Do you want to enjoy the benefits of working with an expert marketing executive without having to pay the cost of hiring a full-time marketer? Do you need help with customers acquisition growth, company growth, and sales development but can’t hire a marketing expert? What you need is an external marketing leader.
As your business grows bigger and operations begin to spread across several states or countries, you’ll need an experienced marketing leader to help manage and improve marketing operations in the company. A fractional CMO is just who you need.
What is a fractional CMO (chief marketing officer)
Fractional CMO or chief marketing officer is an expert in marketing and sales that is practically hired on a consultative basis to help a company improve marketing affairs. It’s called fractional because you’re taking up a fraction of their weekly working hours.
The fractional CMO typically works for your company as an internal marketing leadership force that you don’t employ on a full-time basis. So, you have them work for you 10, 15, or 20 hours weekly, depending on your marketing needs.
During that week, other companies/organizations hire them for the remaining hours. They’re more like temporary employees.
Fractional CMOs will usually only take up contracts for a minimum of six months to help them fully commit to the company and its management. Six months is time enough for them to help you get some level of success and marketing direction.
CMOs are success-driven, growth-focused, market leaders, and excellent team workers. They’ll typically bring their wealth of experience and expertise to your marketing department, restructure or improve your marketing strategy, drive business decisions for revenue and growth, and implement KPIs (key performance indicators).
Duties of a fractional CMO
Before deciding on employing an external marketing leader to lead your marketing department, you should know what duties they owe to you, your team, and your business. The CMO should:
- Lead product pricing, go-to-market, and launch
- Improve the client’s online presence
- Create a strategic content marketing plan
- Employ and onboard new members into the marketing department
- Manage and plan for paid and organic search marketing
- Develop sustainable customer retention and loyalty campaigns
- Lead the marketing team.
At the end of the day, an experienced fractional CMO seeks to support and earn the trust of both your in-house team as well as that of all your stakeholders. He will take the lead in the strategic planning and execution of organizational goals.
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The Milia Marketing founder will be bringing a decade worth of marketing expertise and solutions to your firm to help you achieve all your digital marketing goals.
7 Signs your company needs a fractional CMO right now
Whether you’ve been working on a long-term basis with your in-house team or a digital marketing firm, at some point, you’ll need the services and leadership of an external factor who’s fully committed and willing to take your business to the next level. Below are some signs your business is already at that point.
Why and Who Should Hire a Fractional CMO?
1. Your business needs an interim advisor
If you begin to feel like you need the services of a marketing or financial advisor for your firm, then it’s about time to employ a financial CMO. It would be like consulting an external body to serve as the executive marketing arm of your business.
2. You’re not ready to foot the full cost of a full-time marketing leader
One of the main reasons businesses employ a CMO is to help reduce the cost of hiring one as a full-time worker in the firm. The salary that you can expect to pay a chief marketing officer for his marketing strategy and tactics will be overwhelming, especially if your business is still medium-scale.
3. You want to create a fresh perspective and marketing strategy for your business
Have you recently found out that the strategy your firm has been using is somehow outdated? Do you want to get something fresh and relevant to the current times? A CMO is the right touch you need.
Using the same marketing strategy over and over, year after year can diffuse with time. You want an expert who will identify the flaws in your marketing strategy, create something more relevant to the times, execute the marketing strategy, and proffer solutions to your marketing needs.
4. You want more financial flexibility
Organizations, especially small and medium-scale companies, need to be able to develop financial flexibility that helps them decide the best way to use limited marketing resources. A fractional CMO is as focused on your growth as any in-house employee but they provide you with a financial flexibility that lets you spend your resources on things that really matter.
5. You want to drive more sales
At the end of the day, the major goal for every brand is to drive sales, make more money, grow, and conquer their industry. Without sales, your brand cannot grow, which is where a CMO comes in. The CMO will support and lead your marketing team to success, helping you identify your customers’ pressing needs and how best to sell to them.
6. Your firm has no marketing leader
Businesses with no marketing leader will have a hard time making headway, considering the dynamic realities of the economy. You need somebody who is a visionary and is willing to properly communicate their vision to your team to help execute a winning marketing plan and strategy using the available resources.
One of the most important benefits of working with a fractional CMO instead of a full-time marketing executive is that you can easily stop working with the fractional CMO if you don’t see any noticeable difference in your strategy, planning, tactics, resources management, and more.
The same goes for situations where you don’t find the solutions of the CMO capable of handling the new level of your brand or the level of clients you now have. Whereas you might need to fill forms, sign documents, or even go to court to terminate an in-house, long-term marketing expert, you’ll only need to inform the CMO that his services are no longer needed.
Conclusion
Hiring a part-time digital marketing expert is a strategic move that a lot of new generation businesses have not yet tapped into. A fractional CMO will provide your brand with insight and help you achieve your marketing objectives.
Before consulting a CMO for marketing solutions, ensure that you have read the section above stating the services they should provide your firm with.
