According to data, hiring a fractional content strategist can be the solution. This article will take you through what a fractional content strategist is, how they work and why they might just be the perfect fit for your team.
Key Takeaways of How Does a Fractional Content Strategist Work?
- A Fractional Content Strategist works part-time. They plan and make great content for a company.
- These experts are cost-effective. They give high level advice without asking for full-time pay.
- Businesses with small budgets or tight schedules benefit from this role. It helps them save money and time.
- The job of a fractional content strategist also includes teaching teams about making better content, planning long-term goals, and using resources in the best way possible.
What is a Fractional Content Strategist
A Fractional Content Strategist is a part-time professional who devises and implements high-level content strategies for businesses, offering the benefits of their unique expertise on a flexible basis that suits the company’s needs and budget.
They are responsible for identifying key audiences, conducting keyword research, creating and managing content calendars, as well as monitoring and analyzing metrics to drive business growth through effective content marketing.
Definition
A Fractional Content Strategist is a pro at making words work. This person knows how to take dry topics and make them fun to read. They are good at writing, changing what others have written, and teaching about it too.
But don’t think you need them all the time. They only work part-time. This means they can lend their smarts to your team without being there every day of the week. Their job is to create content people will love.
This boosts your company’s growth goals in ways that count.
Responsibilities
A Fractional Content Strategist brings a wealth of skills to the team. They use their knowledge in content strategy and creation to lead projects. Their job is not just planning but also acting on these plans.
They look at what type of content will work best for your business. Then they make that content shine.
They also offer help in areas you may be weak in or don’t know about yet. For example, they can teach your team new ways of doing things or bring fresh ideas to the table. They keep an eye on trends and stay ready for changes in the market.
This makes sure your business stays up to date with its content needs.
Differences between Fractional CMO and Fractional Content Strategist
A Fractional CMO, or Chief Marketing Officer, oversees the entire horizon of an organization’s marketing activities including advertising, brand management and promotion strategies.
On the other hand, a Fractional Content Strategist primarily focuses on establishing content-related objectives aimed at engaging a specific target audience. The scope of work for these two roles varies significantly, while the former entails high-level strategic operations often meant to shape overall business direction, the latter hones in on executing effective content creation and distribution efforts that align with those broader business goals.
While both positions are pivotal in their own ways, it’s crucial to understand their unique responsibilities when considering each for your team.
Roles and Responsibilities
Fractional CMOs and Fractional Content Strategists do different jobs. The CMO looks after the whole marketing plan. They have ideas for how to make a business grow fast. But they need to bring in money too.
They aim to use all types of ways to tell people about their products or services.
On the other side, you will find the Content Strategist. They make plans for what words or pictures should go on websites, social media or emails. Their job is just as important as the CMO’s work but has a more narrow focus.
A company can save money by getting these professionals only when required for their specific roles and tasks.
Focus on Strategy vs Execution
In the world of content, strategy and execution play different roles. A fractional CMO leads with a strong focus on strategy. They use in-depth audits to find gaps and ways to get better.
They can do market research alone or work with other groups. Their job is to think about, plan, and guide big marketing moves. The team at their agency helps them bring these plans to life.
A fractional content strategist works more on execution side of things. They make content plans that go along with business goals. It’s a key part for driving your company’s vision forward while taking action daily.
Scope of Work
A fractional CMO handles many tasks. A few of these are business growth and making more money for the company. They may also have other jobs based on what the company needs. The role of a fractional content strategist tends to be smaller.
The role of a full-time Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) can be big or small. It will depend on the company’s needs. Some companies might need help with marketing plans or growth methods, so they would hire a fractional CMO for these tasks.
Benefits of Hiring a Fractional Content Strategist
Hiring a Fractional Content Strategist offers several benefits such as being cost-effective due to lower overhead and scalability, access to high-level expertise in content strategy, provision of team training, development, and growth opportunities, long-term planning for your brand’s content journey, and efficiency improvements in the creation, management, and analysis of your company’s digital content.
Cost-Effectiveness
Hiring a Fractional Content Strategist is good for your wallet. You get expert services without paying full-time wages. This means big cost savings for your company. Fewer work hours does not mean less quality.
Expert advice is given on a part-time basis and this helps to keep costs low. It’s like having the skills of a full-team but at half the price. This is why fractional consulting can be seen as a budget-friendly choice.
Access to Expertise
Hiring a fractional content strategist gives companies a big advantage. They get the best from people who know all about content marketing. These experts have deep knowledge in areas like content creation and social media strategy.
This means they can lead your team to success with their wisdom and skills. It’s good for all businesses, but especially small to mid-size ones. With part-time pros, you make the most of every dollar while getting top-notch work done.
Team Training and Development
Hiring a fractional content strategist offers an edge for team training and development. These experts can teach your employees how to craft high-quality content. They work with every team member, fostering collaborative content creation.
Fractional strategists also help enhance the skills of your team. They give knowledge enhancement and skill development in plenty of areas like marketing support and resource optimization.
Long-term growth is in view as they provide high-level guidance too. It’s all about making better things for your company, starting from within the team itself.
Long-term Planning
A Fractional Content Strategist helps your company think ahead. They create a long-term plan for your content marketing strategy. This means you will always know what comes next. They focus on goals for growth in the future, not just today.
If you hire one, they can train your team and guide them with high-level advice.
Increased Efficiency
Hiring a fractional content strategist boosts your work speed. They plan your content smartly and save time. Their way of working lets you do more in less time. Also, they use your resources well.
All these lead to better results without using extra money or effort.
When Do You Need a Fractional Content Strategist?
You may require the services of a fractional content strategist when your business operates on a limited content budget, lacks in-house expertise for creating compelling and strategic content, or is pressed for time to consistently produce high-quality material.
Limited Content Budget
Money can sometimes be tight. You may want to grow your business with strong content marketing but you just don’t have the funds. This is where a fractional content strategist comes into play.
Hiring this kind of professional allows for budget-friendly marketing.
A full-time hire or agency might be too costly, but a fractional content strategist can fit right into your limited content budget. This hiring method helps save on salary dollars and lets you use more money on actual work like creating ads or putting up billboards.
Lack of In-house Expertise
Many firms lack the skill to plan smart content strategies. This can be a big problem. A good fix for this is hiring a part-time content marketer. They are subject matter experts with unique expertise in strategy crafting.
Your team can learn from them too. A fractional content strategist fills up gaps in your current plans and teaches your team the best way forward.
Time Constraints
Busy schedules can make it hard for a company to plan and create content. A fractional content strategist is perfect in this case. They work part-time and focus on the most important tasks first.
This lets companies keep their quality high even with limited time. With good time management, they can do a lot in short periods. The role is also flexible giving room for other tasks as needed by the company.
How to Find and Hire a Fractional Content Strategist
Discovering the perfect fractional content strategist for your business can be an easy task with proper use of professional referrals, freelancing platforms, and carefully drafted contracts.
Utilizing Referrals
Words from happy clients go a long way. They can help you find a part-time content strategist. This is called using referrals. People often share good words about workers who do great jobs.
A skilled worker might know another skilled worker. Former bosses, coworkers and happy customers make good referrals. A fractional content strategist can come from any one of them.
This way of hiring someone lets you use expert skills without paying so much money for it.
Online Platforms for Freelancers
You can find a content strategist on online platforms for freelancers. Sites like LinkedIn offer a big pool of pros ready to help with your content needs. These sites make it easy to look at the work of many different people.
You can also use them to hire someone for just one job or many tasks over time. Many companies use these freelancer sites to find content creators and strategists. They save time and money this way, and they get expert help fast.
Establishing a Contract
A contract sets the rules. It says what both sides will do. This step is vital when hiring a fractional content strategist. The paper should tell you about duties, hours, and pay rate.
It must say how long the work lasts for. To be sure, one party can ask for changes before they sign it. A lawyer can take a look too if you want to be extra safe. Both parties should keep a copy of this paper once signed.
The Role of a Fractional Content Strategist
A fractional content strategist plays a crucial role in shaping a company’s content strategy, identifying key audiences for targeted marketing efforts, conducting keyword research to optimize SEO efforts, creating and managing an effective content calendar to maintain consistency and timeliness in content distribution.
They also monitor and analyze various metrics to assess the effectiveness of the existing-content strategy and make necessary adjustments for improved results.
Crafting a Content Strategy
A Fractional Content Strategist makes a plan for making good content. They look at what the company wants to do. Then they choose words that will help people find the company online.
The words are called keywords. The strategist plans out when and how often to put this content online. This is known as a content calendar.
They also watch number facts, or metrics, to see if their plan is working. If the numbers show that more people visit or buy from the company after seeing the new content, their work is successful.
Identifying Key Audiences
A fractional content strategist finds who needs to hear your message. They work out who the target audience is. They use market research and audience analysis for this task. Once they know the key audiences, they create a marketing strategy.
This plan uses content marketing in way that speaks to these people’s wants and needs. The aim is to drive audience engagement and make sure your message hits home.
Conducting Keyword Research
A Fractional Content Strategist does keyword research as part of their role. This means they look for words that people use when they search online. They find these words in a smart way using data.
The goal is to create content around these keywords to rank higher in search results. This will boost organic traffic – visitors who find your site through unpaid search results. They also study what your rivals are doing and aim to do better than them using effective longtail keywords, which are longer phrases with specific user intent.
Keyword research helps the strategist understand how to shape content that meets users needs.
Creating and Managing Content Calendar
A fractional content strategist makes a calendar for your content. They plan what to post and when to post it. This is key for steady, useful posts that keep people interested in your business.
Think of it as an event planner for your posts. They also watch how well the strategy works. This might mean looking at likes, shares, or sales that come from a post. From there, they can adjust the plan to be even better next time.
Monitoring and Analyzing Metrics
In digital marketing plans, checking and studying metrics play a big role. A fractional content strategist uses this data to see if the company is doing well or needs to make changes.
They look at things like website visits, how people interact with posts, sales numbers, and social media stats.
Then they use this information to make smart choices. This helps them come up with better ways for their content and get better results. This strategy drives growth for businesses by making sure all content hits the mark.
Why Fractional Content Strategists Are Gaining Popularity
Fractional content strategists are seeing an upswing. They have two big draws. One is their light cost compared to full-time workers or agencies. The other is how quickly they can get a firm’s content plan going.
Businesses like the flexible service these part time workers provide. The support adjusts to their needs, which saves time and energy for them. This new kind of workforce also allows firms to plug gaps without hiring full-time staff.
Small companies with tight budgets find the most use for fractional services, so this trend will likely continue as more and more businesses try it out.
Real Examples of Successful Fractional Content Strategists
Amy Porterfield is a well-known fractional content strategist. She crafts top-notch content strategies that drive traffic and sales. Her work helps many businesses grow fast.
Joe Pulizzi is another big name in the field. He creates high-quality content for clients on a part-time basis. His expert skills help firms make more money from their marketing efforts.
Both Amy and Joe are great at what they do, proving that fractional strategists can give just as much value as full-timers.
Key Fractional Roles in Content Marketing
Fractional content marketing utilizes part-time talent to enhance a brand’s digital presence in a flexible, cost-effective way. Some of the most pivotal fractional roles include:
- Fractional Content Marketer – Creates and distributes content to attract and engage ideal customers
- Fractional Content Writer – Produces high-quality written content, from blog posts to whitepapers
- Fractional Content Manager – Oversees content operations from planning calendars to publishing
- Fractional CMO – Provides strategic marketing leadership and direction
Fractional content marketers allow brands to scale content creation up or down as needs fluctuate. They lend niche expertise without the overhead of full-time hires.
Experienced fractional content writers deliver targeted messaging aligned with brand voice. Their subject matter knowledge enriches content.
For small businesses and brands seeking marketing leadership, a fractional CMO guides the overall vision. They steer content and digital efforts in the right direction at a lower cost.
Tapping into fractional roles provides the skills to elevate content marketing in an adaptable, budget-friendly way. With careful role alignment, brands can build effective content marketing teams with this specialized expertise.
Frequently Asked Questions about How Does a Fractional Content Strategist Work?
1. What Does a Fractional Content Strategist Do?
A fractional content strategist plans, organizes and sets goals for the use of digital content to improve a business.
2. Why Would I Need a Fractional Content Strategist?
You will need a fractional content strategist if you want better online results but lack time or know-how to plan and manage your digital content.
3. Does Hiring a Fractional Content Strategist Cost Much?
The price of hiring a fractional content strategist varies based on their level of experience, how much work they do and the size of your project.
4. How Long Does it Take for a Fractional Content Strategist to Get Results?
Getting good results from using a Fractional Content Strategist may vary but expect at least three months to start seeing improvements.
5. Can I Hire one Part-Time?
Yes, you can hire a Fractional Content Strategist part-time which is actually what makes them ‘fractional’ – they work less than full hours.
Conclusion and Summary of How Does a Fractional Content Strategist Work?
A fractional content strategist brings specialized expertise to elevate your content marketing, without the costly commitment of a full-time hire. Their strategic vision and hands-on content skills help businesses big and small make the most of part-time marketing talent.
Whether you need an experienced fractional content marketer to boost your digital presence or a fractional writer to generate quality blog posts, the part-time route allows you to scale up marketing capabilities in a cost-effective way.
With careful role alignment to your specific needs, fractional content marketing unlocks growth potential. This agile model grants access to high-caliber marketing and content creation skills precisely when you need them. When resources are limited but ambitions are high, fractional support provides the bridge to marketing success.
Image Credit: AntonioDiaz / 123RF.com (Licensed). Photo Illustration by: Doctor Marketing, MD.
Doctor Marketing, MD™ is a leading content creation, distribution and marketing agency. The firm works with Top Doctors and Surgeons, Healthcare Companies, Medical Professionals, Private Practices, Medical Groups and Clinics, Hospitals, Executives, and Leaders in the Healthcare Industry and specialty Medical sectors. Doctor Marketing, MD™ has built a world-class content writing team of award-winning writers, SEOs, copywriters, wordsmiths, and ghostwriters. They’ve perfected a proprietary content assembly line process, and further specialize in large-scale content production through well-crafted blog posts, articles, and medical content pieces that attract new patients.
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