5 Reasons Why Hiring Fractional Client Account Managers Can Benefit Your Marketing Agency

Times are tough out there. If you run or manage a digital marketing agency, then you’re probably facing more pressure than ever from your clients, who want results without a hefty price tag. To survive in this competitive world today, it’s not just enough anymore to deliver a great product. You’ve also got to keep your costs in check.

One solution to this challenge is hiring fractional Client Account Managers (CAMs). Fractional CAMs are professionals who work on a part-time or project-by-project basis, rather than being full-time employees. As such, they can help you continue to provide incredible client management for your digital marketing agency, without having to hire a full-time new team member. 

It’s one thing to be an awesome marketer (which you are!). It’s another thing to know the ins-and-outs of running a profitable small business. Here are five reasons why hiring fractional CAMs can be a smart business move. 

1. Cost Savings—For Your Agency and Your Clients

You know the drill. When you hire a full-time employee, they’re going to cost you a lot more than their salary alone. You’ve also got to think about benefits like health insurance, retirement plans, and paid time off. These benefits can add up quickly and become a significant expense for marketing agencies. 

Fractional Account Managers, on the other hand, don’t come with these extra expenses. They’re essentially working freelance, so you just pay them per hour or per project. Our Client Account Managers, for example, usually work for 10, 15, or 20 hours a week (although custom plans are available). That means that you pay them for 10, 15, or 20 hours of work, period. 

Over time, this can add up to really big savings, without sacrificing the quality of your client Account Management. You can then use those cost savings to grow your business, while also keeping costs lower for your clients. Talk about a win-win. 

2. More Flexibility 

Marketing agencies often have fluctuating workloads, which means they need to be able to scale up or down their staffing quickly. This can be especially true for any agencies that experience seasonal fluctuations in demand. 

Like we’ve covered, hiring fractional CAMs allows your agency to add team members without the added cost and commitment of hiring full-time employees. You can be much more nimble, scaling up and down as needed. Hiring fractional ensures you can stay agile in this way, without the added cost and commitment of hiring full-time employees. 

3. More Specialized Skills 

Digital marketing is a fickle beast, and an extremely broad (and ever evolving) field. Clients are always going to want the new best thing—and there are going to be lots of agencies willing to give it to them. If you’re not able to provide a suite of services, then your business will suffer. But—and here’s the rub—your business will also suffer if you try to hire enough full-time staff to do all the things. 

The compromise? You can hire fractional Client Account Managers who can bring specialized skills to your agency. They can bring their expertise on a project-by-project basis, which can help your agency to achieve your clients’ objectives.

For example, while all of our CAMs have a background in marketing, we also ensure they have special training in project management, client onboarding, and more. When they join your team, they can introduce you to new SOPs that will level up the service you’re already providing (snag a peek into our onboarding process by downloading our free Onboarding Checklist here). 

4. Better Access to a Wider Talent Pool 

Hiring fractional CAMs can also provide your agency with access to a wider talent pool. By hiring fractional CAMs, your agency can tap into a global talent pool of highly skilled professionals who are open to working on a part-time or project-by-project basis.

We’re big proponents of remote teams. Because we are 100% remote ourselves, we’re able to work with awesome and dedicated CAMs from across the globe. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.  

5. Increased Productivity 

Finally, fractional CAMs can also lead to increased productivity for your agency. 

When you only hire full-time employees, you may feel pressure to keep them busy, even when things are slow. This wastes time and money—and that’s not to mention the morale hit. Busy work isn’t good for anyone. 

However, by hiring fractional CAMs, your agency can ensure that you are only paying for the work that is actually being done, which can lead to increased productivity and cost savings.

Plus, people who work fractional just know how to get the job done quickly—that’s literally what they’re trained to do! Our DOT & Co. Account Managers, for example, definitely get more done in 10 hours a week than others might in 40. 

How to Hire Top Fractional Account Managers

So, hiring fractional Client Account Managers can provide a number of benefits for your marketing agency. By accessing specialized skills, a wider talent pool, flexibility, cost savings and increased productivity, your agency can be more agile, competitive and profitable. And there’s no doubt that this trend of hiring fractional CAMs will continue to grow in the years to come, as more and more agencies recognize the benefits of this approach.

All that said, knowing all the benefits of hiring a fractional CAM is quite different from knowing how to go about finding someone qualified for your team. Far too many of us have had the experience of using online job boards, finding someone who seems great and has a great rate … only to be let down very, very quickly.  

Finding the right people to work with your agency is always a challenge, of course. But Client Account Managers have an outsized impact on your business. These are the people who are literally speaking with your clients every day. Absolute trust is a non-starter here; you have to get the right people for this position. 

We know all too well that finding a qualified fractional Account Manager you can trust is incredibly time-consuming and potentially quite frustrating. That’s because we get hundreds of applications each month! That’s why we do all the difficult yet important vetting and training work, so when you work with us, you know you’re going to be getting a highly qualified (and just plain awesome!) CAM for your team. 
Want to learn more? Schedule an intro call now!