing approach is not an “SEO service.” It is a marketing management model in which SEO is one of many integrated components. The client does not buy a “link package” or an “audit.” Instead, they invest in a dedicated manager who becomes an external yet integrated member of their team.
This manager operates on a technological ecosystem provided by We Automate Marketing, which is “free” for the client. This ecosystem combines process automation (e.g., Make/n8n), AI tools for content generation, monitoring and analytics systems, and connectors to the client’s existing tools (like CRM or ad systems).
Main Goal: To optimize the entire marketing funnel – from traffic acquisition (where SEO operates), through its qualification (automation, lead scoring), to sales support (CRM integration). The goal is not traffic, but revenue or Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs).
Typical Activities: The We Automate Marketing manager does not perform manual audits. Their system monitors the site 24/7 and alerts them to problems. Instead of writing content by hand, the manager defines the strategy, and the system (supported by AI) generates drafts, which the manager then reviews and approves (a human-in-the-loopprocess). Their main task is data analysis and strategic process optimization.
Strength (Integration): This model inherently breaks down silos. The We Automate Marketing manager can see that traffic from article X (SEO) flows into sequence Y (automation) and generates 3 leads in the CRM (sales). They can therefore make decisions based on a complete data picture.
Chapter 2: In-depth Analysis of Cost Structure
A cost comparison is crucial, but it must be conducted fairly, accounting for all components – explicit, hidden, and opportunity costs.
Model 1: SEO Agency Costs (The “Layered” Model)
Working with an SEO agency generates costs on multiple layers, which are often not visible on the first invoice.
SEO Agency Cost Structure:
Explicit Cost (Retainer): A fixed monthly fee for the agency’s services (e.g., 3,000 – 10,000 PLN), depending on the scope and reputation of the agency.
Hidden Cost 1 (Tools): SEO is only one part of marketing. To effectively use SEO traffic, the company must still invest in a Marketing Automation platform (e.g., HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, SalesManago), which generates an additional, often high, licensing cost (e.g., 1,000 – 5,000 PLN per month).
Hidden Cost 2 (Internal Resources/Integration): The agency provides recommendations (e.g., “install conversion tracking”). Someone on the client’s side (IT department, internal marketer) must implement these changes. This is a real cost of labor, which is rarely included in the SEO budget.
Hidden Cost 3 (Content): The basic SEO retainer often only covers “back-end texts” or simple articles. The high-quality content (ebooks, webinars, case studies) needed for lead generation is usually a separate budget (e.g., another content agency).
Conclusion: The final cost of effective SEO-based marketing is the sum of multiple invoices from different vendors and internal costs.
Model 2: We Automate Marketing Costs (The “Centralized” Model)
The We Automate Marketing model proposes a radical consolidation and simplification of this structure. The cost is single and fixed.
We Automate Marketing Cost Structure:
Explicit Cost (Management Service): A fixed monthly fee of 8990 PLN net.
What this fee includes:
The Dedicated Manager’s Work: This is the cost of an expert who acts as a strategist, analyst, and project manager for the entire system.
Access to the Technology Ecosystem: This price includes the tools, “free” for the client, that We Automate Marketing builds and maintains. This means the client does not pay extra for automation licenses, AI content tools, SEO monitoring systems, or landing page building platforms.
Conclusion: The 8990 PLN fee replaces the combined costs of: an SEO agency retainer, a content agency retainer, and automation software licenses. It is a model with high financial predictability.
A Fair Disclaimer: Ownership vs. Rental
An important trade-off must be honestly acknowledged. In the agency model, if the client buys the licenses themselves (e.g., for HubSpot), they are building their own technology stack. The processes and data are their property. In the We Automate Marketing model, the client is “renting” an ecosystem. If they end the partnership, they lose access to the automated processes built on the We Automate Marketing platform (though they, of course, keep their own data, content, and access to their own CRM). This is a fundamental strategic decision: does the company prefer to incur the higher costs of building and owning its own system, or the lower, consolidated costs of renting a ready-made, managed solution?
Chapter 3: Operational Efficiency and Workflow
The differences in cost stem directly from different operational efficiencies.
Model 1: SEO Agency (The “Recommendation” Model)
The workflow in an agency is often linear and burdened by communication delays.
Audit: The agency performs an audit (e.g., 40 man-hours).
Recommendation: The client receives an 80-page PDF with a list of tasks.
Queue: The client forwards the PDF to their IT department or webmaster. The tasks land in a backlog.
Implementation: After 2 months, the IT department implements 60% of the recommendations.
Verification: The agency conducts another audit to check the implementation.
This is a reactive and slow model. The bottleneck is the client’s IT resources and inter-company communication.
Model 2: We Automate Marketing (The “Execution” Model)
Thanks to automation, the We Automate Marketing manager can focus on execution and strategy, not on creating recommendations.
Monitoring (instead of an audit): The automated We Automate Marketing system monitors the site 24/7. It detects a position drop or technical error in real-time.
Alert (instead of a recommendation): The manager receives an alert with a task (e.g., “Position drop for phrase X. Problem Y identified. Suggested action Z.”).
Verification: The manager verifies the alert (Is it critical? What is the priority?).
Implementation (Execution): The manager (or an automated script) implements the fix. If the We Automate Marketing system is integrated with the client’s CMS, the manager can update content or meta tags themselves, without involving the client’s IT.
This is a proactive and fast model. The bottleneck (client’s IT resources) is eliminated in many places.
An SEO agency primarily sells its specialists’ time, which is finite. The We Automate Marketing model sells the effects of a system’s work, which is scalable, supervised by the manager’s time.
Chapter 4: SEO in a Business Context – The Role of Data
Perhaps the most important difference concerns the use of data. Modern SEO is no longer just a fight for positions; it is a fight to acquire a valuable customer.
In the agency model, the agency optimizes for the metrics it has access to: traffic and positions. However, it does not have access to the client’s CRM data. The agency might therefore put enormous effort into ranking a phrase that generates 10,000 visits a month, but from which no one has ever bought (so-called vanity metrics). At the same time, it might ignore a phrase that generates 100 visits but is responsible for 80% of the revenue.
In the We Automate Marketing model, CRM integration is fundamental. The We Automate Marketing manager does not optimize “blindly.” Their automated dashboard connects data from Search Console (positions) with data from Google Analytics (traffic) and data from the CRM (revenue). The manager can see that “Article X” generated 5 MQLs, 2 of which closed as sales worth 50,000 PLN. They immediately know to strengthen the ranking of this article and create more similar content. Their decisions are based on business data, not just traffic data.
Conclusion: When is Each Model the Right Choice?
As stated at the beginning, there is no single, universally “better” solution. The choice depends on the organization’s maturity, structure, and goals.
When is it worth considering a traditional SEO agency?
When you have a strong marketing department: If a company already has its own, well-developed marketing department, its own (paid-for) Marketing Automation platform (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot), and its own IT team, but is only missing high-level, technical SEO expertise (e.g., for complex link building or technical audits).
For simple, limited needs: If a (e.g., local) business only needs basic optimization and a Google Business Profile, and its budget is significantly lower than the entry threshold for an integrated model.
For an ownership strategy: If the company’s strategic goal is to build 100% of its own, internal competencies and technological assets, and it treats agencies as temporary subcontractors for specific tasks.
When is it worth considering the We Automate Marketing model?
For cost consolidation: If a company (SME, B2B, dynamic e-commerce) is tired of paying 3-4 separate invoices (SEO, content, SaaS licenses) and prefers one, fixed, predictable fee (8990 PLN) that covers all these areas.
Lacking operational resources: If a company does not want (or cannot) build its own operational marketing department and prefers to have a dedicated We Automate Marketing manager fill this role, managing a system that does the work for them.
The “leaky bucket” problem: If a company has traffic (e.g., from SEO or PPC) but cannot convert it effectively. The We Automate Marketing model is designed to connect channels and build tight sales funnels.
Focus on business efficiency: If the CEO or Marketing Director no longer wants to see reports on rankings, but wants to see reports on the cost per lead (CPL) and the impact of activities on revenue (ROI).
