Growth Collective is a freelance marketplace that matches you with pre-vetted marketers from its talent network based on your particular requirements. Once you approve your match, you can kick off the collaboration in a few days and manage all its aspects via a handy client portal.
While it offers many benefits, Growth Collective might not be everyone’s first choice. It’s a small company with a limited, North America-based talent pool, so it may not be able to accommodate all role requirements or international projects.
To help you explore other options, we’ve created a list of ten notable Growth Collective alternatives for sourcing marketing talent. We’ll discuss their benefits, pricing, and downsides so you can make an informed choice for your hiring needs.
What To Look For in Growth Collective Alternatives
Consider the following seven factors to evaluate your options and pick the best Growth Collective alternative for hiring exceptional marketers:
- Vast and diverse talent pool: Growth Collective’s talent network is small, so you should look for an alternative that can connect you with a wide range of marketers on demand
- Extensive vetting: Like Growth Collective, your chosen hiring agency or platform should employ a multi-step vetting process for admitting marketers into their database. This ensures only the top candidates are recommended to you
- Marketing verticalization: Your Growth Collective alternative should specialize in hiring marketers, employing in-house marketing experts with deep industry knowledge and experience
- Quality assurance: Go with a platform that can offer some form of a quality guarantee, such as a free trial, refund, or free rematching in case the candidate isn’t the right fit
- Bespoke service: Your chosen platform or agency should allow you to hire quickly, provide ongoing support, and save you time by handling as much of the hiring process as possible
- Flexible contract: Since your organizational needs can change over time, select a platform that offers a short-term contract and lets you scale up or down as needed
- Transparent pricing: Growth Collective is upfront about the cost of its services, and your chosen alternative should be too
1. MarketerHire
MarketerHire is your one-stop shop for finding A-list marketing talent. Since its launch in 2018, it has made over 25,000 successful matches for household names such as Forbes, Lyft, and Netflix.
Based on your company and project requirements, the platform matches you with the perfect expert marketer in less than 48 hours. To ensure you end up with the best of the best, MarketerHire rigorously vets candidates so that only the top 3% can enter its elite network of marketers.
Whether they were sourced by MarketerHire or applied themselves, marketers have to undergo the following process:
- In-depth experience, feedback, and skills review
- Video interview to assess communication skills
- Test project with real-world scenarios
The matching system, called MarketerMatch, is equally extensive and combines AI and expert hand-matching. While the first suggestion is accepted 83% of the time, MarketerHire offers a free trial and a free rematch to remove any risk of hiring the wrong person.
Besides doing all the recruitment for you, MarketerHire will assign you a dedicated growth manager or CMO to guide and support you throughout the hiring process. You can concentrate on growing your business while the platform’s in-house marketing experts handle the hiring complexities.
MarketerHire will find you a fit for any work engagement type and marketing niche, be it social media, content, or programmatic marketing. It’s also flexible, allowing you to cancel, scale up, or scale down as needed with its no-obligation short-term contracts.
MarketerHire Pricing
- Lite: 10 hours/week; $3,000–$6,000/month
- Part-time: 20 hours/week; $5,500–$11,000/month
- Full-time: 40 hours/week; $9,000–$20,000/month
MarketerHire Pros & Cons
2. Upwork
Since its launch in 2013, Upwork has been a major player in the freelancing game. It’s a marketplace where businesses can engage freelance marketers or agencies for various short-term or long-term projects.
Upwork’s talent pool is big and diverse but not pre-vetted. You’ll have to assess the aptitude and fit of freelancers by looking at their profiles, portfolios, and client reviews. The platform rewards the best performers with profile badges, such as Rising Talent and Top Rated, so you can quickly identify worthwhile candidates.
If you don’t have time to post jobs, browse proposals, and screen candidates yourself, you can upgrade to the Enterprise plan, which makes Upwork a worthy Growth Collective alternative. Enterprise gives you access to talent recruitment services and the platform’s Expert-Vetted talent.
Bonus read: Check out our list of the best Upwork alternatives and a detailed comparison of Upwork vs. Freelancer.
Upwork Pricing
- A wide range of freelancer rates
- Client Marketplace Fee: 5% on all payments you make to freelancers
- One-time contract initiation fee: Up to $9.95 for new Marketplace and Project Catalog contracts
- Enterprise: Pricing available upon request
Upwork Pros & Cons
3. GrowTal
GrowTal aims to simplify recruitment in the marketing field by matching you with marketers that you can hire for hourly, part-time, or full-time work. Its talent network consists of thousands of U.S.-based marketing professionals who’ve undergone a rigorous screening process that includes:
- Phone screenings
- Technical interviews
- Case studies
- Behavioral and culture fit interviews
To hire a GrowTal marketer, you’ll first need to complete a short form describing your company and goals. Using this information, GrowTal will hand-select a marketer from its talent pool. The platform offers a risk-free period to assess fit and free immediate rematching if you’re not satisfied.
GrowTal Pricing
- $500 initial deposit (refundable) + freelancer rates
GrowTal Pros & Cons
4. Creative Circle
Having been around for two decades, Creative Circle is a reliable recruitment agency that can help you hire a marketer or another creative professional, such as a designer or art director.
After you meet with Creative Circle’s experts to discuss your needs and challenges, they’ll suggest a suitable candidate from a pre-vetted talent pool or assemble an entire team for your project.
One of the most notable aspects of Creative Circle is its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The company claims to be anti-prejudice and openly supports all marginalized communities.
Creative Circle Pricing
- Available upon request
Creative Circle Pros & Cons
5. GrowthAssistant
GrowthAssistant offers to hire and onboard full-time assistants to support your marketing team and help you grow your business. Its talent network consists of pre-vetted professionals from the Philippines who are college-educated, proficient in English, and able to tackle your routine tasks with ease.
Once you take an initial survey and move down the waitlist, GrowthAssistant’s team will meet with you to understand your requirements. They’ll then recruit and “embed” a Growth Assistant or an entire team, helping them integrate into your company’s culture, time zone, and workflows.
Bonus read: Learn about today’s best GrowthAssistant alternatives, including MarketerHire’s Expert Assistants service. It matches you with pre-vetted offshore talent that can support your marketing, design, and sales teams by taking over repetitive tasks.
GrowthAssistant Pricing
- $3,000 per month for most roles (premium roles may require a bigger investment)
GrowthAssistant Pros & Cons
6. Toptal
A pioneer among on-demand talent platforms, Toptal promises to match you with a wide range of freelancers, including marketers, for any type of engagement you need. It employs a comprehensive screening process to single out professionals with exceptional soft and hard skills.
To get started, you need to talk to one of Toptal’s marketing experts to explain your technical needs and team dynamics. Its team will pick fitting marketers and present them to you within 48 hours. You’ll get a free two-week trial to assess the match and pay only if you’re satisfied. If not, you can cancel or receive a replacement free of charge.
Bonus read: Go in-depth on the differences between Toptal and Upwork and discover the leading alternatives to Toptal.
Toptal Pricing
- $500 initial deposit (refundable) + freelancer fees
Toptal Pros & Cons
7. Mayple
Mayple offers to connect you with top marketing talent tailored to your project and business requirements. It uses an AI-powered matching system that considers over 25 factors, including strategy, target audience, and personality.
All Mayple marketers are pre-vetted based on as many as 141 criteria. If you find they’re not the right fit at the interview, you can get a replacement at no additional cost.
The platform will assign you a dedicated strategist to monitor the marketer’s work and ensure it’s delivering results. You can also manage your new hire through Mayple’s convenient client dashboard.
Bonus read: Check out our breakdown of Mayple’s alternatives and Mayple user reviews.
Mayple Pricing
- Pricing based on your chosen marketing niche and monthly media budget
- Paid Media package starts from $1,800/month
Mayple Pros & Cons
8. Right Side Up
Right Side Up offers a flexible solution for hiring marketing talent. Combining the expertise of its in-house experts and proprietary technology, the platform can match you with suitable marketers or entire teams within days.
After meeting with you to learn about your needs, Right Side Up’s team will craft a tailored plan and recruit pre-vetted talent from its network. They won’t look only for technical qualifications, though—they’ll also consider personality and team dynamics to make sure the candidate can fit right in.
If you decide to hire the suggested marketer, the team will also handle the paperwork so you can start collaborating quickly, often in less than two weeks.
Right Side Up Pricing
- Available upon request
Right Side Up Pros & Cons
9. RevelOne
RevelOne is a recruiting firm that specializes in helping businesses find executives and functional leaders in marketing and sales domains. Founded by experienced recruiters and former operators, the platform has developed a pattern recognition technology to identify top talent and connect them with companies where they can thrive.
To find you a match, RevelOne will not only tap into its extensive talent network but also search outside of it, reaching passive candidates. In addition to recruiting marketing executives, RevelOne will help them prepare for the new role with its RevelUp Success Program, which includes insider insights and resources.
RevelOne Pricing
- Available upon request
RevelOne Pros & Cons
10. Credo
If your project calls for an entire marketing agency, you can turn to Credo for help. Using their extensive industry experience, Credo’s experts will hand-pick and introduce you to two to three pre-vetted agencies from their network.
Before they get recommended to you, each agency has to undergo a 28-point vetting and certification process that reviews their:
- Strategy and tactics
- Performance metrics and case studies
- Communication abilities
You can meet and converse with your matches for free to decide on your favorite. The average time-to-hire is three to five weeks.
Credo Pricing
- Credo free (get a few qualified intros)
- VIP service (guided hiring): Pricing available upon request
- Agency finder (recruit the right agencies): Pricing available upon request
Credo Pros & Cons
MarketerHire: Your Go-To Growth Collective Alternative
Founded and led by marketing veterans who know the ins and outs of the industry, MarketerHire provides a fast and effortless way to recruit expert marketers. Its concierge-style service and support ensure you get the cream of the crop—without job postings, interviews, and the usual headache that accompanies hiring.
Unlike Growth Collective, MarketerHire has a vast and ever-growing talent network that’s ready to bring your marketing ideas to life. Plus, unlike some Growth Collective alternatives, MarketerHire is transparent about its pricing, vetting process, and matching system, demonstrating its commitment to quality above all.
How MarketerHire Works
If you decide to partner with MarketerHire, here’s what the recruitment process will look like:
- You schedule a 20-minute call with your dedicated CMO or growth manager, describing your company, project, and the role you want to fill
- MarketerHire’s expert team will curate the perfect match from its highly vetted talent pool within 48 hours
- If approved, you can start collaborating with your new marketer right away
If you need temporary assistance instead of full-time work, MarketerHire can also find you an Expert Assistant to support your marketing, design, and sales teams. The assistant can tackle your most tedious but unavoidable tasks, allowing the rest of your team to focus on strategic work. Like the marketers, the Expert Assistants are rigorously pre-vetted and can join your team within a week.
Don’t risk making a bad and costly hire—reach out to MarketerHire and connect with best-in-class marketers in no time.
