When it comes to marketing leadership for small businesses, choosing who to hire can feel overwhelming. Should you build an in-house team, outsource to an agency, or explore a more flexible, modern approach with Marketing Leadership as a Service ? In this post, we’ll compare your options and introduce a hybrid solution that’s helping small businesses scale smarter.
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In-House Marketing Team

Building an in-house marketing team gives you direct oversight and tight alignment with your business goals. You can provide real-time input, and your team is fully dedicated to your brand’s voice and vision.

But for many small businesses, this comes at a high price. Hiring a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) or Marketing Director costs between $15,363 and $29,732 per month. Then come the specialists—SEO, content, social media, web development, analytics—each averaging $6,348/month.

Marketing today is both wide and deep, and it’s rare to find one person (or even a small team) who can cover strategy, execution, tech, and creativity without burning out or missing the mark.

Key Roles & Costs:

• CMO/VP/Director of Marketing:

• Average Monthly Salary: $15,363 – $29,732

• Benefit: Strategic vision and leadership

• Drawback: Budget breaker for most small businesses

• Marketing Specialists (SEO, content, email, analytics, etc.):

• Average Monthly Salary per person: $6,348

• Benefit: Deep expertise in each function

• Drawback: Coordination without strategy can lead to silos

Want to know how to align internal marketing with strategic goals? Read about Strategy First Marketing.

Outsourced Marketing Agencies

Outsourcing your marketing means handing over most, if not all, of your marketing execution to an external team. This is a popular choice for small businesses who have the money and that don’t have the time, interest, or internal team to manage marketing themselves. It’s typically cost-effective and scalable, but can get costly. This model offers quick access to a range of specialized skills without the overhead of full-time hires.

Marketing Agency

• Average Monthly Fees: $5,000 – $15,000+
• Benefit: Access to a ready-made team of specialists who can handle everything from strategy and branding to content, SEO, and paid media. You get execution without managing the day-to-day.
• Drawback: While many agencies offer deep expertise, some rely on templated or one-size-fits-all solutions. Without a clear strategy and strong collaboration, your marketing can become disconnected from your actual business goals.

Outsourcing can work well when you find an agency that understands your market and takes a collaborative, strategic approach. But if you're looking for true leadership and integration with your internal team, a hybrid model may be more aligned with your goals.

Marketing Leadership for Small Businesses: The Hybrid Approach

If in-house is too expensive and outsourcing feels disjointed, the hybrid model—what we call Marketing Leadership as a Service (MLaaS)—offers the best of both worlds. The hybrid model brings together strategic marketing leadership for small businesses without the high costs of a full-time hire.

This modern approach positions a fractional CMO or marketing leader as your strategic advisor, guiding your marketing efforts and helping your business adopt and manage AI and marketing technology in a way that puts the power back in the business owners' hands and empowers your internal team, instead of replacing them.

Strategy Before Technology

For years, I have said strategy before tactics, but as the world has evolved, my thought process has evolved. It’s not just strategy before tactics anymore, but strategy before technology. AI can help you automate, analyze, and accelerate, but without a strategy-first mindset, it just adds noise. MLaaS ensures tech works for your business—not the other way around.

Marketing Leader (fCMO) + AI = Sustainable Scale

This model uses AI not to replace humans, but to train, support, and upskill the internal team you already have—or the one you're building. The marketing leader becomes your navigator, helping hire the right person, implement systems, and gradually give autonomy and ownership back to your business.

Benefits of the Hybrid/MLaaS Model:

• Strategic Leadership: A senior marketer aligned with your business goals
• Cost-Efficiency: Fractional pricing, full-scale results
• Execution Support: Full-service agency team fills the gaps
• Tech Guidance: AI and MarTech adoption guided by strategy
• Sustainability: Your business regains control, not dependence

Learn how to scale without burnout using the hybrid model. Download The Fractional CMO Agency Model eBook.

Resource: How AI is Changing Marketing (Harvard Business Review)

Making the Right Hire

Your marketing hire isn’t just about budget—it’s about fit, focus, and future growth. A full in-house team gives control, but requires capital. Agencies offer scale, but sometimes lack alignment. The hybrid MLaaS model brings leadership, systems, and tech together under one roof—helping you scale smart, not just fast. This is where marketing leadership for small businesses becomes essential—not just tactics, but long-term strategy.

If you're ready to stop spinning your wheels with disconnected tactics and embrace a strategic system that adapts with your business, the Fractional CMO + AI model might be your next smart move.

Book a Discovery Call to explore how the hybrid model could work for you. Schedule a Free Consultation.