In-house marketing vs agency vs fractional CMO
An owner can hire an employee, engage a marketing agency or engage a fractional CMO, and this guide compares the three.
The three options do different jobs, and many owner-led businesses use two of them together. The guide states what each one is suited to, including the cases where an employee or an agency is the better choice.
Firefly is a fractional CMO practice, so it has an interest in this comparison. The outside figure in the guide is listed with its source.
Our page on a fractional CMO vs a marketing agency compares those two in more detail.
The four steps, in order
- Learn what each option is
An employee, an agency and a fractional CMO each add something different to the business.
- Compare the three side by side
A table sets the three side by side on seven questions.
- Compare what each one costs
The three are paid in different ways, so their prices are not directly comparable.
- Choose by what the business lacks
The choice follows from what the business lacks today.
1. Learn what each option is
An owner has three ways to add marketing capacity to the business.
Each row says what the option is and who does the work.
- An in-house hire
- An in-house hire is an employee who works only for your business. The hire can be a coordinator who carries out tasks, a manager who runs the campaigns or a director who leads the marketing.
- A marketing agency
- An agency is an outside firm that carries out marketing work such as advertising, content and design. It employs specialists in several kinds of work, and it works within the brief the business gives it.
- A fractional CMO
- A fractional CMO is a senior marketer who leads a company’s marketing for part of the week. The fractional CMO sets the plan and directs the people who carry it out, who are your staff, an agency or both.
An in-house marketing director and a fractional CMO do the same job for different numbers of hours. Our guide to what a marketing director does describes the levels of an in-house hire.
2. Compare the three side by side
The table compares the three options on seven questions.
It describes how each option usually works, and a particular employee or agency may differ.
In-house hire, marketing agency and fractional CMO
| Question | In-house hire | Marketing agency | Fractional CMO |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | You get one employee who works only for your business. | You get part of the time of several specialists. | You get a senior marketer for a set number of hours each week. |
| Who sets the plan | A marketing director sets it. A manager or a coordinator works to a plan that the owner supplies. | The agency plans the work it is engaged for, within the brief the business gives it. | The fractional CMO writes the marketing plan and sets its priorities. |
| Who does the daily work | The employee does it. | The agency’s staff do it. | Your staff, an agency or both do it, and the fractional CMO directs them. |
| Hours | A full-time employee works about forty hours a week. | The agency works the hours that the agreed scope requires. | Firefly’s standard engagement is about five hours a week. |
| How you pay | You pay a salary, and benefits and payroll taxes in addition. | You pay a fee for an agreed scope of work. | You pay a monthly fee. Firefly charges $2,000 a month. |
| Commitment | You sign an employment contract. | You sign a contract with a term and a notice period, and both differ from one agency to the next. | You sign a monthly agreement. Firefly’s minimum term is three months. |
| The business it fits | It fits a business that needs someone present all week and has enough work to fill the hours. | It fits a business that has a clear plan and needs the work carried out in volume, or needs a specialist skill. | It fits a business that has a budget and staff or agencies, and has no senior person who decides where the budget goes. |
3. Compare what each one costs
The three options are paid in different ways, so their prices are not directly comparable.
This step states what each price buys.
- An in-house hire
- An employee is paid a salary, and the employer pays benefits and payroll taxes in addition. The business also spends time on recruiting and training the person.
- A published wage figure
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $166,790 for marketing managers in May 2025. O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor’s database of occupations, lists titles from marketing coordinator to marketing director under that occupation. The median therefore does not tell an owner what a particular hire will cost.
- A marketing agency
- An agency quotes a fee for an agreed scope of work. The fee depends on the work the agency is engaged for, so this guide gives no figure for it.
- A fractional CMO
- Firefly charges $100 an hour. A standard engagement is about five hours a week for $2,000 a month, and the minimum term is three months.
- The daily work is a separate cost
- A fractional CMO directs the work and does not carry all of it out. The business still pays the staff or the agency that does the daily work.
Two published figures for one year
| Figure, and where it comes from | One year |
|---|---|
| Median annual wage for marketing managersU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025, for the whole occupation | $166,790 |
| Firefly’s fee for twelve months12 × $2,000, for about five hours a week | $24,000 |
Our page on what a fractional CMO costs lists published salary figures for a full-time CMO and published rates for fractional CMOs, each with its source.
The wage figure comes from the first page and the job titles from the second. We read both on 8 October 2026.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · last modified 27 August 2026
- 11-2021.00 – Marketing Managers O*NET OnLine, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration · updated 2026, read 8 October 2026
4. Choose by what the business lacks
The choice follows from what is missing in the business today.
Each row describes a situation and names the option that fits it.
- A clear plan, and work to be done in volume
- An agency fits this situation. It has the specialists and the capacity to produce the work.
- One specialist skill is missing
- An agency that specialises in that skill fits this situation. Search, public relations and video production are examples.
- Someone has to be present all week
- An in-house hire fits this situation. An employee works only for your business and is available every working day.
- Staff or agencies, and nobody leading them
- A fractional CMO fits this situation. The business has a budget and people to do the work, and no senior person decides where the budget goes or answers for the result.
- A marketing head for forty hours a week
- A full-time marketing director or CMO fits this situation. A fractional CMO works for a few hours a week and cannot fill that role.
- One location and a small marketing budget
- A business at this stage is usually too early for a fractional CMO. Five free steps come first, and the page linked under this list describes them.
Many businesses use two of the options together. In the usual arrangement an in-house manager or an agency carries out the plan that the fractional CMO has set.
Our page Too early for a fractional CMO? lists five free things a business can do before it hires a senior marketer.
Firefly’s price and hours
Firefly offers the third option. The fractional CMO at Firefly is Saad Afsar, and a standard engagement is about five hours a week.
Saad writes the marketing plan, decides how the budget is divided and directs the work of your staff and your agencies. You set the revenue targets and the size of the budget.
The engagement does not replace an in-house team or an agency. Saad directs the agencies you already use and judges their work by its results.
Our guide on how to hire a fractional CMO lists what to ask each candidate and what to check before signing.
- Rate
- $100 an hour
- Standard engagement
- $2,000 a month
- Time
- About five hours a week
- Minimum term
- Three months
- Fee for the minimum term
- $6,000
Results from fractional CMO engagements
Each result is measured in the client’s own system, over the period shown.
- Two Boots New York pizza, since 1987 +12% same-store net salesyear over year · Toast POS
- YYZ Law Aviation and travel law, Toronto 4.3× organic search clicksover three years · Google Search Console
- Boqueria Spanish tapas, multi-city US +73% private-events revenueyear over year · Tripleseat
- Paperchase Accounting and CFO advisory, NYC and London +69% website visitsyear over year · Google Analytics
Questions and answers
Is in-house marketing better than an agency?
Neither is better in every case. An in-house hire fits a business that needs someone present all week and has enough work to fill the hours. An agency fits a business that has a clear plan and needs the work carried out in volume, or needs a specialist skill.
What is the difference between in-house marketing and an agency?
In-house marketing is done by employees who work only for your business. An agency is an outside firm that carries out marketing work within the brief the business gives it.
What does an in-house marketing hire cost?
An employee is paid a salary, and the employer pays benefits and payroll taxes in addition. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $166,790 for marketing managers in May 2025, and that occupation covers titles from marketing coordinator to marketing director.
What does a marketing agency cost?
An agency quotes a fee for an agreed scope of work. The fee depends on the work the agency is engaged for, so this guide gives no figure for it.
Where does a fractional CMO fit between the two?
A fractional CMO leads the marketing for part of the week and directs the people who carry it out. Those people can be in-house staff, an agency or both.
Can a business use an agency and a fractional CMO together?
Yes, and many businesses do. In that arrangement the agency carries out the plan that the fractional CMO has set.
What does Firefly’s fractional CMO engagement cost?
Firefly charges $100 an hour. A standard engagement is about five hours a week for $2,000 a month, and the minimum term is three months.
Book a call, or write first
You can book a discovery call on Saad Afsar’s calendar.
If you prefer to write first, send a few details in the form and Saad will reply within 24 hours.