The job title has become vague. Performance marketing manager means something different at a 10-person startup than at a 500-person scale-up, and it means something different again when the person is freelance. This post is my honest answer to what a freelance performance marketing manager actually does, how engagements typically work, and what it costs.
At its simplest: build and run paid acquisition that generates measurable returns. In practice this means Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn, and occasionally other platforms depending on the business. It means tracking setup, attribution, creative strategy, budget allocation, and ongoing optimisation. It means reporting that tells you what is actually working, not just what looks good.
What separates a good freelance performance marketing manager from a competent junior is the strategic layer. Which channels should you be on? What is your customer acquisition cost ceiling before the model breaks? How do you measure incrementality rather than just attribution? When should you scale and when should you pause? These are judgment calls that require real experience, and they matter more than bid strategy settings.
Most of my engagements fall into one of three shapes.
The first is a build and hand-over. The company has no paid acquisition function or has one that is not working. I come in, audit what exists, build the account structure, tracking, and creative framework, run it for three to six months, and hand it over to an internal hire or ongoing manager. The deliverable is a functioning acquisition machine and the documentation to run it.
The second is an ongoing retainer. The company needs someone to own performance marketing week to week but does not want to hire full-time yet. This works well for companies spending between £20,000 and £200,000 per month on paid — big enough to need senior oversight, not big enough to justify a full performance team.
The third is a specific project: an attribution audit, a channel launch, an account restructure. Defined scope, defined output.
I work on day rates or monthly retainers. Day rates for project work. Retainers for ongoing engagements where I am owning a function.
I do not publish fixed pricing because the right structure depends heavily on scope, ad spend, and how many channels are involved. What I can say is that senior freelance performance marketing is almost always better value than the equivalent agency retainer when you account for the quality and seniority of attention your account actually receives.
I do not run brand campaigns, SEO, or organic social. I do not do creative production, though I will work closely with whoever does. I do not take on accounts where I cannot have real influence over strategy — execution-only briefs are not a good fit.
If you have a specific situation and want to know whether I can help, the contact form is the fastest route.