How to Build a Powerhouse Marketing Team — Without Hiring In-House
A skilled photographer is a valuable addition to your marketing roster.
In a perfect world, your company’s marketing team would be stacked with an A-team — strategic thinkers, expert executors, and creatives with mile-long resumes. You’d have an unlimited budget to hire as many people as needed to meet (and exceed) your marketing goals.
But in the real world, especially for small to mid-sized businesses, marketing often operates on a much leaner scale. Maybe you have the budget for one coordinator when you really need someone with strategic expertise. Or perhaps you’ve hired a seasoned director, but they’re spending more time scheduling social posts than steering the ship. In some cases, there’s no dedicated marketing team at all, just a few administrative team members juggling tasks that don’t match their skill set. And let’s not forget: hiring isn’t just about salary. The costs of onboarding, training, and providing benefits for a W2 employee are higher than ever.
So what’s a company to do when the need for marketing help is real, but a full in-house team just isn’t in the cards? That’s where contractors, freelancers, and agencies come in.
Here are the players you need for a powerhouse marketing team, without adding a single employee:
Visionary/Get Sh*t Done: Your Strategic Marketing Expert / Project Manager
To lead the charge, you need someone who sees the big picture and knows how to move the pieces. Think a seasoned marketing consultant who can guide strategy, set direction, build timelines, and map out execution across campaigns and channels. Bonus points if they’re also hands-on and can do the work, not just delegate it.
(Inside scoop: This is the role I play at Waystone Creative. Beyond consulting on strategy, I thrive in project management and love jumping in to write when I get the chance.)
Important to remember: Clarify up front if this person only advises, or if they will help manage and execute ongoing work. Be sure to define what’s included in their scope and deliverables.
Above all, this person should deeply understand your target audience, your business goals, and how your team works best. That’s what makes them not just a consultant, but a true partner in the work.
Visual Rockstar: Graphic Designer
It’s great to have someone on the team who knows enough about design to get by (hello, Canva fans.) But having a talented graphic designer in your corner that can take your brand from mediocre to exceptional? They’re worth their weight in gold.
Bonus: Good graphic designers may have some technical savvy with web design and other programs, but look for someone who can stand alone and consistently wins business with their visual designs.
One important consideration: This is someone you’ll likely partner with often, so make sure their rates align with your long-term budget. One of the biggest heartbreaks in marketing is kicking off with stunning, brand-elevating design, only to scale back to a less experienced partner later. Quality design isn’t just aesthetic, it’s an investment in how your brand is perceived.
Bringing Your Brand to Life: Photographer
Having an in-house photographer would be ideal, but for most businesses, it’s not a practical investment. A more realistic (and effective) approach is partnering with a skilled photographer who understands your industry, aligns with your brand aesthetic, and consistently delivers high-quality work. We’ve all heard horror stories of amateur photographers showing up late to shoots, being unprepared, or taking ages to return edited photos, so ensure communication is a top priority for them.
Bonus: If you anticipate working together regularly, ask about package pricing or retainers to help plan ahead for the year’s upcoming budget.
One important consideration: Good photography is expensive. I’ll say it again: Good photography is expensive.
Source photography prices early in the year to add to your marketing budget for the following year.
Documenting Your Work: Videographer
While you’re likely to use them less than a photographer, having a videography company or individual on your roster is a great idea. Some professionals offer both photography and videography services, but for larger projects, like award submissions, promotional videos, or customer features, it’s worth investing in a specialist who focuses solely on video.
Important to remember: Quality video production typically involves a small team, even for shorter clips, so don’t be shocked at a high price tag for a short video. Budget accordingly, and plan your videos out far ahead of time. A good videographer won’t just show up with a camera. They’ll help shape your vision, recommend the right approach, and ensure your message comes through clearly and professionally.
Technical Genius: Your Web Development Partner
While other marketing experts on your roster might have some technical savvy (I can build a mean Squarespace site myself), if you’re looking for deep technical web design, look for an expert in this space. A great web/digital technical marketing partner will work with you to build a website that’s visually compelling on the front end, but also achieves the functionality you need on the backend.
The right partner ensures your site is easy to update, supports your analytics and tracking needs, and enhances your overall marketing strategy, not complicates it. There’s no value in a shiny, gorgeous site if the development team is impossible to get ahold of, charges an arm and a leg for simple updates, or makes the process of getting the analytics you need a nightmare.
A quality web developer should understand how your site fits into the bigger picture: how users navigate it, where traffic is coming from, and recommend improvements that match your goals.
Bonus: As with other roles, you might find a developer who dabbles in related areas like SEO or design, but prioritize someone whose primary strength is in building and managing functional, well-structured websites.
Important to remember: This role is often the most opaque, and unfortunately, unreliable web developers aren’t hard to come by. Look for someone who takes the time to understand your business and your audience, not just someone promising high traffic and lead volume.
Jack of All Trades, Master of None
One of the biggest benefits of building a contractor-based marketing team is not just saving time and money compared to full-time hires, it’s tapping into deep specialization. For example, graphic design contractors that just offer graphic design tend to be excellent at their trade if they’ve built their entire business off those services.
Marketing agencies often position themselves as a “one-stop shop,” and some truly are. But in practice, I’ve seen two common scenarios:
Agencies that offer to handle your social media, photography, web design, graphic design, and ad management, and show up with mediocre work in all those areas.
Or, they can do it all, and deliver high-quality work — but come with a premium pricetag. For example, if an agency is covering all your marketing needs and has an incredible videographer on staff with production and editing support, the retainer cost is going to reflect that. As with everything in this world, you get what you pay for, and in the case of small to mid-sized businesses, that’s not always within reach.
But, if you’re intentional about building a roster of trusted, top-tier professionals to handle your marketing needs on a contract basis, you will see results. Often, your marketing project manager or strategist can take on the responsibility of vetting, recruiting, and managing these contractors when necessary as part of your holistic program. If I’m honest, you’ll likely experience a few missteps along the way, since unreliable contractors are out there just as much as unreliable employees. And, assembling this team of skilled experts takes time, but once you have your rockstar lineup in place, your marketing is sure to shine — at a fraction of the cost of maintaining an in-house team.
Have questions about building a contract-based marketing team? Let’s talk.