Vendor Type
Marketing Consultant vs Marketing Agency
The structural difference between diagnosis and execution, and when each is the right hire.
Read the guide →Stan Consulting · Decision frameworks
Marketing decisions are harder when the options are misunderstood.
These guides exist for business owners who are trying to understand what type of help they need before deciding who to hire. Each guide is written from live account and consulting work, not from category preference.
Quick answer
Stan Consulting publishes structured comparison guides for business owners making marketing vendor, engagement model, and channel strategy decisions. Each guide explains the structural difference between two options, when each makes sense, and how to decide based on commercial situation rather than vendor preference. Fifteen guides currently available. Five engagement formats are available; the diagnostic conversation routes the engagement at How We Work.
Fifteen guides. One standard.
Fifteen Comparisons. One Standard.
Each guide is written as a practitioner diagnosis, not as a category preference. The right vendor for the wrong situation produces the wrong result. These guides clarify the situation before the vendor decision.
Leadership Model
Outsourced CMO vs Marketing Agency
Why growth-stage businesses often need strategic architecture before more execution capacity.
Read the guide →Engagement Type
Marketing Audit vs Marketing Strategy
Why the audit must precede the strategy and what happens when the order is reversed.
Read the guide →Google Ads
Google Ads Management vs Google Ads Audit
Why most underperforming accounts need diagnosis before management, not more management.
Read the guide →Engagement Model
Marketing Retainer vs Project Based
The engagement model decision most businesses make by default instead of by commercial logic.
Read the guide →Leadership Model
Fractional CMO vs Marketing Consultant
Two titles that are often confused. The structural difference and when each applies.
Read the guide →Shopify Ads
Shopify PMax vs Google Shopping
Why most Shopify stores run the wrong campaign type for their account's data maturity.
Read the guide →Channel Strategy
Paid Ads vs SEO: Which Comes First
The commercial case for channel sequencing and why the order is a decision, not a preference.
Read the guide →Agency Evaluation
How to Evaluate a Marketing Agency
Eight structural questions that reveal how an agency actually operates before you sign anything.
Read the guide →Agency Management
When to Fire Your Marketing Agency
Six structural failure signals and the framework for a decision most businesses make too late.
Read the guide →Marketing Org
In-House vs Agency vs Consultant
The three structural ways to build the marketing function. Real costs, capability ceilings, and the diagnostic test for which fits.
Read the guide →Channel Selection
Google Ads vs Meta Ads for Ecommerce
Demand capture vs demand generation. How stage and category determine which platform leads and which amplifies.
Read the guide →Google Ads
Performance Max vs Standard Shopping
When PMax outperforms Standard Shopping and when it does not. The account-data conditions that decide.
Read the guide →Founder Decision
DIY Marketing vs Hiring Someone
When founder-led marketing should give way to a specialist, agency, or consultant. The signals and the math.
Read the guide →Engagement Structure
Annual Retainer vs Monthly Fee
Each protects something different. Cash flow, accountability shape, and termination cost compared honestly.
Read the guide →How these guides are different
Written From Accounts, Not From Category Preference
Most comparison content is written by vendors who prefer one option. A consultant writes that consultants are better than agencies. An agency writes the opposite. These guides are written from the diagnostic position: what does the business actually need and which option serves that need correctly.
Each guide is based on patterns from live account work and consulting engagements. The structural failures described are failures that appear in real accounts. The evaluation criteria are the criteria used in actual diagnostic engagements.
If a guide leads you to conclude that Stan Consulting is not the right fit for your situation, that is the correct outcome. The guides exist to clarify the decision, not to generate inquiries from the wrong clients. For businesses that reach the end of the diagnostic and need execution, the full service menu is available.
"The right vendor for the wrong situation produces the wrong result. The guides exist to clarify the situation before the vendor decision."