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To hire a freelance marketer, a fractional CMO, an in-house marketer or an agency is to buy four different things. A freelancer brings one person's specialism by the hour or day; a fractional CMO brings senior strategy for a few days a month; an in-house hire learns your business and stays; an agency brings several disciplines for a fixed monthly fee. In Belgium, where we work, sixteen hours a week from a freelancer costs roughly 4,900 to 6,200 euro a month at the median freelance rate, and an agency retainer for a small business usually runs 1,000 to 2,500 euro a month for fewer hours.
The right choice depends less on price than on what you need: someone to think, someone to do, or both. This guide sets the four options side by side for the same sixteen hours a week, shows what each usually delivers, and points out the gap that sinks most marketing hires. What an agency actually does is in what does a marketing agency do.
Four ways to hire a marketer
| Set-up | How you pay | Cost for 16 hours a week | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freelance marketer | per hour or day | about 4,900 to 6,200 euro a month at 71 to 90 euro an hour in Belgium | one person with their own specialism, flexible hours |
| Fractional CMO | a day rate or monthly retainer for a few days a month | set per person; senior rates | strategy and leadership without a full-time salary |
| In-house hire | salary and employer costs | payroll cost, plus tools, training and ramp-up time | someone who learns your business and stays |
| Agency retainer | a fixed monthly fee | 1,000 to 2,500 euro a month is common for a small business, for 10 to 25 hours | a team with several disciplines, fewer hours each |
The freelance figures are a sum: sixteen hours a week averages about 69 hours a month, at the median hourly rate of Belgian freelancers across all fields, 71 to 90 euro before VAT. Agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands often charge 80 to 160 euro an hour; a retainer buys fewer hours but a wider team. Rates in the UK, Germany or the Nordics differ; ask for quotes on the same scope. If you are hiring an employee in Belgium, a payroll office such as Business Centrum can calculate the employer cost.
What each set-up usually delivers
Freelance marketer
about 4,900 to 6,200 euro a month for 16 hours a week in Belgium
Strategysometimes
Executionusually
Contentsometimes
Site and techrarely
Measurementsometimes
Fractional or interim
a day rate or retainer, usually above freelance
Strategyusually
Executionusually
Contentsometimes
Site and techrarely
Measurementsometimes
In-house hire
salary and employer costs, plus tools and training
Strategyusually
Executionusually
Contentusually
Site and techsometimes
Measurementsometimes
Agency retainer
1,000 to 2,500 euro a month for 10 to 25 hours
Strategyusually
Executionusually
Contentusually
Site and techsometimes
Measurementusually
The gap that sinks most marketing hires
A marketer plans a campaign, writes the copy and sets up the ads. Then it turns out nobody can change the landing page, the tracking on the site does not work, or the form submissions go nowhere. The campaign runs, the marketer waits for the web developer, and three months later money has been spent without anyone knowing what it returned.
Before you hire, make sure three things are in place:
- Someone who can change the site within days, without a quote for every edit.
- Tracking that works: visitors, enquiries per channel, and which campaign brought them. Start with Google Search Console, and work out what a conversion is worth with the ROAS calculator.
- A plan with numbers: what it must deliver, by when, with what budget. Start from the marketing plan template and size the budget with the marketing budget calculator.
Which set-up fits
- Choose a freelance marketer ifyou have a clear task, such as running ads or a monthly newsletter, and want someone to do it independently. Freelancer against agency is covered in freelancer or agency.
- Choose a fractional CMO ifyou need strategy and direction more than hands, and have people or partners to execute.
- Choose an in-house hire ifmarketing is a permanent job your company must learn deeply, with work for at least a half-time role.
- Choose an agency ifyou need several disciplines, such as strategy, copy, ads, the website and tracking, but not enough work for one person each. What agencies cost is in digital agency cost.
The first ninety days with a new marketer
Whether you hire a freelancer, an employee or an agency, the first three months decide whether it works. Agree up front what should be in place at each point.
| When | What should be in place | How you see it |
|---|---|---|
| After two weeks | tracking that works, and a list of what is missing on the site | you see enquiries per channel |
| After a month | a plan with goals, budget and channels | a document with numbers, not just ideas |
| After two months | the first campaigns or pages are live | you see visitors and costs per channel |
| After three months | a first review: what brought enquiries, what did not | a choice to stop, steer or scale up |
Do not expect a final result after three months: search visibility grows over months, and ads need weeks to learn. What you should see is tracking you trust and a plan adjusted on numbers. If after three months you only get activity reports, without enquiries or cost per channel, that is the moment for a frank conversation.
Questions for every interview
| Question | Why |
|---|---|
| What did you do for a business like mine, and what did it return? | results say more than a rate |
| Who changes the site, and how fast? | without that every campaign stalls |
| How do you measure, and when do I see the first numbers? | otherwise you know nothing after three months |
| What do you do yourself, and what do you outsource? | a freelancer who outsources everything is an expensive agency |
| How do we stop if it does not work? | a month's notice is healthier than a year's contract |
If the main need is to be found in Google, read what does an SEO specialist do; for copy alone a copywriter is often enough, see copywriter rates.
How we work
We are an agency in Ghent, Belgium, that does strategy and execution together for businesses across Europe: the website, copy, search, ads and tracking sit with one team, so a campaign never waits on a developer. We work with a fixed price per project after a first call, not an hourly rate. For Business Centrum we fixed the technical basics first and then built guides and city pages; in the first five weeks the site went from 220 to 10,200 impressions a day in Google. See the Business Centrum case and what we do in SEO and Google Ads.
Hiring a marketer, the questions first
How much does a freelance marketer cost?
In Belgium, freelancers across fields charge a median of 71 to 90 euro an hour before VAT. Sixteen hours a week then comes to roughly 4,900 to 6,200 euro a month.
What does a fractional CMO cost?
A day rate or monthly retainer set per person, for a few days a month. Compare it with a full-time senior salary and with an agency covering strategy and execution.
Is an agency cheaper than an in-house marketer?
For a small business with less than a full-time role in marketing, often yes: a retainer of 1,000 to 2,500 euro a month for 10 to 25 hours covers several disciplines. For a full-time role an employee can be cheaper.
What should be in place before hiring a marketer?
Someone who can change the website quickly, tracking that works, and a plan with numbers. Without those three most hires stall.
How do I hire a digital marketer for my business?
Define the task and the numbers first, check who handles the site and tracking, then compare a freelancer, a fractional lead and an agency on the same scope.