Every few weeks someone in the community asks me the same question: “Noble, should I look for an in-house role or join an agency first?”
I’ve done both. Here’s my honest take.
Agency first, if you can take the pace
Agency life in Nigeria is brutal in the first year. Multiple clients, tight deadlines, someone always asking for a report by 6pm.
But here’s why it’s worth it:
- → You touch 5–10 different brands in your first year, not one.
- → You learn to work across industries — fintech one week, FMCG the next.
- → You build a portfolio fast, because agencies live and die by results decks.
If you’re early in your career and still figuring out which part of marketing you’re actually good at, an agency forces you to find out quickly.
In-house, once you know your lane
In-house is a different game. One brand. Deeper data. More ownership.
- → You get to see a strategy play out over 12+ months, not a 3-month campaign sprint.
- → You’re closer to the business — sales numbers, customer complaints, actual naira in and out.
- → Pay is often more stable, and titles move faster once you’re trusted.
The mistake I see a lot of Nigerian marketers make is going in-house too early — before they’ve been tested across enough problems to know what “good” even looks like.
My honest recommendation
Start at an agency for 18–24 months if you can survive it. Build range. Then move in-house once you know exactly what you want to be known for — SEO, paid, content, whatever it is.
Skipping straight to in-house isn’t wrong. But you’ll spend your first two years there figuring out things an agency would have taught you in six months.
Which side are you on? Drop your take inside the community, I read every reply.
