Fractional, Consultant, or Freelancer?

More and more businesses are turning to outsourced marketing in 2024, but how do founders and CEOs know who to hire? Let’s break down the differences help you understand which resource is the right one to grow your business.

So you’re is ready to make your first marketing hire…

And you’ve opted to outsource your talent (good choice, by the way).

Fortunately, the talent pool is extensive, so there’s no shortage of qualified candidates out there.

Unfortunately, navigating the landscape of self-employed marketers can be confusing at best. You’ve got consultants, freelancers, and now fractional CMOs. What’s the difference, and how do you know which resource is the right one for your business?

Let’s break it down, shall we?

Photo courtesy of Dani Corbett-Tebbs at Lake City Photos

A quick (but important) caveat

It’s worth noting that every self-employed marketer does things a little differently. That’s the thing about working for yourself—you get to make your own rules.

But while everyone gets to write their own playbook, there are some generally accepted rules of thumb to help guide you through your decision-making process.

I did some research (the old-fashioned way… maybe it’s the former journalist in me), so below you’ll find the most common and widely accepted definitions of each contract marketing role.

Marketing consultant

Marketing consultants typically step in as strategic advisors. Their primarily role is to evaluate and optimize your marketing strategy (if you have one) or develop a framework that supports your business objectives.

HubSpot defines a consultant as an expert who “gives professional advice to individuals and businesses in their area of expertise, usually on a temporary or contract basis until a particular need has been met.”

A consultant will generally develop and align the strategy with your executive team, then partner with your internal resources to oversee implementation. This means you’ll need tacticians on staff to execute the consultant’s vision.

Once executed, the consultant will quantify results, recommend any changes, and guide the team through a process of testing and learning until you’re off to the races. The engagement typically (but again, not always) ends after this particular project is finished.

Freelance marketer

Marketing freelancers tend to fall on the other end of the spectrum: They’re often highly specialized tacticians who do one thing really well (think paid advertising, SEO, social media management, content creation, etc.).

It’s best to tap a freelancer when you need executional support in a specific area. You’ve identified gaps in your marketing strategy and know where you want to dig in; you just don’t have the necessary support to get you from point A to point B.

Freelancers tend to work on a project-by-project basis with the goal of providing high-performing deliverables.

You might enlist a freelancer to:

Launch a short-term campaign or manage multiple ongoing campaigns
Audit and optimize SEO to improve your website’s page rank and domain authority
Generate a set of visual assets for specific marketing materials
Breathe life into your stagnant social media accounts
Create content or write copy

The key takeaway?

Freelancers tend to be highly specialized with specific zones of genius. They excel at what they do and often focus on one particular channel.

Fractional CMO

Did I save the best for last? Maybe… But I promise that’s the only bias you’ll find in this post.

Fractional CMOs, or interim CMOs, can often provide the best of both worlds. A fractional chief marketing officer tends to be a senior-level marketer who’s both strategic and executional.

Think of a fractional CMO as a single-person marketing team with the expertise to develop your marketing playbook and the tactical chops to rolls up their sleeves and implement it.

Fractional CMOs are part-time, high-level marketing leaders who work a fixed number of weekly or monthly hours on retainer.

Here’s what makes a fractional CMO unique:

Immediate impact: With a fractional CMO, you’ll get seasoned expertise from day one. My goal as a fractional CMO is not only to build your project roadmap, but to deliver quick wins right out of the gate.
Strategic vision: Much like a consultant, a fractional CMO has the business acumen to see the big picture and translate it into tangible marketing objectives that are both targeted and effective.
Cost-effective: A full-time chief marketing officer often demands a multiple-six-figure salary—and it can be a challenge to find the right CMO for your business. An in-house CMO will also need the backing of a team to execute their strategy, meaning more dollars spent on marketing resources. A fractional CMO offers both strategy and execution at a substantially lower cost.
Scalable support: Because fractional CMOs support multiple clients at various stages of growth, they tend to be unusually versatile. The strategy and support you receive from a fractional CMO will adapt to evolving business needs as your organization scales.

What’s next?

If you’re interested in exploring what a fractional CMO can do for your business, let’s connect. I’d love to learn more about your brand and marketing needs and show you what’s possible for your startup.

Book a time to chat

Fractional CMO, marketing consultant, and freelancer: What’s the difference, anyway?

Fractional, Consultant, or Freelancer?