While long-term, full-time employment was once the norm, employers today are realizing it’s not always the optimal option—especially in the marketing sphere. Hiring in-house marketers can put a major financial strain on emerging businesses, which may not even need that level of engagement to begin with.

Fractional recruiting is a more flexible approach that implies hiring a marketer for only a part of their time. This recruitment model allows you to access the expertise you need for a specific task or project at a more affordable price compared to full-time engagements.

To help you learn more about this increasingly popular work arrangement, we’ll discuss its pros and cons to give you a complete picture of what you can expect. You’ll also discover useful tips for implementing the fractional approach when hiring for marketing roles. As a bonus, we’ll present a platform that can connect you with top fractional marketing talent on demand.

What Is Fractional Recruiting?

Fractional recruiting refers to the process of hiring employees who’ll work for you for only a “fraction” of the time of a full-time employee. Fractional employees often divide their time between multiple employers, engaging with them as needed. This means fractional employees can work both part-time and full-time for a company, depending on the specific project needs. 

Solidify your understanding of the fractional arrangement by comparing it to full-time and part-time work:

The Difference Between Recruiting Freelancers and Fractional Talent

Fractional work shouldn’t be confused with freelancing. Even though they share some similarities, these two employment types are distinct. Learn how they compare in the table below:

Fractional Recruitment and Marketing

Because of its flexibility, fractional recruiting is an excellent choice for marketing roles. Here’s why:

1. Marketing is often seasonal: It doesn’t always call for full-time, year-round engagement
2. Marketing is ever-changing: It requires businesses to adapt quickly, so traditional employment may bog them down
3. Marketing is a multifaceted operation: With the traditional approach, businesses must either hire an entire marketing team or find a marketer who’s skilled in many verticals

In many cases, it makes more sense to engage with a marketer ad hoc than have an in-house marketer or marketing team.

Which Marketing Roles Are Best Suited for Fractional Engagement?

The fractional employment model works best with:

1. Mid-level and executive roles, such as a CMO or marketing director
2. Highly specialized roles, such as an SEO specialist or content marketer

A fractional CMO can step in when your business is in a critical stage or encounters a problem, helping keep everything in order. For example, a fractional content marketer may be needed only when you’re running a content marketing campaign. 

Fractional marketing services are also convenient for interim roles. You can hire a fractional marketer to fill a position temporarily when your in-house marketer is on parental or sick leave and while you’re looking for a suitable full-time employee. In some cases, the fractional marketer may switch to a full-time contract if the collaboration proves to be successful.

Key Benefits of Fractional Recruiting

An in-house marketing team can be valuable because it provides consistency and a sense of community. Still, it’s not necessary for every business, especially those that involve independent remote work. On top of that, startups often find it unreachable due to budget constraints and other priorities. In such cases, the fractional work model may be more fitting.

Compared to traditional recruiting, fractional recruiting is:

• More affordable: You can get the deep subject matter expertise you need to uplevel your business without paying the price of a full-time marketer. Since the costs are lower, you may even be able to hire multiple experts
• Faster: Since you don’t have to spend time looking for the perfect all-around marketer or assembling a complete marketing team, you can recruit and meet your hiring needs quickly
• Scalable: Because it’s not as time and cost-intensive, fractional recruiting allows you to expand your marketing team and get help when needed

Thanks to fractional recruiting, you can keep growing your business, adapt to market trends, and hit your goals with fewer hiccups.

Fractional Employment—Employee Benefits 

Fractional engagement comes with many advantages for the marketers as well:

• Multiple income sources: Marketers can specialize in an area and profit from their expertise at multiple locations. They also have a backup in case one of their employers goes under
• Work flexibility: Working for only one business can become monotonous. Fractional marketers can jump between projects, choosing where to invest their time and effort
• Sense of belonging: While they’re not as involved as full-time team members, fractional marketers can build relationships with their employers and colleagues over time. This is usually not the case with freelancers, who engage with the business for a short period

With a more flexible schedule and the ability to work on various interesting projects, fractional work can be highly rewarding. As a result, the expert can do their best work and bring you exceptional results.

When To Adopt Fractional Recruiting

You can hire fractional marketing talent whenever a need for it arises. That may happen when you:

1. Have to rethink your strategy or workflow: The marketing plans and processes you once created can’t serve you forever. You’ll have to update them as your business grows and industry trends shift. A fractional CMO or strategist can help you through this transition
2. Need to delegate some tasks: As your business expands, so does your scope of work. You can hire a marketing manager to take over some of your tasks. That often doesn’t require full-time engagement, so the fractional model comes in handy
3. Are stuck with a low-yielding campaign: If your existing marketing strategy and efforts aren’t working out, you can bring in a fresh pair of eyes. An external marketing expert can objectively assess your processes and come up with innovative solutions
4. Have a temporary skills gap: Sometimes, you need to hire quickly to ensure your marketing operations can resume. Fractional talent is ideal for this, allowing you to get a temporary fill-in at a fraction of the cost while you’re looking for a suitable full-time employee
5. Are at a critical stage: An extra pair of hands and expert oversight can be helpful when your business is going through a big transition, such as when you’re rebranding or launching a new product line
6. Require specific expertise: You can hire a fractional specialist to handle marketing campaigns that you run only occasionally

Making the Best out of Fractional Recruiting

To reap the benefits of fractional recruitment, there are a few steps you need to take. For starters, you need to be clear about the responsibilities you want your new hire to take on even before you start recruiting. You also need to make sure the people you’re considering for the role fully understand your requirements.

After finding your ideal fractional expert, discuss the employment terms with them in-depth, covering aspects such as:

• Frequency of engagement
• Availability and work hours
• The scope of work
• Short-term and long-term objectives
• Communication methods

Since the marketer will likely work for other companies, make sure to include a noncompete clause in the contract to protect confidential and proprietary data.

Once the work starts, you should:

• Respect the expert’s availability: Whether the marketer works only for you or for multiple employers, make sure to honor their flexible schedule. Don’t assign them more work than you’ve agreed upon
• Communicate openly and regularly: It’s essential to check in on your expert and provide timely feedback to ensure successful collaboration
• Avoid micromanaging the expert: You should trust your expert to complete the work you’ve hired them for
• Nurture the relationship: Even though you don’t work with fractional employees as often as with your full-time workforce, you should do your best to build trust and keep the relationship amicable. Make sure to send them company updates and include them in relevant meetings

Challenges of Fractional Recruiting

As long as you communicate clearly and stick to your pre-agreed terms, your collaboration with a fractional expert should be successful. It’s not the work itself that can be difficult, but rather the recruiting. Since there are many fractional experts available today, zeroing in on the perfect candidate can be a major challenge.

Here are some potential problems to look out for when hiring fractional marketers:

1. Inexperience and incompetence: The marketer needs to have at least a few years of experience and a proven track record of success. Otherwise, they won’t be able to work independently and efficiently, and the results will show it
2. Communication issues: Fractional work relies on regular communication, so your chosen fractional expert should have excellent communication skills. If not, your collaboration will be slow, error-prone, and stressful
3. Lack of reliability: You need someone reliable, professional, and punctual. If they leave before completing the work, you’ll have to spend time, money, and effort finding a replacement promptly
4. Lack of motivation: You should find a fractional marketer who’s genuinely on board with your company mission. If not, they won’t be motivated to do their best work and be productive
5. Incompatible cultural fit: To collaborate with your team successfully, the new hire should be somewhat aligned with your values. Otherwise, there may be some friction that hampers teamwork

To avoid these situations, you should screen each candidate meticulously or delegate the recruiting process to an experienced recruiting agency or platform.

How To Choose the Best Fractional Recruiting Services

While it may seem less costly at first, handling the fractional recruitment process yourself can end up being more expensive.

Sourcing and screening marketers will take up a lot of your precious time, especially if you’re not an experienced marketer yourself. That will defeat the purpose of fractional hiring, which should be as fast as possible. Also, if you pick the wrong person, you’ll have to replace them later on, spending even more resources.

Your best bet is to partner with a fractional recruiting service or platform. Find out what traits you need to look for when choosing your provider:

Sourcing a suitable fractional marketer is a big undertaking, but you can make it easy for yourself by opting for a fractional recruiting service that meets the above-listed criteria, such as MarketerHire.

Why Is MarketerHire the Best Choice for Fractional Recruiting?

MarketerHire is an on-demand recruiting platform that can connect you with top-notch marketers within 48 hours, whether you need a fractional CMO, a part-time SEO specialist, or a full-time growth marketer. Since its launch in 2018, MarketerHire has made over 25,000 successful matches. It has worked with some of today’s biggest brands, such as:

• Netflix
• Forbes
• Allbirds
• Plaid
• Unilever

One of the secrets behind MarketerHire’s success is its elaborate pre-vetting process. It’s conducted by industry experts and consists of skill assessments, live interviews, and test projects. Only the top 3% of candidates end up joining the platform’s elite network, so expect marketing excellence regardless of who you’re matched with.

MarketerHire also has a meticulous matching system—MarketerMatch. It combines artificial and human intelligence to single out a fractional marketer with the skills and personality you need. 

With MarketerHire, there’s no risk of making a bad hiring decision. You get a week-long trial period for each match. If your marketer ends up being the wrong fit, MarketerHire will find a replacement for free.

Since MarketerHire’s experts will handle all the heavy lifting, you can focus on your core responsibilities. Still, you’ll get a dedicated marketing manager who’ll discuss your needs, guide and support you throughout the recruitment process, and check in with you afterward to make sure you’re satisfied.

How MarketerHire Works

No matter the engagement type and marketing role you’re hiring for, MarketerHire’s recruiting process is simple and comprises only three steps:

1. Describe your project: Schedule a short call with your marketing manager to discuss your business, project, and the fractional work your marketer will be doing
2. Meet your fractional expert: MarketerHire’s experts will suggest a suitable fractional marketer within 48 hours
3. Get to work: Your fractional expert can start working with you within three days

Because it understands how fast-paced marketing work is, MarketerHire offers a flexible short-term contract. You can cancel, scale up, or scale down as needed.

MarketerHire can also match you with Expert Assistants who can support your marketing, design, or sales team. They can take over some of your repetitive and tedious tasks, allowing you to focus on high-impact work.

Ready to experience the agility and convenience of fractional recruiting? Contact MarketerHire and get quick access to elite fractional marketers!

Other Fractional Hiring Resources To Check Out

We have many more guides on the topic of fractional recruiting—check them out below: