Modern B2B marketers exist within an ever-evolving ecosystem of channels, tactics, events and buyer needs continuously accelerating the rate of change within the discipline. These evolutions have brought the need for expertise across strategy and execution within everything from expanding, interconnected technology stacks to attribution and revenue intelligence. The result: Today’s marketing org chart is unrecognizable from that of the all too recent past.

Within this landscape it’s no wonder 69% of employers in the US report having difficulty finding the skills they need to fill open positions, and why marketing staff augmentation solutions are increasingly adopted by the HR, talent, revenue, and marketing leaders keeping their business ahead of the curve.

What is Marketing Staff Augmentation?

Is staff augmentation outsourcing? Yes, but not in the traditional sense. It’s a Fluid Talent approach that provides contract employees to fill a desired role(s) for a set period of time working on-site, or ‘virtual on-site’ as the situation calls, as part of your team. Augmented staff can be short term, meant to accomplish a specific phase of a project, or long term meant to fill an ongoing skills gap as well as emerging gaps that arise with the evolution of marketing programs.

The practice is utilized to effectively create a Hybrid Workforce comprised of both full-time internal and fixed-term contract employee talent.

Terms like Staff Aug, On-Demand Talent, Fluid Talent and Funded Heads are all used to describe same practice.

How Are Outsourced Marketing Staff Managed?

Another key challenge those looking to hire for specialized or technical marketing roles is not just finding the right skills to execute at the employee-level, but the lack of internal knowledge to develop strategy and effectively manage and direct these employees on a day-to-day basis.

So, in terms of considering outsourcing aspects of your marketing team using a Staff Aug approach, another key benefit is gaining the full value of Agency know-how to translate your high-level goals into actionable plans to be executed by your On-Demand Talent people. Leading us nicely into our next section…

Marketing Staff Aug Example Infographic

Deploying a blend of internal and on-demand marketing talent to create a bespoke Hybrid Workforce:

Key Staff Augmentation Benefits

In addition to leveraging agency assets and know-how to manage specialized contract employees at all levels, the Fluid Talent approach also yields the following important benefits:

Filling ‘Right Now’ Skills Gaps: Many projects naturally incorporate an evolving skill requirement as they move from early to late stage on the way to execution/implementation. The Fluid Talent approach facilitates the need to flex talent with the necessary expertise in and out over time as requirements dictate.

Zero Headcount Impact: Marketing leaders have always been asked to do more with less, especially when met with staff reductions, hiring freezes and headcount restrictions. While Fluid Talent team members work on site as part of your team, they remain employed by the Agency with zero impact on your own headcount.

In-House Agency Specialty: Augmented staff bring not only sector-specific skills but an agency mindset, ensuring you’re not just staffing a marketing team, but building an in-house media company for your niche.

A Low Commitment, High Value Solution: Contract staff provide all the benefits of your full-time employees with none of the commitment or secondary carrying costs attached to a traditional hire.

Accelerated Time to Value: Even if you are able to find the right skill-sets, vertical experience, etc. within the typical hiring process it will often take several months along with the expense of time and monetary resources. The Fluid Talent workflow is accomplished within 5 – 8 weeks from signed contract to employee start.

How Does it Work?

Once a contract is in place for the necessary roles, we will source the appropriate team member(s) either from our bench of talent or within our own dedicated search.

Once we identify the right fit, you will have the ability to interview for final approval.

Typical Outsourced Marketing Job Titles

Agency Fluid Talent Managers have the ability to source the specific skills at the specific level as required by each business case. Typical roles include:

  • Project Managers
  • Campaign Consultants
  • Content Creators
  • Marketing Automation
  • Demand Generation
  • Revenue Operations
  • Developers/Specialists
  • Acquisition and Media
  • Consultants/Specialists

Contact us to learn more about the FluidTalent approach or request a quote for your specific hybrid workforce needs.