7 Expert Marketers Share Why Hiring a Fractional Marketer Is Your Next Best Move

In today’s fast-paced business environment, hiring a fractional marketer can be a smart move for companies looking to stay competitive. This type of marketer offers the flexibility to adjust to your changing needs and can develop strategies that are specifically tailored to your business. By bringing a fractional marketer on board, you can benefit from their expertise without the commitment of a full-time employee, saving both time and resources. Read on to learn from industry experts why hiring a fractional marketer might be the next best step for your business.

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Fractional Marketers Means More Flexibility

A fractional marketer can be so much more nimble than an agency or a full time employee. When you’re not entirely sure of what you need, or if you know that the scope could change, a fractional marketer makes the most sense.

When there are a handful of individuals relying on your business to make ends meet, they may have a hard time scaling back, or adding more work when it’s needed. Agency’s often look for fractional marketers to help meet their workload demands when clients request extra work. This can lead to missed deadlines, or slow deliveries depending on the work.

Full time employees have even less flexibility. Between AI surges and recessions, my clients have all changed their contracts at least once or twice over the last year, which is fine for an independent contractor, but a full time employee likely doesn’t want to do 40 hours a week one week, and 5 the next. I’m able to meet my clients where they’re at and support them through big changes.

If you need any flexibility at all, a fractional marketer is the best way to get work done, on time, and within the budget.

Kelcie Ottoes, Founder at Kelcie Ottoes Copywriting

Fractional Marketers Offer A More Customized Role

One specific reason to hire a fractional marketer over a full-time employee or an agency is that fractional marketers offer a customized approach akin to a full-time employee, but without the additional costs associated with full-time employment, such as retirement benefits, insurance, and other overhead expenses.

Fractional marketers are typically experienced professionals who work on a part-time or project basis, providing businesses with access to their expertise and skills without the long-term commitment and financial obligations that come with hiring a full-time employee. Here’s how a fractional marketer can deliver a customized approach:

1. In-Depth Understanding of Your Business: Fractional marketers often take the time to thoroughly understand your business, industry, and specific needs. They can work closely with your team to develop a deep knowledge of your products, services, target audience, and competitive landscape, just like a dedicated full-time employee would.
2. Tailored Strategies: Fractional marketers can create tailored marketing strategies and campaigns that are specifically designed to address your unique goals and challenges. They have the flexibility to adapt and refine their approach as your business evolves, ensuring that their efforts align with your changing needs.
3. Hands-On Involvement: Unlike agencies that may assign different team members to your account over time, fractional marketers are often directly involved in the execution of their strategies. This hands-on approach allows for a more personalized and cohesive marketing effort.

In contrast, agencies often standardize their services to maximize profitability and efficiency, which can result in a more cookie-cutter or one-size-fits-all approach. While agencies can certainly be valuable for certain tasks and projects, hiring a fractional marketer can provide the personalized attention and flexibility needed to meet your unique marketing requirements, all while keeping costs in check.

Blake Smith, Founder at SEO Consultant Australia

Managing Expectations With A Fractional Marketer

One specific reason to hire a fractional marketer over a full-time employee or agency is expectation management. When you’re responsible for finding a content marketing service provider but lack expertise in marketing yourself, it can be challenging to effectively manage the expectations of upper management and address their inquiries.

However, by hiring a fractional marketer, you gain the advantage of having a professional who can actively participate in team meetings. They will adeptly explain the work being done, outline the process involved, and provide insight into the anticipated results.

This capability enables you to effectively manage expectations, ensuring a clear understanding of the marketing efforts and increasing the likelihood of achieving success.

Joyce Tsang, Founder and Content Marketer at Joyce Tsang Content Marketing

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Higher Quality Talent With Fractional Marketers

Flexibility is so important for marketers in our current working climate.

This could be for digital nomads or for those that are heavily involved in the conference circuits. Or they’re part of the 66% of employees who consider a shorter work week an attractive perk when considering a job offer.

So as employers who need to provide a desirable working environment for our employees, we must take into account that hiring fractional marketers may yield positive ROI. Especially as 77% of people report higher productivity when working a 4 day week.

Will Rice, SEO & Marketing Manager at MeasureMinds

Its Easier To Hire Fractional Marketers

Hiring a fractional marketing leader can deliver the same level of expertise or even more compared to a full-time employee, and it comes with a quicker hiring process and onboarding time. Fractional marketing leaders specialize in achieving results swiftly and excel at onboarding clients using a robust framework.

When you choose to hire a fractional marketing leader instead of an agency, you’ll experience a more hands-on and integrated approach within your operations. This is because a fractional marketing leader also functions as an internal company leader. Additionally, their expertise can assist you in selecting better agencies, or they may have valuable agency contacts themselves.

Amandine Aman, Fractional CMO at AmandineAman.com

Executives Have More Time With Fractional Marketers

The best reason to hire a fractional marketer over a full time employee or agency is to buy back time from the founder or head of marketing. Those roles are incredibly valuable to the company, and a fractional marketer can relieve their workload while also adding more hours to the marketing team each week, which can result in faster business growth.

John Doherty, Founder At EditorNinja

Fractional Marketers Are Cost Effective

Hiring fractional marketing talent allows you to work cost effectively with resources exposed to the latest tools & trends and a variety of company sizes/industries with specific experience and a wide breadth of knowledge they can bring into your business. Unless marketing and communications are core competencies it almost always makes sense to leverage shared resources because relationships with media outlets for example matter a lot and small businesses can rarely justify the overhead and expense of someone creating content or pitching the media on a full-time basis. A PR resource with a great reputation and rolodex can be very effective with a small budget and show a quick ROI.

The pandemic forced companies to streamline to survive so fractional hires have increased over the past 2.5 years. My advice especially for SMBs is to give your fractional partners the goals to achieve then get out of the way. This is their area of expertise so let them find the path, do not micromanage them it will only lead to frustration. It is a smart idea even without a pandemic and does not solve all of your growth problems but it sure frees up a lot of time, budget and energy that can be redirected/better spent on revenue generating programs vs. full time staff.

Paige Arnof-Fenn, Founder & CEO At Mavens & Moguls

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In the ever-changing business landscape, it’s becoming increasingly clear that hiring a fractional marketer can be a game-changer. As Kelcie Ottoes, founder at Kelcie Ottoes Copywriting, pointed out, these professionals offer a more customized role, diving deep into understanding your business and crafting strategies that are just right for your unique needs and goals. They’re not just outsiders; they become a vital part of your team, working hand-in-hand with you to bring your vision to life.

Blake Smith, the founder at SEO Consultant Australia, emphasized the importance of managing expectations when working with a fractional marketer. They can be a bridge between different teams, clearly articulating the strategies being implemented and setting a clear path to anticipated results. This kind of clarity can be a breath of fresh air, helping to keep everyone on the same page and working towards the same goals.

Furthermore, Paige Arnof-Fenn, the founder and CEO at Mavens & Moguls, highlighted the cost-effectiveness of hiring fractional marketers, especially in the wake of the pandemic. They can bring a wealth of knowledge and connections to your business without the hefty price tag of a full-time employee, allowing you to allocate your budget more effectively.

In essence, bringing a fractional marketer on board isn’t just a smart business move; it’s a chance to infuse your team with new energy, expertise, and a fresh perspective that can help propel your business forward in these unpredictable times.