Marketing agency, in-house marketers or a fractional CMO—what’s the best fit for your company?

Knowing whether to hire a fractional CMO, marketing agency, or in-house marketing team is like choosing a path in a thick fog. If you proceed with one of these options without knowing what you’re getting into it could mean losing out on sales growth or, wasting money and time.

Which direction is the best choice? Let’s de-mistify your options to put you on the path that’s best for your business.

What to consider at a high level

There are many variables to consider when making this choice. Asking yourself the following questions can give you a strong foundation to identify whether you need a fractional CMO, agency or in-house marketing team.

Your company’s maturity and size

• How stable is our current marketing foundation and do we have an understanding of our audience?
• What is the cost-benefit ratio of each option in the short and long term?
• Realistically, what is our budget given the current state of our company and how much are we willing to spend on marketing to grow into our next phase?

Flexibility and scalability

• How important is it for us to have the ability to pivot quickly?
• Do we find we need to scale up or down frequently?
• Are we looking for a long-term solution or something more short-term?

Expertise and gaps in skills

• Do we have specific challenges that require niche expertise?
• What hard skills are we lacking and having difficulty finding?
• Are we looking for strategic leadership, execution or both?

Speed and implementation

• How long will it take to ramp up each option based on what we desire?
• How quickly do we need to see results or, how quickly do we need to be in market?
• How much access and responsiveness do we need from the people we work with?

Control, alignment, and communication

• How much control am I willing to relinquish?
• How often do I require communication and access to people?
• What level of cultural, value, or industry alignment am I seeking?

Innovation

• Can we foster innovation internally or do we need external support to bring in ideas and help facilitate innovation?
• Do we have dedicated resources for innovation projects?
• Do we have the infrastructure to support rapid experimentation, minimally viable products, or prototyping?

Your needs may be complex and nuanced

Once you’ve pondered these questions, it makes it a bit easier to filter which option(s) are right for you. Plot twist: Working with a fractional CMO, agency, and in-house marketing team doesn’t have to be a mutually exclusive thing. Depending on what you need, it’s possible to go with more than one option! Sometimes, you’ll find that you’ll want some combination of the three. For example, you may want to hire a marketing manager who oversees the day-to-day activities of the team and is responsible for liaising with an agency for special projects. Or, you may require the senior leadership of a fractional CMO to guide your existing in-house team that lacks direction.

Here’s a cheat sheet that shows what you can expect to get from each option before we dive in deeper.

Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

Fractional Chief Marketing Officers (CMO) are professionals who tend to have 20+ years of marketing experience as a VP of Marketing or CMO at various companies. They work on retainer with a company to lead marketing strategy and advise on marketing operations.

A Fractional CMO is right for your business if:

You need executive-level experience

When you hire a Fractional CMO you get someone who has had a career as a full-time executive at an organization like yours or an organization your company aspires to be like. They are battle-tested and know how to set strategy, get organizational alignment, who to hire for your in-house marketing team, and how to work with an agency. So if you’re looking for someone to audit your business and work closely with your leadership team to steer the ship with your business in mind then a Fractional CMO is the way to go.

You need a commitment to the bigger picture

It’s important to note that a Fractional CMO is different than hiring a consultant. A consultant tends to come in to perform a specific analysis and recommendation, however, they often don’t stay with your company to see through the execution of that recommendation. A Fractional CMO becomes a part of your team while they work with your company. They attend exec team meetings and act on behalf of your company when it comes to working with marketing vendors or an in-house marketing team. They aren’t execution focused but rather help you put all the pieces in place to get to the bigger picture goals.

You need unbiased evaluations of your business quickly

Fractional CMOs can provide a combination of external objectivity and the benefit of being an insider. Since a Fractional CMO will leave your company one day, they aren’t likely to play internal politics. They can act in the best interest of your company and make objective recommendations. As seasoned professionals who tend to have 20+ years of experience, they can ramp up quickly and start making recommendations for your business in short order. This will save your company time and money.

Your company is ready to spice up exec team discussions and integrate a new voice on the team

Hiring a Fractional CMO is an investment. To get the most out of this investment it’s best to include the Fractional CMO in executive and C-Suite level meetings and decisions. If the Fractional CMO you hire is kept out of exec and C-Suite decision making it may mean your marketing plans won’t be aligned with your company’s strategic plans. If those two things aren’t being integrated properly then your marketing spend or your marketing operations won’t be fully optimized.

You need a cost-effective alternative to hiring a full-time in-house CMO

Hiring a full-time marketing executive with 20+ years of experience would be a costly process and their salaries would be very high. Hiring a fractional CMO allows you to get all the benefits of an experienced CMO but at the same cost as a full-time marketing director or manager at full salary benefits, and overhead. Additionally, a fractional CMO can increase or decrease their hours with your company if your budgets change. For example, this may be appealing if you are a start-up or early-stage company.

You need temporary or interim senior leadership

If your business is going through a transition period or you need strategic input for a defined period of time then a fractional CMO is a good option. If your existing CMO position is vacant or your current CMO is taking an extended leave (such as medical or parental leave) then consider a fractional CMO.

You need hyper-specialized leadership to guide specific business circumstances or crisis management

Sometimes businesses find themselves experiencing things that don’t commonly occur on a quarterly or even yearly basis. Big things such as digital transformation, rebranding, acquisitions, market expansion, product launches, or overall business pivots. Situations like these may require someone who’s highly specialized at navigating them.

Your company is at a growth inflection point

Fractional CMO Dina Baker mentions that “Fractional CMOs tend to be best suited for mid-market companies with $10M-$250M of revenue. These companies may have hit a roadblock because their current marketing efforts are no longer generating growth for their company”.

What to be mindful of when considering a Fractional CMO

The Fractional CMO you hire may have lots of marketing experience, but they may lack specific experience in your industry

Working with a poorly matched Fractional CMO can leave your organization worse off in the long run. This risk can be mitigated by seeking advice from an organization like Chief Outsiders, which has a roster of vetted CMOs on their team. Chief Outsiders will first understand your company’s needs and then recommend CMOs that can serve those needs best. As opposed to Googling “fractional CMO near me” or searching for one on LinkedIn, working with an organization that matches you with an ideal-fit CMO tends to yield the best results.

In-house marketers

In-house or internal marketing resources are full-time employees of your company. They are solely focused on marketing your company’s products or services and available at all times. This can include people of varying skill levels and seniorities from managers, coordinators, interns, or specialists.

In-house marketers are right for your business if:

You require deep integration with your departments and processes

An internal marketing team can develop a deep understanding of your company, its products or services, target audience, industry, and competitors. This knowledge can lead to more tailored and effective marketing strategies and internal coordination. An in-house marketing team can devote time to coordinate with other departments within your company, such as sales, product development, and customer service, to ensure alignment and integration of marketing efforts with overall business goals.

You don’t want to compromise on cultural fit

Since your in-house marketers are full-time employees they will (hopefully) have a cultural fit with your company’s mission, vision, and values. This is beneficial since marketing programs should be an extension of a company’s culture and brand. While it’s possible to find agencies that align with you culturally, it’s more likely that you’ll find people acclimate to your business values when they are internally present on a daily basis.

You want long-term investment and long-term commitment

While hiring an in-house marketing team involves higher initial costs compared to a fractional CMO or agency, it can be a long-term investment that pays off in terms of brand consistency, ongoing campaign management, and institutional knowledge. Building your team internally means you can find people aligned and bought into your long-term strategic vision.

Your marketing is highly technical or requires profound customer insights

If you rely on nuanced customer insights or your business needs to maintain close relationships with customers then internal marketers may be better suited for you than agencies, which are naturally one step removed. Or, if your solutions are highly technical then an internal team that’s fully immersed in your company may be better suited to communicate those technical nuances.

You want full control over execution, oversight, and ownership

Nothing gives you maximum control like keeping your execution fully internal. You can check in and have insight on progress at any point. You’ll have visibility into your team’s calendars, workloads, and overall capacity so you can engage as often as needed. There’s also an added layer of security and confidentiality which can ensure control over proprietary information.

You have a large volume work and require dedicated resourcing for the foreseeable future

If you have a volume of work that requires dedicated resourcing and you wish to build institutional knowledge around that within your business then it makes sense to hire in-house. This is especially true if the work requires lots of internal coordination with other teams.

What to be mindful of when considering in-house marketing

Acknowledge that any hires will still require training and retaining employees is a hidden cost investment

It’s time-consuming and an investment managing your employees’ careers. You have to plan for their skills development, make sure they are engaged in their work, in addition to paying their salary, benefits, raises, and bonuses. Not only that, but there will be a hiring process that can take weeks or months requiring your existing resources.

Your marketing could get stale or repetitive

If you only stick with in-house marketing resources to do your company’s marketing, then you risk getting lulled into complacency. In-house marketing resources tend to manage marketing programs well. Having said that since they are so close to the business day in and day out, they have trouble pulling back to see the big picture, which is often necessary to come up with new breakthrough ways to reach your target market.

You should have strong leadership in place that can provide direction and potentially mentorship to the in-house team

If your current leadership team has a marketing mindset or someone with marketing experience, they can provide strategic direction to an in-house marketing team. If there isn’t proper strategic direction given to an in-house marketing team then your marketing will just become a checklist of “marketing to-do” items as opposed to smart and well-thought-out programs that break through the clutter and develop a meaningful connection with clients. Not only that, but employees value learning and mentorship from senior leaders

Marketing agency

A marketing agency is a group of experts that can help your business reach its marketing and sales goals. Marketing agencies can perform junior to senior-level marketing strategy, management, and coordination as well as creative services like ideation, branding, and graphic design.

A marketing agency is right for your business if:

You need a combination of strategic thinking with the ability to execute

Since marketing agencies are a team of experts, they will have senior-level strategists and creative directors to set a marketing plan as well as managers, designers, and coordinators to execute the plan. Marketing agencies can be a one-stop shop to fulfill all marketing needs. If you don’t have the in-house capacity to do things because everyone’s plates are full you can off-load the execution work to an agency.

You require wide and deep knowledge ranging from tactics to industry expertise

Hiring a marketing agency with specialized knowledge about your industry or line of business will allow you to hit the ground running in your marketing efforts. For example, Stryve’s specialization is in B2B marketing for professional service firms, tech, and agricultural companies. Our years of marketing and design experience in these industries allow us to ramp up quickly with clients and activate a marketing strategy that helps your company attain its goals. If you are looking for a specific skill set or have a gap in your team, then that’s an opportunity to rely on an agency partner.

You require scalability and flexibility

If your company’s marketing budget changes, you can increase or decrease your spend with a marketing agency relatively easily. Contracts with marketing companies tend to be 6-12 month arrangements and have clauses in them that allow the client to change their retainer amounts if needed or use fewer hours in light months and more hours in heavy marketing months.

You wish to gain new perspectives from an objective third-party

The saying goes, if you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting. Hiring a marketing agency allows you to get a third-party perspective on your company’s marketing and creative, which can help propel your company to a new level. Without the veil of internal politics or appeasing any power dynamics, your agency can provide feedback and various ideas. The exposure to various companies, industries, and projects means they’ll have new perspectives that may be difficult to scavenge internally.

You require knowledge of tools and technology or want tech-stack guidance

All the software required for marketing and design can be expensive and time-consuming to integrate into your company’s operations. If you work with an agency, you can save thousands of dollars in subscription costs since agencies already subscribe to analytics and design software. It can also be challenging to train or bring your internal team’s up to speed on tools. You can use an agency’s expertise and access to premium tools for specific projects until you are ready to make that investment in the tools for yourself.

You want to experiment or validate something before hiring or investing full-time

Agencies often work on a project basis, allowing you to engage their services for a specific campaign or period. This flexibility lets you test new strategies without committing to long-term employment contracts or overhead costs. You can trial-run marketing initiatives and experiment to gauge effectiveness before deciding to scale up or invest heavily in tools, strategies, or building out your team.

Your company has patience for proper strategy and implementation

Are you hunting or farming? If you’re hunting for immediate leads, you’ll want to work with a lead-gen company or invest in salespeople. This may get you short-term leads but if you’re looking to build a long-term and sustainable way of generating quality leads and brand loyalty, then you have a ‘farming mindset’ and a marketing agency is the right fit for you.

You need specialized knowledge and need to move quickly

A marketing agency can get up to speed on your business within weeks. Since they are working on multiple clients, they know the strategies and tactics that will and won’t work for your business. This specialized knowledge and speed will help you get a return on investment from your marketing spend faster.

Your company has a marketing budget in place

A marketing agency’s monthly retainer depends on the amount of work being asked of the agency and the hours required to do that work on a monthly basis. Having said that, generally speaking, monthly retainers start for agencies like Stryve in the $7-$7.5K a month range and go up from there. It’s important to think of what your company is able to afford when you’re considering hiring an agency.

What to be mindful of when considering a marketing agency

Finding the right marketing agency requires a time investment

It’s important to properly vet an agency before you hire them. There are many ways an agency can be a bad fit for your company:

• The agency is specialized in an industry unrelated to your business’s industry. For example, you’re a SaaS company but you hired an agency that mostly has retail or eCommerce clients.
• The agency isn’t specialized in the type of marketing tactics or assets that your company needs right now. For example, the agency has mostly pay-per-click campaign expertise but what you really need is to relaunch your website before you drive traffic to it.
• The agency doesn’t set strategy before they begin the marketing tactics. It’s best to work with agencies that will ‘measure twice and cut once’.
• The agency doesn’t retain talent well and you get a revolving door of agency people working on your business.

Keep these things in mind when vetting an agency.

How to choose the right digital marketing agency for your business

The ideal situation differs for everyone

Ultimately, the right choice depends on your specific business needs, goals, and resources. As your business evolves, you’ll need to remain adaptable with resource utilization and combinations of partnerships. In fact, an ideal situation may be to have all three! A fractional CMO can provide senior-level strategic direction to your internal marketing manager and an agency. Your in-house marketers can work with an agency to come up with new or optimal ways to execute the marketing strategy. Each resource plays a part in the strategy setting and execution of great marketing and creative work.

Still confused? Check out this scale to help guide your decision about which is right for your specific needs. 1 is low and 5 is high.