Every growing marketing team faces the same question: hire someone full time, hand it to an agency, or bring in a fractional specialist. Most teams answer it with vibes and salary comparisons. The real maths is more interesting, and it usually points somewhere unexpected.
The real maths means the total cost of getting delivery done, not just the headline price. Salary plus hiring plus management time plus the cost of getting it wrong, compared honestly across the three models.
What does in house really cost?
More than the salary. A mid level delivery hire in London costs the salary, plus roughly a third again in employer costs, plus recruitment fees, plus the three to six months before they are fully effective.
And there is a hidden cost nobody puts in the spreadsheet: what happens when the workload dips. A full time hire is a fixed cost. In the quiet months you are paying for capacity you do not need, and in the busy months one person still is not enough. In house wins when you have consistent, year round delivery work that justifies a permanent seat.
What does agency really cost?
Agencies look expensive per hour and often are, but the comparison is misleading. You are not buying hours, you are buying a team you do not have to manage.
The real cost of agency is different: it is the distance. An agency is outside your team, working across many clients, optimised for their own utilisation. They are excellent at defined projects with clear edges. They are poor at the ongoing, messy, embedded work of keeping your marketing operation running week to week. You pay for the gap in context every single time.
What does fractional really cost?
A fractional delivery lead costs less than a full time hire and more than doing nothing. The day rate looks high until you annualise it against actual days worked.
Two or three days a week of senior delivery, with no recruitment cost, no management overhead, and no commitment beyond the agreement. The hidden cost here is different: it only works if the person genuinely embeds. A fractional lead who acts like a visiting consultant, dropping in with opinions and leaving before implementation, is the worst of all three models. I described what good looks like in what it is like having a fractional delivery lead in your team.
So which one should you choose?
Choose in house when the work is constant and predictable. Choose agency when the work is a defined project with a clear end. Choose fractional when the work is ongoing but does not justify a full time seat, or when you need senior experience you could not hire full time.
Most marketing teams I meet are in the third category and do not know it. They hire junior full time because it feels safer, then wonder why delivery still wobbles. Or they hand everything to an agency and wonder why nobody inside the team learns anything. The honest guide to knowing whether you are ready is in signs you are ready for a delivery lead.
What is the mistake everyone makes?
Comparing day rates instead of outcomes. A cheap option that does not fix the problem is infinitely expensive.
Do the maths on the cost of slipped deadlines for your last three projects. The apologetic client calls, the discounted rework, the team working weekends. That number dwarfs the difference between the three models. Buy the outcome, not the rate card.
Working with Avy
I am obviously biased toward the fractional model, since it is what I do. But I will tell you straight if you are better off hiring full time or briefing an agency instead. I have talked clients out of hiring me when the maths did not work.
If you want someone to run the numbers for your specific situation, book a call. Bring your last three project timelines. We will work out which model actually costs you least, and I will tell you honestly if the answer is not me.
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