Getting Weekly Marketing Work Done Without Paying for Unused Capacity

A case study on uneven marketing demand and how one Canadian business compared hiring with flexible marketing support.

Some businesses need consistent marketing work but do not have enough continuous demand to justify a permanent role. This case study examines how one Canadian company compared its options and assessed what it received for its spending.

Key Takeaways

• When marketing demand is uneven, paid capacity does not always translate into completed assets, updated pages, or published content.

• Comparing options by completed work, delivery time, and review effort gives a clearer picture of what each model produces.

• A defined workflow and clear approval responsibilities can keep marketing moving without constant meetings or repeated revision cycles.

The Business Needed Consistent Work, Not a Permanent Role

A Canadian home-services company wanted regular marketing activity. Its priorities included social media content, simple graphics, an updated sales one-pager, and minor website changes.

The company wanted this work reviewed and published consistently. However, it did not have enough ongoing demand to occupy a full-time marketing employee every day.

The problem was not whether marketing work existed. The problem was how that work arrived.

Demand increased around promotions, service changes, seasonal priorities, and website updates. It then declined between those periods. Hiring would provide continuous capacity, even when the immediate marketing queue was light.

A permanent employee could use quieter periods for planning, research, reporting, or other useful work. However, the company first had to determine whether it needed those activities enough to justify the full employment cost.

Hiring also creates obligations that continue regardless of the volume of marketing work. Canadian employers are responsible for calculating payroll deductions, withholding applicable CPP contributions, EI premiums, and income tax, and remitting the required amounts. Employers also pay their applicable CPP and EI shares.

The company therefore changed the question.

Instead of asking:

“Should we hire a marketer?”

It asked:

“What completed marketing work do we need each week, and which operating model can provide it reliably?”

That made the requirement easier to assess. It also exposed an internal constraint that businesses often overlook: the time available to provide information, review drafts, and approve work.

Capacity Is Not the Same as Completed Work

The company separated two concepts:

Capacity is the time available for someone to perform work.

Completed work is the approved material that has been delivered, published, scheduled, or put into use.

The distinction matters because available time does not automatically become usable output.

Work can stall because:

• Priorities are unclear

• Required information is missing

• Several people provide conflicting feedback

• Approval takes too long

• The scope changes after work begins

• Revisions continue without a clear completion point

These problems can affect an employee, freelancer, or monthly service. Buying more time will not necessarily resolve them.

Establishing a Hiring Cost Reference

The company reviewed wage data to understand the cost of employing someone with relevant marketing skills.

Government of Canada Job Bank data lists a national median wage of $35.58 per hour for professional occupations in advertising, marketing, and public relations. The displayed wage data uses a 2023–2024 reference period. The same occupational group has an Ontario median of $37.02 per hour.

These figures cover a broad occupational group. They do not represent a required salary or a specific junior wage.

Wages were also only one part of the comparison. The company considered:

• Employer CPP and EI contributions

• Paid vacation and other time away from work

• Recruitment and onboarding

• Computer equipment

• Software licences

• Training and supervision

• Management and review time

• The cost of replacing the employee if the role became vacant

The purpose was not to argue that hiring was inherently too expensive. It was to avoid comparing a subscription invoice with salary alone.

Reviewing Flexible Service Models

The company also reviewed external models that could be used according to the amount and type of work required.

Design Time Blocks

Time blocks were suitable for a clear list of design work with a defined beginning and end.

Markage’s Designer On-Demand service lists plans starting at $199 and provides 4-, 8-, and 16-hour options. The service page explains that the appropriate block depends on the project list and expected design work.

This model can work well when a business has:

• A clear design backlog

• Complete content and instructions

• Defined deliverables

• Fast approvals

• Limited need for ongoing marketing coordination

Its limitation is that purchased time can be exhausted before the broader marketing requirement is complete.

Monthly Marketing Support

A monthly service was considered where the company needed recurring work across several channels rather than a single design project.

Markage’s Studio Expert service is listed at $1,990 CAD per month. The service uses a flat monthly fee rather than hourly billing and includes a workflow based on task management, review, and approval.

This model could support recurring work across areas such as:

• Website updates

• Email preparation

• Social media planning and scheduling

• Basic marketing design

• Forms and booking tools

• Ongoing task coordination

The monthly service did not provide unlimited same-day work. Its value depended on maintaining an organized queue, setting priorities, and moving drafts through approval without unnecessary delay.

Comparing the Options Fairly

The company did not compare the models by hours alone.

It used three main measures:

1. Cost per Completed Item

The company tracked the cost of work that reached a usable state.

A completed item could include:

• A published website update

• An approved email campaign

• A scheduled group of social posts

• A completed sales document

• A working contact or booking form

This prevented partially completed drafts from being counted as finished output.

Cost per item was treated as a directional measure rather than a fixed pricing formula. A website update and a social graphic do not require the same amount of work or have the same commercial value.

2. Time to Delivery

The company measured the time from an accepted request to a review-ready draft, and then from the draft to final approval.

This separated production time from approval delays.

Without that distinction, a business may blame the service provider for delays caused by missing information or slow internal decisions.

3. Internal Review Effort

The company tracked how much time its own team spent:

• Preparing requests

• Finding source material

• Answering questions

• Reviewing drafts

• Consolidating feedback

• Approving final work

This was important because a lower external price can still be expensive when it requires extensive internal management.

The Workflow Used

The company kept the process simple:

Request → Brief → Draft → Review → Revision → Approval → Publication

Each request needed:

• One defined objective

• The required source material

• A clear deadline, where applicable

• One person with approval authority

• A practical definition of completion

The company also separated urgent work from important work.

An urgent request could be moved forward, but doing so affected the timing of other work already in progress. This made trade-offs visible rather than allowing every task to be labelled urgent.

How Business Context Changed the Decision

The company found that the best model depended on more than total workload.

Decision-Making Structure

A solo owner could often approve work quickly because only one person was involved.

A larger team needed a defined reviewer. Without one, drafts could circulate between several people and receive conflicting instructions.

Website Condition

A newer website required foundational page work before frequent publishing could produce much value.

An established website could benefit more quickly from:

• Updated homepage content

• Revised service descriptions

• New calls to action

• Current offers

• Improved contact paths

Business Model

A service company required content that supported trust, enquiries, consultations, and follow-up.

It did not require the same volume of product images, collection pages, and promotional assets that an ecommerce company might need.

Its work rhythm therefore had to reflect its sales process rather than an arbitrary number of posts.

Demand Pattern

Time blocks were useful when the company had a clear backlog and could prepare complete instructions.

Hiring became more credible when there was enough continuous work to support an employee and enough internal management capacity to direct the role.

The monthly service was better aligned with a recurring queue that crossed website, email, social media, and basic design work.

Testing the Model Before Making a Longer Commitment

The company used a limited working period to assess how the process performed with real requests.

Before starting, it identified:

• The work types to be tested

• The most important channels

• The person responsible for approval

• The expected review schedule

• The work excluded from the test

• The measures that would be recorded

The company then evaluated:

• What was completed

• What was published

• How long each stage took

• How many revisions were required

• How much internal time was used

• Which requests remained blocked

• Why any work failed to move forward

The purpose was not to generate the highest possible item count. It was to determine whether the working relationship and process were sustainable.

What the Company Learned

The comparison showed that the amount of available labour was not the only issue.

Marketing output depended on the interaction between:

• Work volume

• Task complexity

• Brief quality

• Access to information

• Approval speed

• Revision discipline

• The range of skills required

The company also found that output slowed when internal approvals became unclear. Additional working hours would not have solved that problem.

A workable model therefore required both external execution and internal decision discipline.

Making a Defensible Decision

Businesses facing a similar choice should begin by defining what weekly or monthly output means in practical terms.

List:

• The assets and updates required

• The expected frequency

• The channels involved

• The time available for review

• The people authorized to approve work

• The specialist services that may still be required

Then compare the available models.

A hire may make sense when work is continuous, internal access matters, and the business can manage and develop the employee.

Time blocks may make sense when the backlog is clear and the requirement is concentrated.

A monthly service may make sense when the company wants a stable queue and recurring support across several marketing areas without adding an employee.

After several working cycles, the decision should be based on evidence:

• What was completed?

• What went live?

• How long did it take?

• How much internal effort was required?

• What additional costs remained?

• Did the model reduce or increase management work?

When output slows, the first investigation should focus on workflow and approvals rather than assuming that more hours are required.

Article Recap

When marketing demand is uneven, continuous paid capacity may not always be the best fit.

A fair comparison should examine completed work, delivery time, internal review effort, additional costs, and the consistency with which approved work is published.

Hiring, time blocks, and monthly services can each work under the right conditions. The better option is the one that matches the business’s actual workload, approval process, and need for continuity.

FAQ

What does unused capacity mean in marketing work?

It means paid working time that is not currently required for the immediate marketing queue. That time may still be used for planning, research, reporting, training, or future work, but the business should determine whether those activities justify the cost.

Is hiring always the wrong choice for a small business?

No. Hiring may work well when demand is steady, the employee needs regular access to internal teams and information, and the business has the capacity to manage the role.

When do time blocks work best?

Time blocks work best when the business has a defined backlog, complete instructions, and fast approvals. They are less suitable when the requirement involves ongoing coordination across several marketing channels.

When does a monthly marketing service make sense?

It may fit when the business wants recurring support, a managed task queue, predictable monthly pricing, and work across areas such as website content, email, social media, and basic design.

What should a business measure when comparing options?

Measure completed work, time to first draft, time to approval, publication consistency, revision volume, internal review effort, and costs outside the selected model.

How can a team reduce revisions?

Provide clear objectives, complete source material, current brand examples, and one consolidated set of feedback from an authorized approver.

Does a monthly service guarantee a fixed number of completed items?

Not necessarily. Output depends on task complexity, available information, approval speed, and revision requirements. The service scope and working terms should explain how capacity and priorities are managed.

What is the main lesson from this case study?

The business was not choosing only between an employee and a service. It was choosing an operating model for converting marketing priorities into approved, published work.