Marketing resourcing: in-house, agency, or fractional support

Why marketing resourcing is a strategy decision

Who does the work is as important as what the work is. The wrong mix of in-house roles, agencies, and fractional support leads to stalled projects, unclear ownership, and spend that does not map to outcomes. A simple, intentional resourcing model protects momentum and helps you hit targets with a small, effective team.

This guide gives you a practical way to choose the right blend for your stage. Use it to map capabilities to your plan, set budgets with confidence, and align partners around clear outcomes.

Start with your plan and operating rhythm

Resourcing follows strategy. Capture your one page plan, quarterly priorities, and cadence before you decide headcount or partners. That way, roles map to outcomes and deadlines are realistic.

• Strategy on one page. Use one-page marketing strategy.
• Quarterly priorities. See how to decide your marketing priorities.
• Cadence and approvals. Run build a simple marketing operating rhythm and keep decision rules in marketing governance for small teams.

The capability map: what you really need

List the capabilities your plan requires over the next two quarters. Group them by leadership, strategy, execution, and enablement.

• Leadership. Commercial direction, prioritisation, budgeting, and partner management.
• Strategy. Positioning, messaging, channel mix, and measurement design.
• Execution. Content design and copy, paid media buying, CRM and lifecycle, website and CRO.
• Enablement. Data hygiene, creative production, tooling, and analytics.

Resourcing options by capability

Leadership

Best suited to a senior in-house lead or fractional CMO. Founders gain strategic clarity, budget guardrails, and a working operating rhythm without the cost of a full-time executive.

Strategy

Use in-house leadership with specialist support from agencies or consultants for spikes, for example positioning or research sprints.

Execution

Blend in-house ownership with agencies for skills that are hard to keep busy all year, for example media buying or video. Keep channels with daily iteration, such as CRM and website, closer to the business.

Enablement

Often outsourced. Data engineering, advanced analytics, or complex builds benefit from partners who do this repeatedly.

Decision framework: in-house vs agency vs fractional

1. Frequency of need. If you need the skill weekly, consider in-house. If it is project based, outsource.


2. Differentiation. Keep what makes you distinct in-house, for example product storytelling.


3. Speed to value. Agencies and fractional leaders can start faster while you hire.


4. Management overhead. Each hire adds onboarding and people management. Partners add vendor management.


5. Total cost. Compare fully loaded salary against retainer or day rates, including tool costs and management time.

For wider context on hiring and outsourcing, explore HubSpot’s guidance on hiring marketing roles and industry discussion in Marketing Week.

Example resourcing models by stage

Early stage or new market entry

• In-house. Founder plus a generalist marketer.
• Fractional. Senior leadership one to two days per week to set plan and cadence.
• Agency. Lightweight creative and performance partner with tight briefs.

Scaling with a working funnel

• In-house. Marketing lead, content or CRM owner, and a web or design resource.
• Fractional. Senior oversight one day per week to manage priorities and budget.
• Agency. Media buying, PR, and production support.

Regional or category expansion

• In-house. Channel owners and a data or operations support.
• Fractional. Strategic leadership during expansion to protect focus.
• Agency. Localised content, PR, and creator partnerships.

For channel selection, review marketing channels: choose the right mix for your stage.

Budgeting and partner selection

Set your envelope, split by objective, then assign budget to roles and partners that deliver the plan. Publish the criteria you will use to select agencies and freelancers, for example relevant case studies, fit with your operating rhythm, and reporting quality.

Budget guardrails and reallocation rules are covered in marketing budget: how to split spend by objective, channel, and stage.

Run partners inside your cadence

Share your roadmap, briefs, and scorecard with partners. Attend weekly standups for active work and monthly performance reviews. Capture decisions and next actions in the same place your team uses.

For approvals and thresholds, see marketing governance for small teams.

Vendor management checklist

• Shortlist aligned to your objectives and required capabilities.
• Clear brief and success KPI in the RFP or enquiry.
• One decision owner and a fixed decision window.
• Service levels that match your operating rhythm.
• Monthly performance review with agreed scorecard.
• Exit criteria documented before you start.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Hiring before you have a plan. Write the one pager first.
• Keeping everything in-house. Some skills are sporadic and expensive to maintain.
• Outsourcing the brief. Strategy and message need your ownership.
• Hiding budget rules. Transparency avoids politics later.
• No cadence for partners. Work drifts without standups and reviews.

Final checklist

• One page plan and quarterly priorities captured.
• Capability map complete for two quarters.
• Resourcing mix chosen with the decision framework.
• Budget allocated by objective, roles, and partners.
• Brief templates ready and scorecard defined.
• Operating rhythm booked with partners included.