Five ways a fractional model can yield better content.

Admit it, hiring can be a little scary. And it should be. It’s a commitment for both the hired and the hiring, especially at a high level. Everyone wants a happy ending: a good fit, all the big goals met, a long and productive partnership complete with well-earned raises and promotions and increased involvement. And sometimes that’s how the story goes. And sometimes it doesn’t.??

Hiring a content lead is no different, but it’s one role that invites a little early scrutiny: Before you embark on a lengthy, time-intensive hiring process, ask yourself: Does this really have to be a full-time role? And when it comes to hiring someone to lead your content strategy and creative execution, the answer may not be straight forward. The answer may be “yes, definitely” or “yes, but maybe not forever” or it may be, “uhhh, let’s think about it for a minute.”????

As last week's story points out, we can say with some degree of certainty that the fractional model for content is actually happening: as you read this companies are contracting creators to build out their content program rather than hire full-time people. And whether they use the term or not, this qualifies as hiring a fractional content lead. Semantics.?

For the past several years, independent creative agencies like the C-Word , Elland Road Partners, Flatbed Creative and others have been operating as creators-for-hire. Content mercenaries is what I’d call them, if I wasn’t trying to cut down on the war language. The point is, the fractional content model works for a lot of brands and organizations. But why? How do they benefit from the arrangement? In other words: What’s in it for them?

Flexibility

To start, the most obvious benefit to any fractional model is the ability to customize your commitment to your needs. That means avoiding a scenario in which you hire a person or a team to build out a content operation only to realize that you may not need as much content for as long as you thought you would. Elland Road Partners has different relationships with different clients based on need. “Some of our clients have us on retainer,” Elland Road’s Gary Belsky explains, “while others engage us on a project basis. Working with us offers clients financial and operational flexibility that they don’t get in a full-time team.”?

A company’s content needs ebb and flow, quarter to quarter, or change as they launch and scale up and adjust to the market. Brands may need a big lift at first and then just need a steady, but lighter flow of copy and design. The C Word’s Danielle Pergament says she sometimes will “stay on for three to six months to get a brand launched, but they have to fly on their own. Usually they’re not so big that they need a full-time person.” Establishing a trusted third-party to literally “go with the flow” is often more cost effective than hiring a full-time lead.

Stayton Bonner, founder of Austin-based Flatbed Creative explains the benefits of a flexible ongoing relationship. “I think the advantage is that companies can accordion as needed. They may not need marketing support full-time and so don’t need to hire someone full time. But with a trusted partner, they can reach out and we collaborate when called to fit their needs and goals."

Lower Costs

With flexibility comes savings, of course, but that’s not the only efficiency that comes from fractionality. For one, establishing a relationship with one or two creative agencies or content creators means you’re not scrambling time and again to contract out your latest project or campaign. And you’re not taking the risk of it not working out with someone new. Working with two or three small creators provides an escape to the sometimes jaw-dropping fees associated with big agencies which often upcharge for their work.???

Elland Road often works with the same writers and creators time and again, even keeping some on a retainer. The ongoing relationship allows them to cut costs simply because some writers and designers will exchange higher compensation for the predictability and security the agency can offer them. Belsky says some of those savings go to Elland Road’s clients. “We give them very good people at below market rates and certainly below what it would cost to hire a staffer.” He uses a hypothetical: “If they're going to spend, for example, $120,000 on a content producer,” he says. “We could give them the same amount of content and probably a higher quality for half that price.”

Higher Quality?

Too often executives or founders will identify a need for content but then trust the creation of that content to someone inexperienced and inexpensive. Come on. How hard is it to write a bunch of blog posts? And then predictably, those same executives are underwhelmed by the impact of whatever their new hire creates. Or worse, they get burned when their content lead reveals a lack of editorial judgment and taste that a more experienced editor might have had.?

Hiring a fractional content lead can yield better work from more seasoned creators. And while I am certainly, even proudly biased (a cursory glance at my profile reveals a history of editorial — former journalists and editors tend to produce better work than agencies or people with only brand experience, simply because producing for the general public usually, but not always, requires higher standards.?

The C Word’s Pergament equates branding to editing. “Remove objectivity and branding is the same thing as editing. You’re just telling a story in the most compelling way possible. As a writer for all these years, I had learned how to craft a narrative from some really great editors.” And let’s be honest, the one upside of an ever-shrinking media market is for anyone needing quality content: there are talented, experienced editors, writers, and designers that are woefully underemployed. So rather than hire an expensive agency to get one of their junior writers to whip up your copy, cut out the middleman, use a smaller creative agency and get better, less costly work in the process.?

Expertise a La Carte

The fractional model gives you the freedom to hire for a specific expertise, which is impossible if you’re constantly relying on the same inhouse content lead. What if you need someone to write about global fuel shortages or generative AI’s ability to write code or the long term effects of Ozempic? Do you really expect one person to write credibly and authoritatively on all of those topics? Of course not, but using a fractional model allows you to hire different creators for different needs and to address individual subjects.?

When Elland Road’s clients have a research intensive project, for example, the firm reaches out to an expert researcher with whom they have a longstanding, if fractional, relationship. “Our director of research is also a research professional at a major university,” says Belsky. “When we have large research projects, he runs it. He's as good as there is in the business. And clients have no sense that he's a fractional anything.”

A Fresh Perspective

An outsider, armed with a fresh pair of eyes and no personal biases, can be incredibly valuable in telling your story. “Internal marketing teams can sometimes be too close to things,” Flatbed’s Bonner says. “An outsider with a different perspective and some storytelling chops can be a real help. It helps a team see things in a fresh light.” He says Flatbed’s particular storytelling experience, “helps companies create more dynamic campaigns than may have been possible on their own.”

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