Fractional Marketing Team vs. Freelancers: What’s Best for Your Business?
By Deb Andrews
Originally Published July 2025
What’s the best way to build marketing support for your business: hand-pick a few freelancers or partner with a fractional marketing team? In this episode of Marketri’s Fractional Marketing Series, Marketri Founder and President Deb Andrews shares what she’s learned from years of working with companies that have tried both.
Hiring freelancers often looks like the quicker, more cost-effective path. You get to choose a designer here, an SEO consultant there, and a writer if you need a few pieces of content. On the surface, it seems flexible and affordable.
But as Deb points out, the real cost isn’t always financial. “These individuals aren’t used to talking with one another,” she explains. “So that in-house employee is going to be the glue that binds them together.” Without a shared strategy or workflow, the program can break down. Internal teams often end up managing timelines, edits, and communication in addition to their actual roles.
A fractional marketing team operates as one unit. At Marketri, strategists and specialists work together using shared systems and defined processes. Execution stays aligned to the overall strategy, and every piece of the program moves forward together.
When something goes off track, there’s no confusion about who is responsible. As Deb says, “Ultimately you are buying the credibility of the company, not one person.”
“For clients, working with a fractional marketing team tends to be an easy relationship because they have one or two points of contact. But they know that behind the scenes, there’s a whole host of people within the organization that are supporting the program and are all rowing the boat in the same direction.” Marketri Founder and President Deb Andrews
Freelancers can get projects done, but real marketing growth takes more than one-off deliverables. It takes a unified team that brings strategy, execution, and measurement together under one roof. That’s what Marketri’s fractional model is built for.
If you’re ready for marketing that’s consistent, accountable, and aligned to your business goals, we’re ready to help.
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