Fractional content marketing: what it is, and why some businesses need it
Fractional content marketing is a powerful alternative to full-time teams and expensive agencies that will help small businesses and start ups early in their funding rounds build a strong foundation for longterm traffic and lead growth through content. Before we dig into why these businesses should consider fractional content marketing, let’s step back and look at why there’s an issue in the first place.
Content marketing has become almost a non-negotiable for most marketing teams and businesses in 2022. Video marketing, social media, SEO, and blogging have all become the de facto way that many companies globally drive top-of-funnel awareness to their owned properties.
That means that content marketers, and the services that they offer, have become a hot commodity. And it’s little wonder. According to Hubspot, 90% of marketers using content marketing as a central component of their strategy plan to continue doing so next year, and 66% report that they increased their budgets in 2022.
But, as anyone who has worked in marketing can attest to, content marketing is by no means a low-cost solution. Take this chart below, for example, that cites the top media formats marketers are using in 2022.
Each content type listed above requires significant resources to pull off at scale. A dedicated growth strategy. Project management workflows. Production costs. Writing costs. Graphic design costs. Hosting and distribution costs. And all of that is on top of full-time content marketing salaries and freelance wages for expensive and in-demand professionals.
Take this screenshot below, as an example, that talks about the total cost of a content marketing campaign.
If these figures are true—and in my experience, they are—this means that any business that wants to reap the benefits of content marketing is going to need to fork over a significant investment before they see positive (and sustainable) results. And if the strategy and rationale behind that campaign isn’t sound, then you might as well throw all of that money right into the trash can.
Unfortunately, most small businesses and startups simply don’t have the budget or bandwidth needed to take on full-time staff and build the strategic foundations for a successful content strategy. Instead, they either don’t do content marketing at all, or they rely on one-off help from freelancers that may or may not lead to tangible results.
It’s these businesses—those stuck between the need to grow online, and the high cost of full-time staff or marketing agencies—that can benefit most from fractional content marketing.
Before we dig deeper into this concept, let’s back up and look at the concept of a fractional marketer.
What is fractional marketing?
Fractional marketing is the practice of outsourcing part of your marketing strategy and execution to part-time or freelance specialists. Most companies will have a small core team of in-house marketers who they then extend with part-time experts in specific niches. Or, a company may bring their first marketer in on a part-time basis to help develop the ground-up strategy for the business.
The term “fractional” has mostly been used to describe c-level leaders who embed themselves into a business and act as a strategic partner. Fractional CMOs, for example, may be brought in on a part time basis to help build a marketing department from scratch. You may also have fractional CFOs, CTOs, or any other senior-level position that is both expensive to staff full-time, but essential for a new business.
The fractional model brings many benefits. Most importantly, it allows companies to bring in veteran marketing leaders to help shape the direction of specific departments and strategies, without the need to pay them enormous executive salaries.
This concept has been sporadically used to describe some part-time content marketers as well. There appears, however, to be some confusion between what a fractional content marketer looks like in practice versus a freelancer or part-time employee.
Let me take a crack at my own definition.
What is fractional content marketing?
A fractional content marketer is like a fractional CMO, but with one distinct difference. They are laser focused on content. Nothing else. They carve out the strategic vision for what content does for your business. They’re experts in both the strategy and the tactical execution of content marketing at scale, and can either build your content engine from the ground up, or enhance one that already exists to better meet your business goals.
As such, fractional content marketers are more than strategic consultants, freelancers, or part time experts. They are embedded into your content marketing team and clearly understand your customer, business goals, and growth trajectory.
With that knowledge, fractional content marketers can create and execute tailored strategies that can help you meet your business goals through content.
The ideal fractional content marketer should have a deep network of fellow content marketer and freelancers that they can lean on to extend their own capacity to execute the strategic vision. Because of this, they give businesses access to a deep and vetted pool of highly skilled freelancers that will be brought together to work under a single strategic vision.
Fractional content marketers are partners, rather than individuals providing a service. They sit somewhere between a director of content marketing and a marketing agency: more affordable than both, but with the same level of expertise and ability to drive results.
Freelance content marketing vs. fractional content marketing
Freelance content marketers and writers work on a project-to-project basis, at the direction of in-house marketers or third-party agencies. Fractional content marketers are embedded partners who work on long term strategies that align directly with your business goals. They can also serve as content managers who create the strategy, and manage freelancer relationships.
Andrea Linehan describes the difference like this:
“I work with a network of marketing contractors and freelancers to help with surge capacity, short term or one-off projects. They are great operational resources, doers-on-demand that sit outside the business.
For me, a Fractional Marketer sits inside the business. They are there for a portion or fraction of the day/month/year and participate in strategy as well as operations. They help to formulate a role where the budget or full-time need does not yet exist, but will likely exist in the future.”
What does a fractional content marketer do?
As mentioned, a fractional content marketer is a strategic partner for your organization, embedded on a part-time basis alongside your existing marketing or business leadership. They’re seasoned content marketing experts who bring a high-level of strategic vision and planning to the table.
Some of the key tasks they perform include:
Setting the strategic vision for the company’s content marketing programs
Mapping that strategy back to core business goals
Creating systems and processes to expand content creation bandwidth and unlock scalability
Improving the organization’s content creation bench strength, either by tapping into their network of freelance and part-time marketers, or by training in-house staff
Executing the content strategy on an ongoing basis, and acting as a part-time director of content marketing along the way
The ideal fractional content marketer will have a depth of knowledge in creating and scaling impactful content strategies that map up to core business objectives. They should be craft experts, but also be able to quickly understand your company’s strategic goals, and the role that content can play in meeting them.
Why hire a fractional content marketer?
Fractional content marketers are a great solution for small business, start ups, and any other organization that identifies the value of content marketing, but either isn’t ready to make the investment in full-time staff, or don’t yet have the funding. Content marketing is a full-time effort. And many companies don’t yet have the capital to pull it off, or the leadership in place to do it well. This is where investing in a fractional content marketer can help.
It’s also a great solution for companies who currently have a disjointed content strategy, with no clear alignment to core business goals. In these cases, fractional content marketers can come on in a consulting role to help you “right the ship” and get the most out of your existing—and future—content investments.
Generally, companies hire a fractional content marketer because they:
Have a limited content budget
Need great content, but aren’t able to hire a full-time team members
Have craft experts, but are lacking strategic leadership
Are looking to scale their existing strategy
Want enterprise solutions to small business opportunities
Need long-term content strategies that create tangible business results
A fractional content marketer can help tick all of these boxes by bringing a wealth of domain and discipline knowledge into your organization, at a fraction of the cost of full-time leadership. By doing so, they can improve the quality and efficacy of your content, traffic, and demand creation programs, while also teaching your existing staff how to do the same.
How to work with a fractional content marketer
The first step in working with a fractional content marketer is finding one with the right skill set and knowledge for your needs. This can be tricky, as most consultants and agencies don’t actively call themselves fractional content marketers.
I’d recommend that you broaden your search to include content strategists, content marketing consultants, SEO consultants, demand generation and demand creation consultants, and fractional CMOs. When searching for these people, look for individuals who talk about their experience in creating ground-up content strategies, and those who can share tangible business results they’ve achieved from their programs.
The tricky part is identifying potential partners who are more than project-based freelancers or part-timers. You really want someone who can come in and take the bull by the horns, so to speak. This will take some vetting, but these people are out there. LinkedIn is a great place to start, followed by word of mouth amongst your contacts in the marketing world.
Once you’ve identified someone who can provide that long-term fractional partnership that you need, the next step is to have a conversation with them about:
Your business goals
Their track record for using content to drive key business objectives
Their experience in your industry or vertical
How they would enhance your existing content programs, or create a new one
What they would need in terms of budget and extended help
What they can offer in terms on coaching for your on-house staff
How they report on success metrics and demonstrate impact
Once you’ve had this conversation, the fractional content marketer will usually go back to their “desk” and create a preliminary proposal and statement of work.
In my case, this usually includes:
Multiple rounds of interviews with your team to establish goals and KPIs
An audit of the existing content programs and website
A competitor analysis to identify which channels are most popular in this market segment
In-depth keyword research to identify SEO opportunities
A keyword and content gap analysis to identify areas of improvement and exploitation for your content programs
A ground-up content marketing plan that combines tactics used for long- and short-term traffic and lead growth
Requirements for extended freelance or contractor help, if needed
A content editorial calendar, distribution strategy, and repurposing process
Briefing materials, process documents, and content best practices documents
With this body of strategic and procedural material, the organization walks away with both a fully-formed content strategy, and the documentation and processes to execute it. In most cases, this turns into a long term engagement where I also handle the execution.
Every fractional content marketer will have a slightly different business model, but all should include this level of strategic direction and tactical execution.
If you’re ready to hire a fractional content marketer to help create and execute the strategic vision for your company’s content programs, I’d love to chat. Drop me a line here.
