Comparison
Both put someone in charge of marketing. One of them you have to recruit, manage and hope is good at six different jobs.
Written by Katie LendelFounder & Strategic Marketing LeadSide by side
| Question | Marketing manager | ScaleLounge |
|---|---|---|
| Indicative cost | Salary commonly $70,000 to $110,000, plus employer taxes, benefits, equipment and software. All-in cost is usually well above the salary line, before recruitment fees or your own time to hire. | Social Essentials at $650 a month, or $2,500 or $5,500 a month for a managed partnership. Each includes a marketing strategy. No employer costs and no tools to license. |
| Who manages them | You do. A marketing manager needs direction, priorities, feedback and one-to-ones. If nobody senior sets the strategy, they will set their own or wait to be told. | Nobody on your side. Katie sets direction, and the work comes to you as things to approve. |
| Strategy | Depends on the seniority you can afford. A manager at the lower end of that salary band executes well but rarely sets commercial direction. | Senior strategy is the starting point, not an upgrade. Social Essentials includes a marketing strategy for your social, and Growth and Scale a full marketing strategy across every channel. |
| Breadth of skill | One person, one skill set. Someone excellent at social is rarely also excellent at search, email lifecycle, landing pages and analytics. | Strategy, content and search visibility handled as one system, with email, campaigns and landing pages added on Scale. |
| Capacity | One person's working week, minus holiday, sickness and everything else that lands on them. | Capacity is set by the plan and does not go on holiday. |
| Time to value | Typically one to three months to hire, then a ramp before output is steady. | On every plan, a strategy within 24 to 48 hours of your completed intake, then the work starts. |
| If it does not work out | A performance process, a notice period and a rehire. | Social Essentials is month to month. Growth and Scale start with a 90-day initial partnership, then run month to month. |
Costs are indicative market ranges, not quotes, and vary by market and seniority. Rows that do not name Social Essentials describe Growth and Scale.
The honest part
A comparison that only flatters the author is not worth reading.
Before you decide
At the Growth tier the monthly figure is lower than the all-in cost of most full-time marketing managers, once employer taxes, benefits, software and recruitment are counted. Cost is not the strongest argument, though: a manager is one person with one skill set who still needs managing, and a partnership is strategy plus execution that does not.
Yes, and it often does. ScaleLounge usually owns direction, production and the calendar, and your internal person owns what only someone inside the business can do: relationships, events, product knowledge, sales alignment.
Everything produced is yours. Strategy, calendars, content and assets stay with you.
Nothing publishes without your approval. The point is that decisions leave your desk, not that you lose visibility.
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A short fit check shows the right level of support, or tells you honestly if ScaleLounge is not it.
