What you are really buying
At minimum, a service may be selling access, prospect research, outreach labor, negotiation, content production and project management. The more of that work you genuinely need, the easier it is to compare cost against doing it in-house.
When the answer may be yes
- You have clear publisher-quality standards
- The provider is transparent about workflow and terms
- You value the audience/editorial opportunity independently of a guaranteed ranking result
- The saved internal time is worth more than the service premium
When the answer may be no
- You cannot inspect or understand the publishers
- The pitch relies on ranking guarantees
- The placements are topically random
- Your team already has strong publisher relationships
- You cannot explain the business objective beyond acquiring a metric
How to decide
Compare the service with a DIY workflow using managed vs marketplace and then review how to vet a proposed site.