As some people reading this may know, I have been working in a fractional model with my business well before that terminology even started being used. For anyone reading this that doesn't know what fractional work is, check out this previously published article explains what this style of working is and how it differs to other ways that people get it confused with.

I stumbled into this gap in the market in 2013, two years after I officially launched Flex Marketing. I’d grown weary of chasing sporadic projects in those first two years. A logo here and a piece of copywriting there, all for very small businesses or start-ups. There was often no strategy behind the brief; I was simply carrying out tasks on request with no input into the growth of those businesses and no continuity. 

With years of client-side senior marketing experience behind me, I desired more. To contribute more, utilise the full breath of my diverse skills which included graphic design and make a real difference to businesses who valued what I could offer. Over time, I found those businesses (or they found me) and that’s how I became a fractional marketer or outsourced marketer as I called it back then, and still do sometimes. Not out of desperation because of the job market…but by design. I was fulfilling an unmet demand (albeit small) for this niche now commonly known as ‘fractional’, that’s getting harder to ignore as it gains momentum. 

This article not only covers what I believe is driving this shift to a new(ish) way of working, but also my own journey to working in this way. I also explore where things might go with fractional from here.

How I began working as a fractional marketer in 2013

In a classic example of opportunities only appearing once you’ve defined what you are looking for, my path into fractional work started when I mentioned to a friend that I wanted to be doing marketing for a business that didn’t need me all week. In part this desire was born from needing a flexible lifestyle after the birth of my son a couple of years earlier, however there was much more to it. 

As explained earlier, jumping from one client project to another for a series of one-off needs felt like a waste of everything I had to offer. On top of that, the type of work I initially did was for very new or tiny businesses who often didn’t have an understanding or appreciation of marketing. Put frankly, I was probably wasted on them! They certainly didn’t have the budgets to pay for regular hours of marketing support, but fortunately my friend’s husband’s business did. He was a director of a medium sized business whose circumstances had changed with a change of company structure. The business had identified it no longer needed a full-time marketing manager and so for one day a week, I was engaged as their marketing manager. 

I acted my on client’s behalf on ‘all things marketing’ and was 'embedded' in a sense that external suppliers didn’t perceive any level of separation, even though behind the scenes I was self-employed. I was given a business title, an email address and signature at the same time as being able to choose when and where I worked my one day a week. If I wanted to take a longer break over Christmas and New Year, no problem; there was no hard and fast rule that I needed to work for a specific number of hours each month. 

The mutual commitment to working in a way that was flexible and beneficial to both parties was all it took. It worked and served them for 13 years until they grew and morphed into a business that needed a full-time marketing manager again. I’ve only recently stepped back but they’ve left me attached to all their systems “just-in-case” because things change and businesses are increasingly appreciating the flexibility fractional support can give them. In a typical 2–3-year stint of a marketing employee, in those 13 years, they may have otherwise had to hire 4-5 times. A more hidden benefit of engaging fractionals is business continuity. This theme of longevity has continued with some of my other clients who I’ve been helping for nearly a decade.

Initial challenges of working as a fractional marketer

I had already been used to working remotely and for part of the week, that wasn’t the challenge to begin with. In 2005, the company that employed me while I was living in the UK relocated to a town that was a 4-hour daily commute from my home. Everyone was offered either a relocation or redundancy package. I chose redundancy because moving outside of London wasn’t on the cards. Commuting 4 hours a day wasn’t on the cards either when thinking about a 5-day week, but I wondered if they’d entertain the idea of being in the office three days a week and working the other two from home. I asked, they agreed and I became self-employed for the first time in my life! Pre-Covid, pre-cloud computing – looking back it’s incredible to have experienced this flexible way of working well ahead of the curve. 

What’s even more incredible is having the same company agree to me continuing that remote working arrangement for only one day a week from the other side of the world when I relocated to New Zealand in 2007. Although the technology was a challenge prior to Zoom, Teams or reliable connections to their server ahead of cloud computing, it worked for long enough to recognise that this might be the future of work. It was exciting to be part of this very progressive way of thinking and working and a great stepping stone to what came next.

Lack of awareness and helpful terminology

One of the early challenges was of course finding sufficient hours of fractional work to bring in enough income. I supplemented Flex Marketing with part-time employment for a few years until I’d built enough additional hours for it to become more than a side hustle. What sat behind that challenge was lack of awareness that having a marketer for any less than five days a week was even an option, let alone worth considering. The concept was foreign. When I tried to explain what I did at networking events people would either think I ran an agency or they wanted to know what my marketing ‘niche’ was. They didn’t understand that my ‘niche’ was in fact being a generalist marketer that was able to do the things that an in-house marketing manager could do. ‘Outsourced marketing’ which was the only label I had at the time for the service I offered didn’t describe the nature of the relationships I had with my clients. It felt associated with ‘off-shore’ and detached, whereas I was much more a part of internal teams than it implied. 

Suspicion from clients’ vendors

Once the term ‘fractional’ came along, people finally understood the role I played because this word appears to make it click for people. They now understand that a fractional is more client side than they may otherwise have thought. However, I still need to navigate this carefully on a case-by-case basis. Some of my clients’ vendors have treated this fractional arrangement with suspicion over the years - perhaps confused about where my loyalties lie or maybe simply concerned about whether the client will pay the bill if they take instruction from me. I’m often tasked with sourcing and engaging suppliers on my client’s behalf, but the contractual agreements usually sit directly between my client and them. These kinds of issues are where carrying a client’s email address can be helpful and ensuring that the business owner has given legitimacy and authority to this way of working alongside its other vendors. It’s less of an issue these days, as increasingly, fractionals are working alongside other fractionals within their clients’ ecosystems. In the early days the most common fractional I encountered with my clients was in IT, but recently HR and Law are other areas of the business this model has been applied to. 

Juggling, multi-tasking and wearing multiple hats

Other more micro challenges were on the work-organisation side of things. Managing competing priorities across clients, juggling capacity demands, managing expectations, scheduling around personal commitments to ensure I retained the work-life balance and flexibility I intended to achieve. Also, there’s the challenge of performing different roles at the same time – from senior level strategic work down to hands on implementation, it’s a case of wearing different hats for different clients at the same time! Eventually, I got into a groove, however had to figure it all out myself in what I now recognise was a pioneering time.

Covid changed the landscape forever (in a positive way!)

Then came Covid and most people got to taste the flexibility I’d experienced for over a decade by then when they got to work remotely. Employees demanded more flexibility, hybrid working became more popular, if not, ‘the norm.’ Digital nomads popped up from working holidays in Bali nearly twenty years after I’d taken a trip to Australia to continue working for my former employer in the UK while holidaying. People having a better understanding of what I do, how I do it and why has been refreshing and it’s fascinating to witness the transformation going on, particularly more recently with AI on the scene. I’ve been giving plenty of thought lately to how things might evolve from here and I’ve recently met lots of people wanting to become fractional. Some out of curiosity, some out of frustration with the current job market but most wondering “how?” The latter might be a future article, but for now, I’d like to share 'my thinking' about where things are at, why and where we might be heading.

Why is fractional on the rise?

There are many factors feeding into why there has been growing interest in a fractional model recently. Some are driven by changes in the markets that impact organisations, including competitive demands such as increased pressure on pricing, managing costs and legislation such as requirements around family leave, benefit contributions etc. Other factors are on the workforce side of things – achieving a better work-life balance and stimulation from variety that can be provided through the fractional or portfolio ways of working. One big factor impacting employers and employees alike is the introduction of AI in workplaces, meaning that often there is simply a reduced need for humans. What used to be a full-time job may not be any more and as a result, there are more job seekers who are open to new ways of working. 

Organisations on the other hand are slower to open themselves up to working in this way and in New Zealand, I believe based on anecdotal evidence that the current supply outstrips the demand for fractional services. However, I do not believe that this will be the case for long. The cart may be in front of the horse, however everything I’ve seen and heard suggests that with continued momentum, as awareness grows around the fantastic benefits from leveraging fractionals, demand will catch up.

How could the fractional model benefit society and possibly be the way of the future?

The SME make up of New Zealand lends itself to using the fractional work model

With over 97% of NZ enterprises having fewer than 20 employees, it makes sense that they won’t all need full-time dedicated expertise in certain fields, including marketing. Having more people with the right level of skills and experience they can tap into at the right time means that they can be hyper-focused on what resources they need most.

Fractional flexibility can be key to businesses functioning dynamically

Related to the above point, organisation’s needs evolve over time and utilising fractionals is one way to function dynamically. For example, at certain stages a business may need more ‘marketing-hands-on-deck’ to implement things and those resources can sometimes be in the earlier stages of their careers (therefore more cost effective). At other stages, a business may need a lot of help with its marketing strategy, calling for more senior marketers. It’s actually less about lowering costs and more about getting the right capability match for where business is at. People with the right skills for the right work, at the right time, and maximising business performance.

Tackling the aging population issue and promoting ‘healthspan’

New Zealand and many other populations have the same issue – an aging population. That means less taxpayers. Facilitating an environment in which experienced people can contribute to the workforce for longer by working in these flexible ways is one way to maintain the economic activity and tax revenue that comes with workforce participation. 

Forward-thinking countries like Singapore are already incorporating fractional working into its thinking about how it could utilise this model as a way of tackling the economic and social issues that accompany an aging population. 

At this stage, the New Zealand Government doesn’t appear to be taking much interest in the emerging fractional movement, however time will tell. It makes a lot of sense to me both on a macro and micro level. With a keen personal interest in wellbeing and promoting ‘healthspan’, I think a world better geared up to letting post-retirement age people work on a reduced basis doing things that are mentally stimulating has to be a great way to maintain brain health.

In my opinion, New Zealand should be on the front foot, championing this way of working because people are its strategic advantage and being progressive may attract top talent from around the world. Why wait until this is bedded in to other countries first? This is an opportunity to be proactive rather than reactive in a way that could be great for brand ‘New Zealand.’

Beyond these things mentioned above, there are many other reasons for countries and businesses to embrace fractional working; to name a few – the possibility of improved business continuity, providing better opportunities for women to re-enter the workforce after having children, to cater for neuro-diversity, to support carers with other responsibilities such as looking after family members with disabilities. I personally know of one young person who shoulders a lot of responsibility for looking after her sister with Downs Syndrome – the demands of a full-time marketing job are just not practical for her and yet very few part-time employment opportunities exist within the field.

What’s to come?

Hopefully a more cohesive and collaborative environment to continue the momentum around fractional working. The Fractional Directory has been doing some fantastic work in fostering collaboration through organising regular networking meet ups for those already working in a fractional or portfolio capacity and those curious about working in these ways. It’s been a great space to hear about global fractional insights and share ideas with people who are keen for the fractional opportunities to grow.

Everyone seems to agree that currently the supply of fractionals outweighs demand, however with the changing nature of work, growth in AI, changes in population demographics and increased appetite for flexible work, awareness will grow. With better awareness of the collective benefits of fractional working and greater legitimacy from governments and businesses, demand should grow. Watch this space!

About Andie Johnson

Andie is the owner of Flex Marketing. Flex Marketing helps businesses grow by allowing them to have the help of senior marketing resource without needing to employ a full time marketing manager. How flexible! We call this outsourced marketing services, however, some refer to it as ‘fractional resourcing’. We help multiple businesses at the same time who can’t yet justify having a permanent senior marketing person, so we become their ‘fractional CMO or senior marketing manager’ for an agreed number of hours per month. Often we drive a particular project or help with a specific business need that may be temporary. Flex Marketing has been helping businesses in this way to grow their businesses since 2011 and is based in Auckland, New Zealand