Marketing Virtual Assistant: What They Do, What They Cost, and How to Hire One in 2026

Name: ScaleUp Staff
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The short answer

A marketing virtual assistant is the execution layer your marketing has been missing. They take the strategy, the brand and the campaigns and turn them into consistent, on-brand output: social, email, content, CRM, paid ads admin and reporting. For most Australian SMEs the highest-leverage version is a dedicated Philippines-based marketing VA, hired through a managed partner, set up with a brand guide, tone of voice and ideal client profile before day one. Expect to pay roughly $1,500-$2,000 per month part-time and $2,000-$3,000 full-time.

What a marketing virtual assistant is

A marketing virtual assistant is a remote marketing professional who handles the doing of your marketing. They sit inside your business, not at an agency. They report to you or to your marketing lead. They use your tools, your tone, your ideal client profile and your calendar.

The label covers a range. At the entry end, a marketing VA supports a marketing manager: scheduling, copy formatting, asset management, basic reporting. In the middle, they run defined channels: social, email, CRM and content. At the senior end, a marketing VA is functionally a remote marketing coordinator or manager who owns multi-channel execution and reports on outcomes.

What a marketing VA actually does

The work that drains a founder or marketing manager and that a good marketing VA will own end to end:

Social media planning, scheduling, publishing, community management
Content production support: editing, formatting, uploading, SEO basics
Email marketing: building campaigns, list segmentation, lifecycle flows
CRM hygiene, lead follow-ups, pipeline updates
Landing page edits, website updates, simple design in Canva or Figma
Paid ads admin: creative uploads, audience builds, basic optimisation
Weekly reporting on what worked and what didn't
Coordination with copywriters, designers, agencies and the founder

What a marketing VA is not: a strategist by default, a senior brand lead, or a replacement for a CMO. Strategy stays with you or your fractional lead. Execution moves to them.

Digital marketing VA vs general VA

A general VA is a generalist. They'll happily do calendar, inbox, travel, basic research and admin, and they can dip into marketing tasks when briefed. A digital marketing VA has been hired specifically for marketing. They know the tool stack (Meta Ads Manager, HubSpot or ActiveCampaign, Google Analytics, a CMS, social schedulers), they understand the rhythm of campaigns, and they can hold quality across copy and creative.

If marketing is one of three or four things you need help on, hire a general VA. If marketing is the bottleneck and you want a function owned, hire a marketing VA.

What a marketing VA costs

Australia-based marketing assistant, employed. AUD $65,000-$90,000 base salary plus super and on-costs, depending on seniority and city.

Freelance marketing VA, marketplace. $10-$30 per hour advertised. Highly variable in quality, you carry all management and QA, and the best freelancers are usually already at capacity.

Philippines marketing VA, managed partner. Roughly $1,500-$2,000 per month part-time (around 20 hours per week) and $2,000-$3,000 per month full-time, all in. Includes recruiting, compliant employment, QA and replacement cover. For a detailed cost breakdown, see Philippines vs Australia staffing costs.

Why most Australian SMEs hire their marketing VA from the Philippines

Marketing is a writing job. It's social captions, email subject lines, blog posts, ad headlines and customer messages. That makes English fluency the single biggest hiring criterion. The Philippines has English as an official language of business, university and government, and produces a very large pool of professionals who already write in clear, brand-safe English.

Time zone helps too. The Philippines runs 2-3 hours behind eastern Australia, so a marketing VA can join your stand-up, post in real time during your business day, and turn work around inside one cycle rather than waiting overnight. Cultural fit is the third factor. Filipino marketers have spent decades supporting Australian, US and UK businesses and understand Western customer expectations.

For the broader comparison, see our guide on Philippines vs India vs Vietnam for Australian SMEs.

How to hire a marketing VA

1. Define the channels and the outcomes. Pick the two or three channels you actually want owned (e.g. LinkedIn + email + CRM). Define what good looks like on each. Don't ask for everything.

2. Write a real position description. Outcomes, tools, working hours, reporting line, brand voice expectations. Use our free position description builder if you want a head start.

3. Choose your hiring path. Marketplace, direct hire, recruitment agency or managed partner. For marketing roles where brand voice and judgement matter, the managed partner path has the lowest failure rate.

4. Test the writing. Always include a short paid trial task that mirrors the actual work. A 250-word LinkedIn post in your voice will tell you more than 30 minutes of interview.

5. Get a senior marketer to sign off. "Would I hire this person to work in my team?" is the right bar.

Setting up the first 30 days

The single biggest predictor of marketing VA success is what exists in writing before they start. Foundations to have ready on day one: brand guide, tone of voice document, ideal client profile, offer document, content pillars, and a QA checklist for each channel. With those in place, AI tools also start producing output that's actually usable, because the prompts have somewhere to anchor.

In the first 30 days, run daily 15-minute check-ins, weekly reviews on what shipped versus what was planned, and QA on the channels the VA can't self-assess yet (tone, strategy fit, brand consistency). Capacity grows quickly when the system around the person is built. It collapses when it isn't.

FAQ

What is a marketing virtual assistant?

A marketing virtual assistant is a remote professional who handles the execution layer of your marketing: social media scheduling and community management, content production support, email marketing, CRM updates, landing page edits, paid ads admin and reporting. They own the doing so the strategy work doesn't sit in a Google Doc.

What does a digital marketing virtual assistant do?

A digital marketing VA runs the day-to-day execution of online marketing. Typical work includes scheduling and publishing social content, building email campaigns, updating the website, managing the CRM and automations, supporting paid campaigns (uploading creative, building audiences, basic optimisation), reporting on weekly performance, and coordinating with designers, copywriters or agencies. Senior digital marketing VAs can run paid ads, funnels and lifecycle programs end to end.

How much does a marketing virtual assistant cost?

A Philippines-based marketing VA hired through a managed partner typically costs AUD $1,500-$2,000 per month part-time (around 20 hours per week) and $2,000-$3,000 per month full-time, all-in. Freelance marketplace rates are lower per hour but you carry the management, QA and compliance load yourself. An Australia-based marketing assistant usually costs AUD $65,000-$90,000 plus on-costs as an employee.

Can a marketing VA run my social media?

Yes, and that's one of the most common reasons SMEs hire one. A marketing VA can plan a content calendar, write captions in your tone of voice, schedule across platforms, monitor and respond to comments, run community management, and report on performance. For best results give them a brand guide, tone of voice, and a content framework rather than a blank brief.

Should I hire a marketing VA or a marketing agency?

Use an agency when you need strategy plus done-for-you execution for a fixed campaign or channel, and you're happy with the agency owning the work. Use a marketing VA when you want a dedicated person inside your business, working only on your brand, executing the plan consistently across channels. Most growing SMEs end up with both: an agency for specialist campaigns and a marketing VA for the always-on execution.

Where do I find a marketing virtual assistant in the Philippines?

Three main paths: freelance marketplaces (cheapest, you manage everything), direct hire (you recruit, employ and run QA), or a managed offshore partner that places dedicated marketing VAs and sets up the brand foundations, QA and compliance before day one. For Australian SMEs hiring their first marketing VA, a managed partner is the lowest-risk path.