Do you need a full-time marketing hire? A marketing agency? Or is fractional or contract marketing help the way to go?
Maybe your business is growing (hooray!) and you need to take your marketing to the next level. Or, maybe you have some marketing projects that you and your team don't have the expertise to develop in-house. Or, maybe you've been managing all the marketing by yourself until now and it's time to take some of that work off your plate.
There are lots of reasons you might want to hire marketing support for your business, and there are probably as many marketers out there that you might be able to work with.
Do you hire an in-house marketer who's fully a part of your organization, if that means needing to take on the expense and obligations of an employee? Do you hire a marketing agency, with access to all their skills and experience, but with a price tag to match? Or do you contract the work out yourself, if it means needing to manage those projects internally?
With everything from global marketing agencies offering multi-million dollar campaigns to freelancers offering their services on Upwork, from highly experienced marketing executives to your friend's kid that says they can do your Instagram for you, the options can seem overwhelming.
I spent nine years as an in-house marketer, responsible for all aspects of marketing within my organization, and another nine years on the agency side, giving me a deep understanding of clients’ marketing needs and agency business models. I've also provided fractional and contract marketing services to clients for over four years.
Having worked extensively within each of these marketing service formats, I’m here to give you an inside view of what each form of marketing support looks like for your business and the benefits and drawbacks of each.
First, I'll outline a little about what each type of marketing support looks like, and then we'll compare and contrast each type of support on factors like marketing services provided, costs, integration with your organization, and what types of companies each kind of marketing support is best suited to.
Let's take a look.
There a lots of different marketing experts out there who can provide marketing services for your company. They generally fall into four different service structures, and are engaged differently by your organization.
An in-house marketer works directly for your company as an employee. This might look like hiring a head of marketing or CMO who is responsible for setting marketing strategy and overseeing the full marketing function for your business, or it might look like hiring marketing specialists, like designers, writers, or developers, to create marketing assets and deploy marketing campaigns for your company.
The upsides of bringing on an in-house marketer is that they are totally dedicated and available to your company and, as integrated members of your team, can collaborate more easily with other functions within your organization. The downsides include the costs and additional requirements of an employee, such as benefits and management, and a lack of scalability if the workload changes.
Marketing agencies are well-oiled machines providing a wide range of marketing capabilities to their clients. This gives you access to a multitude of marketing skillsets as needed and allows you to benefit from the agency’s experience and network of vendors and service providers.
When working with an agency, you’ll be assigned an account representative whose job is to serve as the intermediary between you and the agency’s various services, manage the business relationship, and oversee the project delivery and financial aspects of your account.
A good account person is a strategic partner who understands your business and helps tailor the agency’s offerings and recommendations to best support your company. But, they ultimately work for the agency, and their mandate could include agency priorities like maximizing the profitability of your account, upselling agency services, or winning awards. They are also not integrated with the rest of your company, meaning collaboration with other teams like product development or sales is more difficult.
A fractional marketer (like me!) works for you on an ongoing but part-time basis, such as a certain number of days per week or month. This can include senior strategic, management, and leadership functions as well as any of the specialized skillsets already discussed. This allows you to access and pay for marketing services as much or as little as you need them.
Fractional marketers give you the best of both worlds – the scalability and adaptability of agency services along with the access, collaboration, and dedication of direct hires. However, as consultants with multiple clients, they aren’t available to you full-time like an employee, which can mean you have to manage your timelines more carefully.
Contract marketers are hired to fulfill a specific marketing project, like developing a new product brand or building a new company website. Like fractional marketers and in-house marketing hires, contract marketers can be hired for all types of marketing services, but will typically be specialized to individual skillsets like market research, copywriting, or web development. Several contactors may be hired at once to fulfill the requirements of a particular project, and these may be managed by someone within your organization or by a contract project manager.
Contract marketers are not typically a part of your company and are not integrated with your broader team. Their engagement with your organization is limited to delivering the work outlined within the project scope, although many companies will work with the same contractors over and over for different projects.
Now that you understand the differences between the types of marketing providers, the below table compares their different services, costs, how they work with your team, and what types of companies each service provider is best suited to.
| In-house Marketer | Marketing Agency | Fractional Marketer | Contract Marketer | |
| Marketing Services | Can be hired long-term for any marketing skillset Multiple hires for different skillsets or some outsourcing is often necessary |
Wide range of marketing skillsets available within one organization Typically focused on marketing communications Network of vendors and service providers |
Can be hired for any marketing skillset on an ongoing part-time basis Can add fractional services or combine with in-house or outsourced specialists for different skillsets as needed |
Offer all types of marketing services on a project basis May need to hire multiple contractors for one project |
| Marketing Costs | Range from $50,000 CAD per year for an entry-level marketing coordinator to $200,000 CAD or more for a head of marketing or CMO | Typically bill hourly using either a blended rate ($150-$200 CAD/hour) or a rate card with different costs for different specialties ($50-$400 CAD/hour) Some agencies will charge a fixed rate per project Most agencies charge a markup on hard costs (media, printing, photography, etc.) of 10-30% |
Hourly, daily, or monthly rates with different fees for different specialties and levels of experience Fractional CMOs average $200-$300 CAD/hour Hard costs are paid directly by your organization |
Price per hour or using fixed project fees. Hourly rates can range anywhere from $100-$300 CAD depending on specialty and experience May charge markups on hard costs if they are processing those costs themselves |
| Marketing Integration | Dedicated to your company and available to you at all times during their work hours Integrated within your organization, can work collaboratively with other teams and stakeholders |
Full-time access to your agency account representative, typically do not have direct access to other agency team members Your company's work must be managed alongside other client projects, which can impact timelines Collaboration within your organization is limited |
Fully dedicated to your company during their agreed work hours Likely have other clients during other time periods, which can limit their availability during other times Work directly within your company to collaborate on projects, as well as interface with other stakeholders |
Committed to the completion of their specific project Typically will not collaborate within your company unless it is outlined as a part of the project scope |
| Best for Companies | With clearly defined marketing needs that want full-time support for those requirements With enough ongoing marketing workload to justify the investment in full-time employees |
That want turn-key marketing support to handle all their marketing needs, with the marketing budget to pay for it With enough marketing knowledge to effectively manage the agency and align its work within their their organization |
That want in-house marketing expertise but don’t need full-time employees That want the flexibility to adjust their marketing services as their needs change |
With a specific marketing project that they don't have the skillsets or capacity to complete in-house |
Choosing the right type of marketing support for your business ultimately depends on your specific needs, resources, and business goals.
In-house marketers offer dedicated, integrated support but come with more obligations and less scalability. Marketing agencies provide a broad range of services and expertise but are more costly and may lack collaboration and integration with your internal teams. Fractional marketers offer flexibility and a balance between dedicated support and scalability, and contract marketers are ideal for specific projects, providing specialized expertise without long-term commitment.
Evaluating these options against your business' marketing requirements will help you make an informed decision, ensuring that you get the right support that's aligned to your marketing needs.