Small marketing teams do not get enough credit. In a lot of small businesses and start-ups, the entire marketing plan is created and executed by a single person.
(If that’s you, you’re a hero. Truly. Send this article to your boss and tell them you deserve a holiday.)
Lately, growing companies that decide they’re ready to expand the marketing team have been getting a rude shock – they can’t afford to.
The world is waking up to the power of marketing. As demand for good marketers grows, so do salary expectations. The best marketers have loads of job options to choose from, and it’s hard for a company on a budget to compete.
Don’t despair, small business. We’re looking out for you. Read on and we’ll show you how we get dynamite marketing at a fraction of the cost of hiring a new team (or even one new marketer).
Introducing the fractional marketing team
Besides a slim marketing budget, not all businesses need complex strategies or massive volumes of content. You might just need someone to write your blog or manage your Facebook page.
It doesn’t make sense to hire a 40-hour-a-week employee when you only have 10 hours of work. That’s like buying a gourmet kitchen when all you make are sandwiches. It looks nice, but there are better ways to spend your money.
A fractional marketing team gives you the benefit of smart, talented experts who are there just when you need them. You can scale up for launches or campaigns and scale down when you’re overbooked. And since you’re paying for specific projects, you don’t have to worry about keeping them busy enough to get your money’s worth. (It’s how we’ve run Zembr’s marketing activities for years.)
While working with contract marketers is pretty easy, we can tell you from experience that hiring them can be hard. Marketing is how you present your business to the world, so it’s important your marketer really gets you and your target audience. If finding someone to do the work on your timeline and within your budget is like jumping a hurdle, finding one who matches your brand voice is like scaling a wall.
You can dramatically improve your chances of success if you lay the foundation for your marketing first. Fractional marketers aren’t fairy godmothers; they can’t just wave a wand and poof your brand into existence. You have to give them some guidelines.
Building your marketing foundation
You wouldn’t hire a carpenter to build a house without blueprints. So don’t hire people to build your business without a plan.
When you bring a marketing contractor on board, you should be able to explain:
The basics of your business plan. What areas of your business do you want to grow? What goals are you trying to achieve through marketing?
Your brand guidelines. Building a brand customers will recognize means being consistent. Visual elements should have the same colors and styles. Verbal elements should use the same voice. If your contractor doesn’t know your brand guidelines, no matter how good their work is, it won’t feel like yours.
Your marketing plan. Who are your customers? What do they want, and why should they buy it from you over a competitor? Use this worksheet to outline your plan so your contractors know what their goals are.
Who’s on the marketing team?
There are fractional marketers to fill every role on your team, though the best solution combines in-house staff with contractors.
Your in-house staff has deep knowledge of your company, products, customers and market. You’ll want them developing strategies or, at the very least, making sure strategies are grounded in the business plan.
The person who oversees your team should have enough marketing knowledge that they can give useful feedback without micromanaging the project. Contractors should report to a good communicator who is organised and has time to stay on top of things. A lot of marketing is time sensitive, and it’s very frustrating for a contractor to submit work on time and hear nothing back for weeks.
Your marketing plan will help you figure out the roles you need to hire for. Be realistic. If your plan calls for email campaigns, videos and graphics, you’re looking for a writer, a video marketer and a graphic designer, not a “rockstar” who can do all three. Marketing changes fast, and even a person with a versatile skill set will find it hard to stay up on all the latest trends.
Think of it this way: you don’t expect your plumber to know about the newest roofing material or your roofer to know about electrical standards. So you shouldn’t expect your writer to be up to date on SEO or your designer to know social media trends.
Keep that in mind for your in-house staff, too. Are you burning out your social media manager by requiring them to handle ad management and video creation on top of their normal duties? Outsourcing tasks to an expert, even for just a few hours a week, can go a long way toward stronger marketing and happier workers. Zembr’s virtual marketing assistants work as little as 10 hours a month helping clients execute on email campaigns, content writing, graphic design, website updates, social media plans and creator management.
Get. It. Done.
Whether you need short-term help to cover a worker absence or product launch, or you’re looking to beef up your marketing long-term without adding staff, outside contractors can help you reach your goals. Marketing assistants bring high-quality experience to your company without blowing up your personnel budget – as long as you can find the right ones.
