Should we hire an in-house marketing team or use a fractional one?
Hire in-house when a working marketing system already exists for someone to run. When it does not, someone has to build it: a fractional CMO with people to carry out the plan, or an operated function. A specialist agency adds capacity in one channel once the plan is settled. Forte Growth takes over your go to market and marketing, builds it, improves it and runs it, so a future hire inherits something that works.
What does an in-house marketing team actually cost?
A Head of Marketing, growth marketer, content lead, SDR and marketing-operations hire land near £250,000 a year in UK salary before tools, recruitment or agencies. For comparable roles at London companies with 50 to 250 staff, Robert Walters' UK Salary Survey 2026 gives a combined base salary of £224,000 to £376,000. That is the worked example for a full team; not every company needs all five roles.
That is not an argument against hiring. Permanent people are good value when the offer, segment and sales process already repeat. The question is what they walk into.
In-house team, fractional CMO, agency or outsourced marketing department: how do they compare?
| Option | Who does the work, and what you need inside | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| In-house team | Your own hires. You recruit, onboard and manage them | The offer, segment and sales process already repeat, and the job is to do more of something proven |
| Fractional CMO | One senior leader, part-time. Some providers add a delivery team; without one, your people carry out the plan | You need senior direction and already have, or also buy, the people to execute |
| Specialist agency | The agency's team, in the channels it sells. You keep the plan and connect its results to sales | The plan is settled and one channel needs more capacity |
| Outsourced marketing department, such as Forte Growth | Forte's team takes over, builds, improves and runs the whole motion. You keep the target, the offer, sign-off and the sales conversations | Growth still depends on the founder or a warm network and no working system exists yet |
When does a fractional CMO make sense?
When you need senior marketing judgement part-time and have people who can carry out the plan, or you buy a model where the provider delivers too. Ask who does the weekly work, how many days are included and what stays with you when it ends. Without a delivery team, someone inside the company still has to do the work.
What does each option cost in the UK?
As a worked example, a full in-house team of five UK marketing hires comes to around £250,000 a year in base salary, and Robert Walters' 2026 survey gives £224,000 to £376,000 for London, before employer National Insurance, pension, commission and recruitment fees. Not every company needs all five roles. For fractional CMOs, the UK provider Limivex puts typical UK costs at £3,000 to £6,000 a month for leadership only and £4,500 to £9,000 with a delivery team, from day rates of £700 to £1,500. Those are one provider's market estimates, not an independent survey. This page cites no independent figure for agency retainers. Forte Growth does not publish a price; the fee is agreed on the first call against the scope.
What goes wrong when you hire before the system exists?
Separate hires arrive to separate versions of the plan. Marketing describes one buyer, outbound targets another, and content speaks to a third.
The expensive part is paying a full team while it spends its first two quarters deciding what the team is for.
What does Forte do instead?
Forte takes over your go to market and marketing: the offer, segments, outbound, founder content, follow-up, CRM, automation and weekly operating rhythm. It builds, improves and runs the motion to get you results, with campaigns live inside the first weeks.
There is no separate strategy phase followed by execution. The work is built, run and improved as one motion.
What an outsourced marketing department covers, who it suits and what stays with your team: We need a marketing department, not five new hires. Can we outsource it?
When is hiring the right answer?
Hire when the offer and segment have stopped moving, the sales process repeats and the job is to do more of something proven. A future hire then inherits live campaigns, documented processes and accumulated learning.
When does a specialist agency make sense?
When the plan, offer and segment are settled and one channel needs more capacity. The agency runs its channel. Joining that channel to the rest of the pipeline, and deciding what to change when results move, stays with you.
What if we only want outbound?
A buyer receives a message, then checks the founder, website, proof and case studies before replying. Forte runs outbound and inbound together because the buyer experiences them together. A company that wants only sending is better served elsewhere.
ALPER YURDER · FORTE GROWTH
Alper breaks down what the first five GTM hires cost, where coordination fails and when a fractional operating team is the faster move.
What should we do first?
Take the diagnostic. It shows where the motion breaks and which part should be fixed before more budget or activity is added.
Sources
- Robert Walters UK Salary Survey 2026. London base salaries, companies with 50 to 250 staff. Base salary only.
- Limivex, Fractional CMO Cost UK, updated September 2026. A UK provider's estimate of typical UK costs, not an independent survey.
Last reviewed September 2026.
Related playbook: The 90-Day GTM Clarity and Execution Tracker, thirty-one go to market decisions in one document, each with what good looks like at 30, 60, 90 and 180 days.