Fractional Marketing Explained Plus Hiring Tips, Costs, and More!

I’ve been involved with fractional marketing for about 5 years now.

And I must admit, I love it.

Working with a handful of amazing clients has been challenging but also rewarding.

Fractional marketers have the benefit of working with various clients across various industries, which undoubtedly improves their skill sets.

In this article, I’ll explain what fractional marketing really is, why companies hire fractional marketers, and whether or not you should hire one (or become one).

Let’s get into it!

TL;DR:

A fractional marketer is a freelance marketing professional who works with multiple clients on a part-time or contract basis, rather than being employed full-time by a single company. A fractional marketer generally brings a broad range of marketing skills and deep experience to support their clients. They generally make the most sense for small to medium-sized companies that need marketing support but don't have the budget or appetite for a full-time CMO, agency, or marketing team.

What is a fractional marketer?

Building on the TL;DR, a fractional marketer is a consultant or freelancer who works with multiple companies on a part-time or contract basis.

Similar to a marketing consultant, a fractional marketer works part-time in an organization to help them develop and execute their marketing responsibilities.

However, no two fractional marketers will have the same skillsets, experience, or responsibilities.

For instance, I specialize in SEO, copywriting, lead generation, and email marketing for software and service companies. I rarely work with eCommerce businesses. But there might be a fractional marketer specializing in Meta ads for e-commerce businesses. Our skillsets wouldn’t overlap even though we’re both technically fractional marketers.

The bottom line is that a fractional marketer handles marketing and growth on a part-time basis for a variety of companies.

It’s a cost-efficient way for businesses to access expert marketing talent without hiring a full-time employee.

What are the responsibilities of a fractional marketer?

As you can imagine the responsibilities of a fractional marketer will vary depending on the company and marketer. Below are some of the common responsibilities I see among most fractional marketers.

• Creating or refining the marketing strategy: Crafting and executing a marketing strategy that aligns with business goals is critical. In some cases, these could be tied to specific revenue metrics that require you to build a strategy to generate revenue.
• Campaign management: Planning, launching, and managing the marketing campaigns across various channels (think Meta, Google, LinkedIn). Most businesses will need more leads so this is a common responsibility.
• Content creation: Developing appropriate content for blogs, social media, and emails is another common responsibility for marketers.
• SEO Optimization: Implementing SEO best practices to improve website ranking and visibility to drive revenue. This could include allocating the budget correctly and reporting on performance. In some cases, you might need to get your hands dirty and write content, build backlinks, or optimize on-site SEO.
• Performance analysis: There’s a good chance you’ll be monitoring and analyzing campaign performance, and providing insights and recommendations to improve.
• Budget management: Some companies will expect you to allocate and manage the marketing budget effectively.
• Lead Generation: Businesses need leads to survive. A common responsibility is driving lead generation initiatives to support sales targets.
• Reporting: Providing regular reports on marketing activities and outcomes to stakeholders. You might be required to build these reports from scratch or improve existing reports.
• Collaboration: Working with internal teams or external partners to align marketing efforts. You can expect to educate these stakeholders and convince them what you’re doing is going to help them.
• Building systems and processes: More often than not a fractional marketer will be responsible for creating marketing systems and processes. Whether this requires leveraging automation or APIs it is a responsibility that often falls under the marketing team.

Why are marketers leaving their full-time jobs to become fractional marketers?

There's a lot of speculation about why marketers are going out on their own to become fractional marketers (i.e. consultants and freelancers).

In my opinion, it’s a combination of factors including mass layoffs, greater earning potential, and flexibility. Let’s explore the three core factors.

Mass layoffs: According to Layoffs.fyi there were 265,000 layoffs in 2023 and 143,000 so far in 2024. There’s no doubt that a significant portion of these redundancies were marketing roles. And with so many layoffs finding another job with the same pay and perks can be difficult, so naturally it makes sense for these people to start taking on freelance gigs.

Earning potential: Even though ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, and Talent.com can’t agree on a range, I would bet a mid-senior level marketer in the United States can earn anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000 on average. However, as a fractional marketer, you could charge a day rate of $1,000 if you wanted to. On top of this, nothing is stopping you from pricing your projects based on value delivered and not hours worked. The earning potential is much greater when you’re self-employed.

Flexibility: This might be the biggest selling point to marketers. I know it is for me. Having the ability to work from wherever I want and whenever I want is a luxury I don’t take for granted. This doesn’t mean working fewer hours, it's often more hours but on your own schedule.

What’s the difference between an in-house marketer, a fractional marketer, and a marketing agency?