What is a fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO is a chief marketing officer who works on a contract, freelance, or as-needed basis.
They perform specific duties based on the needs of the company, making them cost-effective and efficient options. In most scenarios, a fractional CMO steps in as a marketing leader to drive growth. They can provide strategic guidance, develop campaigns and initiatives, create content for social media platforms or newsletters, manage digital advertising efforts and more. Additionally, they can act as an advisor on topics such as customer acquisition strategies or lead generation tactics.
What are the benefits of using a fractional CMO?
1. Increased Marketing Effectiveness
Using a fractional CMO can increase marketing effectiveness by providing strategic, multi-channel marketing programs designed to drive quality leads and nurture them through the revenue funnel.
This helps young financial services firms exceed their marketing ROI by as much as 260%, while also allowing them to focus on core business activities.
2. Improved Team Efficiency
Using a fractional CMO on your team can provide valuable experience and expertise that would otherwise be difficult to find. This can help to power up your company by 20+ years and allow you to leverage their knowledge to build a stronger strategy for your marketing team.
By having access to an experienced CMO, you can save time, effort, and expense in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring a full-time executive. This enables you to focus on other important aspects of your business while still benefiting from the expertise of a senior level talent in marketing.
3. Enhanced Knowledge and Expertise
Using a fractional CMO allows the CEO to focus on other areas of the business while still maintaining up-to-date knowledge about marketing tasks.
By engaging with a fractional CMO, the CEO can ensure that their company is up to date with current marketing trends and practices while still having time to focus on other areas of their business.
4. Ability to Scale Efforts Quickly
Using a fractional CMO helps to scale efforts quickly because they offer the flexibility to adjust your marketing efforts according to your needs. They can provide recommendations on how much budget should be allocated, as well as provide guidance on what strategies are most effective for your business.
This allows you to quickly adjust and scale up or down without committing to a full-time CMO. You will know exactly what actions need to be taken in order for your profits to grow. Additionally, fractional CMOs offer scalability since they can work with multiple businesses at once, allowing them to apply their knowledge of best practices across multiple industries more efficiently than if they were working with just one company at a time.
5. Increased Understanding of the Business
Using a fractional CMO can increase understanding of the business because it provides access to expert advice and guidance on marketing strategies, tactics, and insights. The CMO will be able to provide insight into how different budget allocations affect profits, as well as predictability and scalability when it comes to marketing efforts. This allows business leaders to develop their market orientation while gaining a better understanding of how their decisions affect their bottom line.
6. Improved Strategic Planning and Execution
Using a fractional CMO for strategic planning and execution can help organizations improve their strategy and execution. A tenured CMO can provide valuable insight into the market landscape, identify growth opportunities, develop strategies to meet objectives, and create a playbook to guide decision making.
By having access to this expertise on an as-needed basis, organizations can ensure that their strategic plans are well thought out and optimized for success. Additionally, having someone with experience in leading successful initiatives in the past gives leaders confidence that they are making the right decisions now.
7. Enhanced Growth and Profitability
Using a fractional CMO can enhance growth and profitability by providing predictability and scalability. The CMO will have a clear understanding of what needs to be done next in order to get more sales, as well as the ability to scale up or down based on budget or other factors.
As a result, businesses that use a fractional CMO will be able to optimize their marketing efforts while minimizing costs since they will know exactly what they need to do in order to achieve their goals. They will also have access to expertise from multiple areas such as digital marketing, public relations, brand management and more - all in one place.
8. Increased Clarity of Role and Responsibilities
Using a fractional CMO can help to increase clarity of role and responsibilities for team members by providing them with an understanding of what is expected from them. By having a part-time CMO step into your organization, you'll be able to clearly define the deliverables and expectations for both parties. This way, team members will know exactly what is required of them and how their work fits into the overall goals of the organization. This increased clarity can help boost confidence and productivity while also making everyone feel valued.
9. Increased Access to Resources and Tools
Using a fractional CMO can increase access to resources and tools, such as data, analytics, marketing tactics and strategies.
By accessing these resources, businesses can gain insights into customer behavior and preferences which can be used to improve their products or services. Additionally, businesses have access to marketing tools that help them reach more customers through various channels such as social media or email campaigns. This allows them to expand their reach faster than before while spending less on advertising costs compared to traditional methods like print ads or billboards.
10. Increased Ability to Innovate and Succeed
Using a fractional CMO can help to increase the ability to innovate and succeed by providing valuable knowledge and experience. Experienced CMOs have decades of knowledge in their field, allowing them to add significant value to any company they work with. Additionally, having access to a fractional CMO allows companies to benefit from this experience without having to hire an entire staff of CMOs. This saves time and money while still providing access to the expertise needed for success in today's competitive market environment.
What are the steps on how to hire a fractional CMO?
Step 1: Understand your needs
When hiring a fractional CMO, it is important to understand the deliverables they will be responsible for. These include:
- Aligning the deliverables, so you know what to expect throughout the process.
- Deciding on what marketing approaches are best for your business.
- Identifying who can make this happen and how they can be measured for results.
Step 2: Match with a CMO
1. Determine your needs: Begin by identifying the reasons why you need a fractional CMO, such as building a content strategy or documenting business processes to make onboarding new marketing hires easier.
2. Search online: Search online for a fractional CMO with experience in your industry and that offers the services you need.
3. Schedule a call: Schedule a call with them to discuss their background and ask for testimonials, case studies, or referrals that can vouch for them and prove their results.
4. Review rates: Review their rates to make sure they align with your budget before making any decisions on hiring them.
5. Learn process: Learn their process so that when working together it will be smooth sailing!
Step 3: Create a statement of work
1. Identify the desired outcomes and agreed upon timeframes for each deliverable.
2. Draft a customized statement of work that outlines the deliverables, timelines, costs, and expectations of both parties involved in the project.
3. Discuss any changes or additions with your client before finalizing the statement of work document in order to ensure that both parties are on the same page regarding expectations and responsibilities for each deliverable outlined in it.
4. Once finalized, review the document with your team so everyone is aware of their roles and responsibilities within each task outlined in it during production or delivery phases for each deliverable listed in it.
Step 4: Onboard quickly
It is important to onboard quickly when hiring a fractional CMO because it allows the new hire to hit the ground running and get up to speed quickly. A fractional CMO can be introduced to the team and start working in just days, meaning they can begin contributing right away without any lag time. Additionally, having a fractional CMO who is familiar with your company's culture and operations from day one will ensure that they are able to make an immediate impact on your business.
Step 5: Engage over time with the fractional CMO's teams
1. Set clear communication guidelines with the fractional CMO: Establish clear guidelines for how the fractional CMO can communicate with your team, such as email threads, phone calls and meetings.
2. Provide access to resources: Make sure that they have access to any relevant resources they may need in order to be successful in their role, such as marketing tools or data analytics reports.
3. Schedule regular meetings: Schedule regular meetings with them so that you can stay up-to-date on their progress and ask any questions you may have about their work or projects they're working on for your company's benefit (e.g. campaigns).
4. Utilize feedback loops: Encourage them to provide feedback whenever necessary so that both sides can improve upon processes over time (e.g. better communication practices).
Step 6: Short-term commitment, long-term results
When hiring a fractional CMO, companies can create a powerful short-term marketing strategy that drives results while building the foundations of their long-term success in the background. By working with fractional CMOs for years and years, companies can build lasting relationships that lead to long-term success. Additionally, fractional CMOs can provide valuable expertise on various topics such as customer acquisition, retention and loyalty campaigns or product launches. This knowledge helps companies develop long-lasting strategies that will drive results in the future.
Step 7: No benefits, no problems
The benefits of hiring a fractional CMO include:
• Reduced costs - By partnering with a fractional CMO, businesses can reduce their marketing expenses by getting access to top talent at a fraction of the cost.
• Expertise - Fractional CMOs are able to provide strategic guidance, advice and expertise in all areas of marketing.
• Access to new markets - Fractional CMOs can help businesses expand into new markets and take advantage of new opportunities that may not have been available before.
• Time savings – A fractional CMO will take on many of the day-to-day tasks associated with running a marketing department so that business owners can focus on other priorities.