When it comes to marketing, companies have several options for hiring temporary professionals to help them achieve their marketing goals. Three common options are marketing freelancers, temporary employees, and marketing consultants. Each option offers its own benefits, and the choice ultimately depends on a company's specific needs and resources.
Marketing Freelancers
Marketing freelancers are self-employed professionals who work independently and are hired on a project-by-project basis. They often have a specific area of expertise, such as social media marketing, content creation, or graphic design. Freelancers typically work remotely and are paid at an hourly or project-based rate.
The benefits:
Flexibility: Freelancers can be hired for short-term projects and are typically able to work flexible hours to suit a company’s requirements.
Working days: You can decide if you need them for anything between 1 and 5 days a week and if you just need them to work 3 days a week, you only pay them for these days.
Specialised expertise: Freelancers often have a specific area of expertise, which can be beneficial for companies looking for someone with a particular skill set e.g. AdWords, graphic design, or copywriting.
Cost-effective: Hiring a freelancer is often cheaper than hiring a full-time employee or using a marketing agency.
No overhead costs: Since freelancers work remotely, companies do not have to provide them with office space or equipment.
Efficiency: Communicate effectively with your freelancer and they are able to get on with the work you need them to do with minimal disruptions to your team and will send you the finished articles once complete or the results.
Projects Freelancers are great for:
Graphic Designers - For both online and print whether you need a new logo or new marketing materials designed. They could be used for flyers and business cards to graphics for your email marketing, website, or social media.
Social Media - Freelancers can create engaging posts for you whether you want to regularly update your customers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, or YouTube we can find talented content creators to post for you.
Copywriters - Drive traffic to your website with copywriters who will research your brand and write blogs on “how to use your products/services” or write up case studies and good news stories to encourage future business.
Communication experts - You can hire a freelancer to do your weekly newsletters for you. Send them the information they need and they can create a weekly newsletter targeted internally at your employees or externally to your customers.
Presentations - Got a pitch or presentation coming up? Send your draft to a freelancer and they will proofread it catching any typos and make your presentation more visually engaging so you can focus on delivering a great presentation.
Temporary Employees
Temporary employees are hired for a specific period of time, usually to cover an employee's absence due to illness, long-term holidays, notice periods, or maternity leave. They can also be hired for specific projects or events or just to keep the department running. Temporary employees are typically paid an hourly rate and are entitled to the same benefits as regular employees.
The benefits:
Flexibility: Temporary employees can be hired for short periods of time and typically 5 days a week and can be onsite, hybrid, or fully remote. They are available at short notice and can be used to fill any gaps in staffing. There is also flexibility with the contracts, they can be extended if needed and they could even be taken on as a permanent hire after the initial temporary period if required.
No long-term commitment: Hiring a temporary employee does not require a long-term commitment, which can be beneficial for companies that are unsure about their staffing needs or those who may be struggling with budget sign-off for a particular role. Simply suggest how long you initially think you’ll need them, 3, 6, or 9 months. This can be extended or reduced with a couple of weeks’ notice.
Access to experience and expertise: Temporary employees can bring their marketing expertise to a project or task, which can be beneficial for companies looking for someone with a particular skill set. Their previous experience with different brands, systems, and processes makes them super adaptable and enables them to hit the ground running, taking on work straight away and making an impact quickly.
When could you hire a temp:
Someone has handed in their notice - One of your Marketing Executives has found an opportunity they can’t turn down, they were a great addition to your team and you wish them all the best but you can’t help but feel their absence is going to impact the rest of the team and communication with your customers. No time to waste. Hiring a permanent replacement can take 1-3 months depending on notice periods so get in touch as soon as you know they’re leaving and let’s get someone in to fill their shoes next week.
Long-term cover for sick leave or Maternity - If you need someone to hold the fort for 6-9 months, remaining flexible as to whether your permanent employee return or not, temporary cover can be a great option.
Seasonal peaks - A lot of direct-to-consumer businesses are super busy at certain times of the year around seasons or events like Black Friday and Christmas where they make 40% of their annual revenue in two months. Then they are much quieter for the rest of the year. If you want an extra pair of hands to ensure the ball isn’t dropped when the rest of your team is busy, hire a temp!
Marketing Consultants
Marketing consultants are independent professionals who are hired to provide expert advice and guidance to companies. They often have extensive experience in marketing and are hired on a project basis. Marketing consultants can help companies with a wide range of marketing tasks, such as market research, marketing strategy, rebranding, or setting up a marketing function.
The benefits:
Expertise: Marketing consultants have extensive experience in marketing and can provide valuable insights and advice to companies.
Objectivity: Marketing consultants are independent professionals and can provide an objective perspective on a company's marketing efforts.
They can audit your business: identifying new ways of working.
Flexibility: They can be hired for short-term projects and can work remotely.
Companies have several options when it comes to hiring temporary marketing professionals. Each option offers its own benefits, and the choice ultimately depends on a company's specific needs and resources. Hiring a marketing freelancer, a temporary employee, or a marketing consultant can be a cost-effective way for companies to achieve their marketing goals while maintaining flexibility in their staffing.
We are a great resource for companies looking for help and advice on hiring temporary marketing professionals. Our team of experienced recruiters can provide valuable insights and assistance in finding the right marketing professional for the job and your needs. Companies can save time and resources by partnering with The ONE Group for their marketing staffing needs.
How does it work?
Once you’ve identified that you need a freelancer, temporary employee or consultant give us a call to tell us what you need from someone. We’ll find you someone who can do what you’re looking for and vet them for you.
We’ll arrange for you to meet them virtually. If you love what you see, let us know and we’ll let them know they can get to work for you.
At the end of each week, they fill in a timesheet with the hours and/or days they’ve worked that week. You approve it and we pay them for the hours/days they’ve worked and all their taxes, NI, and PAYE.
We take the payroll for them off your hands and simply send you an invoice every week.
If they finish the work sooner than expected or you want to extend their contract, simply give us one week's notice.
If you need an extra pair of hands in your marketing team, get in touch by emailing marketingdivision@theonegroup.co.uk and a consultant would be happy to help.