Should you hire a marketing employee, a fractional marketing lead or an agency?
It depends on how much work there is, which skills it needs and who will manage it. An employee usually suits steady work that fills a week and that you can direct. A fractional marketing lead, an experienced marketer hired part time, often suits a business that needs a plan and oversight more than extra hands. An agency usually suits work that spans several skills. Whichever you choose, keep the domain, website, ad accounts and lead records in the business's name.
The three options
| Employee | Fractional lead | Agency | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | One person on your team | An experienced marketer for part of each week or month | A team with several skills |
| Usually suits | Steady work that fills most of a week | A plan and oversight more than day-to-day tasks | Work that spans the website, search, ads and lead handling |
| Who manages the work | You, day to day | They direct it; you manage them | The agency manages its staff; you manage the agreement |
| Common gap | One person rarely has every skill | Someone still has to do the work | Less direct contact with the people doing it |
What a marketing hire is, and is not
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics describes advertising, promotions and marketing managers as people who plan programs to generate interest in products or services. It says they typically need a bachelor's degree and work experience in a related occupation, and that most work full time.
That is a planning role. A small service business often needs someone who also does the work: updating the website, posting, replying to inquiries and keeping the lead record. Those are different skills, so as general advice, list the weekly tasks before you write a job description, and hire for the tasks that are actually there.
Questions that usually decide it
- Is there enough marketing work to fill most of a week, every week, or does it come in bursts?
- Does the work need one skill or several, such as the website, search, ads and lead handling?
- Who will manage the person or the team, and do you have that time?
- If the person leaves or the contract ends, who holds the logins and the records?
- How will you see what the work produced: every lead tagged with where it came from and followed to won, lost or still open?
Whichever you choose
Keep ownership in the business's name, with each helper added as a user with their own login; the related answers on who should own your ad accounts and how much marketing to do yourself cover how. The related answer on hiring a freelancer or an agency compares two outside options, the related answer on what a marketing retainer is explains how agency agreements usually work, and the related answer on who can help improve your online presence fits the help to the problem. Ascent Vision is an agency, so read this with that in mind.
Sources
Related answers
- Should you hire a freelancer or an agency for SEO and marketing?
- Who can help me improve my online presence and attract more clients?
- What is a marketing retainer, and how should one work?
- How much of your marketing should you do yourself?
- Who should own your Google Ads and Facebook ad accounts?
SEO for service businesses
Get found on Google by the people already looking for what you sell, in the places you serve, and see which searches turned into inquiries.