Fractional content marketing leaders are increasingly attractive to companies because they have the ability to offer their services on a per-project basis. They’ve been able to build up their own brand and personal following through social media and other platforms, which makes them an attractive prospect for companies.
In this article, I’ll go over why you might want to work with a fractional content marketer or advisor and how to choose the right person for the job.
But first…
You might have already heard of fractional CMOs. If what they do is unclear…
What is a fractional CMO?
A fractional chief marketing officer (CMO) is a person who fills the role of a CMO for a small business, nonprofit, or other organization [can sometimes scale to bigger companies looking to fill in a temporary opening]. A fractional CMO may also be called a shared CMO or outsourced CMO.
The fractional marketing model was created by tech startups in Silicon Valley, which often experience rapid growth within a very short period of time. These startups often hire a full-time chief marketing officer (CMO) to help them scale their business and reach more customers. However, they don’t necessarily have the budget or need for one full-time employee, so they hire a series of contractors instead.
While this model has traditionally been used by tech startups, it’s becoming increasingly popular among large companies as well. Fractional CMOs are able to manage multiple projects at once while still providing the same high quality of service as full-time employees. This makes hiring fractional CMOs an attractive option for businesses looking to scale their marketing efforts without sacrificing quality or consistency.
What does a fractional CMO do?
The job of a fractional CMO is to manage all aspects of marketing for an organization. This includes advertising and promotion, brand management, social media management, and more. In some cases, they may also be responsible for sales and customer service/relations.
The exact responsibilities will vary depending on the needs of the organization and the skills of the individual hired as a fractional CMO. Some join a company solely as consultants you can reach out to for advice, team building and hiring, goals getting, and other high-level strategic duties.
Do I need a fractional CMO?
Many small businesses don’t have enough money to hire full-time staff members in every department including marketing. If your business is growing rapidly or you’re just starting out, hiring someone on staff can be too expensive right now. But it’s important that you make sure people know about your products or services so that you can acquire new customers as quickly as possible.
Now back to our main topic.
What is a fractional content marketer?
A fractional content marketer is someone who joins your marketing team in an effort to either test or scale a content strategy, Sometimes, they work with a complete team of content creators. They may be writers, SEO specialists, designers, or videographers.
Fractional content marketers work with other members of a team to create a variety of content that can be used by the client’s marketing team. They might have to work in different settings and on multiple projects at once, but it’s up to them to come up with new ideas and stay on top of industry trends.
So what does a fractional content marketer do?
Brands invest in fractional content marketing support for different reasons. Some brands want to ensure consistent messaging across their content. Others want to start reaching their target audiences with the right content at appropriate times.
But perhaps the most compelling reason why brands should consider investing in a fractional content management system is to ensure they don’t miss out on any revenue opportunities that may come up along the way.
Content creation has always been a core part of any successful digital marketing strategy. But with so many people online, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to attract the attention of their prospective customers.
With so much noise out there, it takes more than just good information to get noticed these days. You need to be able to tell your story in an original way that gets people talking and makes them want to do business with you. And that means having powerful stories that resonate with your audience — stories that show them how your products or services can improve their lives.
But here’s the problem: Most businesses don’t have the time or resources needed to develop compelling stories on their own (or in-house). This is where fractional content marketing leaders come in.
Hiring someone as a fractional content manager allows you to get started with content efforts without having to commit long-term.
If you’re looking for an experienced content marketer to help your business grow, you may be wondering if it’s worth hiring someone on a full-time basis. In some cases, you might be better off hiring a fractional content marketer instead.
Here’s some reasons why:
Content is king
The most important factor in any successful marketing campaign is the quality of your content. Without high-quality content, your marketing efforts will have little impact on your bottom line. If you have great ideas but don’t have the time or skills to produce them yourself, hiring a fractional content marketer can help you get more done with less effort and money.
You need someone who has experience with your industry
If you’re looking to hire someone who can create unique and engaging content for your industry, then it’s important that they understand what makes that industry tick from an insider perspective.
A fractional content manager has already been immersed in one or more industries for years and has developed an expertise that can’t be learned overnight. They know how things work behind the scenes. This means they’ll know how to target their audience effectively and make them want what you’re selling by speaking directly to them from experience.
Full-time employees often have niche skillsets that don’t necessarily fit into every role at your company — or they might not be able to offer those skillsets at all due to their location or lack of experience in certain areas like social media marketing.
You don’t have time to handle content yourself
If you’re too busy with other tasks, then it makes sense to outsource this work. You could hire an employee for this role, but that would cost more money than using an independent contractor or freelancer.
It’s easy to underestimate how much time it takes to create a content calendar, write a post, optimize a landing page, etc. Even if you put in 10 hours per week on your blog, that’s still only 20 hours per month — which means that if you want to publish one new blog post every week, you’ll be spending an hour per day on blogging alone! And if your goal is two or three posts per week? That’s going to eat up even more time.
Cost constraints
If you don’t have enough money in your budget for new hires, then using a fractional content marketer is a good alternative. This person will work on your behalf at a lower rate than most full-time employees would charge (or even freelancers).
While it’s true that full-time employees come with benefits like health insurance and retirement plans, they also come with overhead costs like salaries, equipment, and taxes. It can take a while before you see any return on investment (ROI) from hiring full-time employees. On the other hand, fractional content marketers work as freelancers who bill by the hour or project rate. You pay only for what you need and nothing more.
Efficiency
Fractional marketers are experts at creating high-quality content that gets results, saving you time and effort while ensuring quality control across all projects at every stage of development. In addition, they stay current with changing trends so they can help you create engaging content campaigns that will attract new readers, leads, and customers alike.
Should I hire a fractional content manager or an agency?
When it comes to content marketing, there are two different types of people that can help you with your campaign. You can either hire a content marketer or hire an agency to do it for you. But which one is right for you?
The truth is that both have pros and cons, depending on the type of campaign you want to run and your budget. Let’s take a closer look at both options so that you can make an informed decision.
The difference between a fractional content marketer and a content marketing agency has to do with the level of service offered, as well as the cost. A fractional content marketer will typically offer their services at a lower cost than an agency would. An agency may provide more services, but at a higher cost than hiring someone on an hourly basis. For example, if you need help with blog posts, social media management, and editing skills for your blog posts, you could hire someone on an hourly basis to do those things for you or hire a full-time employee who has those skills.
A good rule of thumb is to hire someone for the tasks that you need done right now and find a full-time employee later when you are ready for them. A content marketing agency may be able to offer more services than a fractional marketer. An agency can handle everything from creating your strategy to executing it across all channels. A fractional marketer may not have as much experience with other areas such as paid advertising or social media management — although they might be able to point you in the right direction if needed.
So who should I hire?
- If you haven’t done any content yet or your efforts have been sporadical, I’d always recommend testing out content first. This is why a fractional content marketer is perfect as it allows you to invest just the right amount of time and money to actually see if content is a strategy worth pursuing. If these efforts are worthwhile, it’s time to consider building a team and bringing on more full-time people.
- If you’ve been doing content for a while and you’re starting to see this strategy bring in leads and customers. Before you jump into hiring someone full-time, talk to a content consultant [or growth professional with content background]. My general advice is to book calls with different people to get an accurate and unbiased look at your current stats and future steps. Depending on how valuable a content strategy is for your target market/industry, you’ll want to get either a full-time content marketing hire on board or a first marketing hire with a content background.
Alexandra Cote 🚀 