What is fractional content marketing?
I love all things copy like I love all things Bravo – probably too much. But copy is only one part of content marketing.
Content marketing includes not just copy, but all communications your potential customers see and hear.
Your Instagram photos, your Youtube scripts, your blog post titles, graphics and even your Reels and TikToks. Yes, if you’re a business, SaaS or startup you have to start using words like TikTok (sorry).
Content is like the overall experience your potential clients and returning customers get when they interact with your brand. I know you want to give a red carpet experience. Because if they feel VIP, they want what you’re selling.
The theory behind content marketing can be explained by comparing your content to reality TV – let’s say the Real Housewives. Are they polarizing shows? Yes, 100%.
But those that love it…really love it. They go to in-person events like Bravocon. They join Reddit discussions about their favorite reality stars and villains.
People buy from brands and people they know, like, and trust.
Content is how your potential customers get to know your brand on a level that’s deeper than a billboard. Just like the sometimes invasive and shocking reality shows I love to binge on, authentic content can be gulp-inducing and hair-raising. But that’s how you develop those legions of fans that continue to buy. They feel like they’re in your inner circle. Like they’ve had a front-row to your brand’s reality.
Content has the power to turn random strangers into besties.
The best way to ensure that happens is to hire an experienced, industry-specific content marketer full-time. When your business isn’t ready, fully funded, or isn’t in the mode to commit to full-time staff – a fractional content marketer can plan and execute it all.
Outsource your content creation
There are freelance content marketers available to write your posts, create your images, direct your video content and curate your blog.
However, sometimes you need more than just someone to work project by project. You may need someone who can fully own the content marketing role on your team.
The outsourced Chief Content Officer has entered the chat
Outsourced Chief Content Officer is also called a Fractional Chief Content Officer. Both of these terms describe part-time, interim, contract, or consultant– depending on the scenario.
Typically, the term is used for C-suite positions, like fractional CFOs, CTOs, etc.
Freelance content marketing vs. fractional marketing
Sure, you can hire freelancers to write blog posts and other content for your business. However, successful content marketing takes planning and strategy.
Freelance content marketers and freelance content creators are excellent with execution but they should ladder up to a strategy prepared by a fractional marketing leader.
I know this because I spent over 10 years as a content creator, strategist and manager for large fortune 500 brands and startups alike. Things work well when there’s a content lead. Things are a mess if there’s no a strategic direction.
If you want to add plenty of organic, inbound leads through content marketing, you need someone to steer the ship. You need someone who will take the time to get to know your ideal customers, and the experience to put together a comprehensive strategy to turn a stranger into a ride or die.
A fractional content marketer is the perfect middle ground between a full-time content marketer and a project-based freelance content marketer.
This brings me to the first reason why hiring a fractional content marketer might be the right move: budget.
Why hire a fractional Chief Content Marketer
You have a limited content budget
Experienced content marketers are open to fractional opportunities, making their premium talents available for a fraction of the cost (pun intended). They take on the same scope of work, committing to creating and sustaining a content marketing plan that boosts the bottom line. They can build a team and manage strategy and operations. They hold a title and take a leadership role yet they only work for you a couple of days out of the week.
How is that possible? Experience. Content marketers succeed in fractional roles because they are so good at their job that they can do in two days what an inexperienced content marketer would need a week (or much longer) to do.
Team training
A fractional content marketer can help guide your existing and future team. They create systems and processes, and train team members on valuable practices that boost everyone’s knowledge and skills. They can also lay the groundwork for the role to grow over time. When your biz has grown enough to make a full-time position make sense, they might even be willing to go full-time.
Experience
It might be tempting to hire a promising, whip-smart recent grad to cut their professional teeth as a full-time content marketer on your team. How bad can the learning curve be? But experience is worth the investment. This business is your livelihood and baby; don’t risk that by hiring someone without a proven track record.
Take that recent grad you see something great inside and let them learn from an expert. Even if that expert is only part-time, with their guidance you’ll soon have a talented and knowledgable team member and a stronger team overall.
Long-term planning of content creation
We’ve established that a fractional content marketer will create a profitable content plan for your business. However, planning goes further than just the content.
A fractional content marketer will have the capability and bandwidth to create systems and processes for the future content marketing team and lay the groundwork for the role and department to grow over time. Do you think Kris Jenner accidentally led the fam to have 20+ seasons? I don’t think so.
You’ll have more time to work on strategy and other business activities
One of the most important reasons for outsourcing is simply the fact that you simply lack time to do it on your own. All our working hours in every hour is restricted. It’s a must for you to concentrate on basic activities.
Stay true to the business activities where your strengths are best and leave content creating to the professionals. You will not only get quality content but also get a lot back from yourself beyond what was invested in the product originally. You can outsource writing or composing of content without the need for more help. You can now work in other areas of business like marketing and marketing
Consistency
Finally, a fractional content marketer will help make all the spinning plates work together. All that writing, planning, and experience add up to a consistent brand voice– something that is so important if you want your customers to line up to buy like they’re at the most exclusive club in LA.
Consistency is not just in terms of a posting or publishing schedule, but also the consistency of story, message, voice, and tone– all of which are needed for your content to attract the right clients and customers. As your business produces content across various mediums and channels, it needs to be reliable and recognizable, otherwise, it won’t be the inbound lead creating a machine.
Your LinkedIn feed needs to sound like your blog posts, and your emails need to sound like your sales page. And it all needs to be on-brand and to connect to your persona.
Whether all of those content pieces are written by your fractional content marketer or are outsourced to freelance copywriters, the fractional content marketer is who orchestrates it all like the conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Ready to explore outsourcing content strategy and execution?
Let’s talk. I help B2B, SaaS, and startup companies with noise-cutting content and traffic-driving SEO.
