Of All The Career Paths Available Today, Fractional CMOs Have Got It Made!

Whenever I’m not working on my 9-to-5, I get the chance to meet with really smart marketers. One such marketer I recently had on my podcast, was Arlyn Davich . Arlyn’s the Founder and Managing Partner of an agency of sorts (another way to classify the business is a recruiting firm) that pairs Fractional CMOs with early-stage D2C businesses.?

She gets clients the chance to hire Fractional CMOs to help them grow exponentially fast. And the cool thing is, she was kind enough to explain this new career path with me and how it’s becoming more accessible to marketing leaders.?

What is a fractional CMO?

A fractional CMO is an operator in a business that spends a portion or fraction of their time at that business. Typically, they work with fast-growing businesses that are looking for someone to bring speed, agility, and humility to their operations without the big salary and equity that would come from hiring an executive full-time.

Advantages of becoming a fractional CMO

Becoming a fractional CMO provides marketers with a chance to leverage a portfolio lens. What does that mean exactly??

Fractional CMOs get to see and implement best practices from multiple companies they work with. It also offers flexibility to work for multiple clients while not being committed to working full-time, which is perfect for people who get bored easily (I’m guilty as charged).

Advantages of hiring a fractional CMO

Hiring Fractional CMOs provides access to unicorn marketers who are difficult to recruit due to a shortage of supply. Secondly, it helps companies afford that kind of talent in their company (as previously mentioned). Lastly, it serves as an interim solution while companies are searching for the right full-time candidate, who can sometimes become the fractional exec that’s working with them.

Skills needed to become a fractional CMO

The most critical skill needed to become a fractional CMO is being an effective sitting CMO with a proven track record (they have successfully done the role several times). That would be the main caveat here.

Being a CMO is one path, the other is being a Fractional CMO. Yet, you can’t become fractional without being a successful CMO.

You also have to have experience in various areas of marketing leadership: understanding all marketing functions, knowing how to coach, the ability to lead and communicate with a team, understanding a company’s financials (how marketing fits into the P&L), anticipating market dynamics, knowing how to sell a strategy internally, and the ability to think like a CEO.

All of the skills mentioned above are a par-the-course for a regular CMO, but there’s one not mentioned above that you also have to be mindful of if you want to transition into fracitional—avoid scope creep. You have to make sure that your scope of work is clear from the get-go, so that your client(s) don’t ramp up the amount of work you’re doing over time. This is one of the biggest traps to avoid when starting out as a fractional executive.

Fractional CMOs Have To Leverage Frameworks

Fractional CMOs need frameworks to succeed in their careers.?

Creating a framework involves developing a set of processes, tools, and methodologies that can be customized to fit the unique needs of each client. Frameworks provide structure, standardize reporting, and help fractional CMOs manage their time, prioritize tasks, and deliver consistent results that drive business growth.

Customized frameworks allow fractional CMOs to differentiate themselves, build trust and provide a high level of value to the organizations they work with. They also help in the development of SOPs for the potential handoff between fractional exec and an incoming CMO (you can’t stay fractional forever).

How to Evaluate Opportunities with New Potential Clients as a Fractional CMO

Fractional CMOs face unique challenges when it comes to evaluating opportunities with new potential clients. While the market for fractional CMOs is growing, it's still a relatively new space, and there are several issues that can arise if you're not careful.

According to Arlyn, one of the biggest challenges for fractional CMOs is scope creep, as mentioned above. "They didn't define the scope in ways that made it very clear what was in scope versus not in scope. And so they ended up being effectively full-time employees, but they were getting paid to be fractional employees," she said. If you don’t want this to happen to you, make it your mission to be as clear as possible when explaining what your services will be.

To avoid this problem, Davich suggests that fractional CMOs work with Little Fish to help structure their projects. This can help you define your scope and ensure that you're not taking on more work than you can handle.

Another challenge that fractional CMOs face is business development. "A lot of people want to be fractional, because they want to free up some of their time. But in order to have clients, you need to be doing biz dev, which takes up a third of your time," Davich explained.

To overcome this challenge, Davich suggests that fractional CMOs work with consulting firms like hers to help connect them with potential clients. This can free up more time for you to focus on delivering results for your clients.

When evaluating opportunities with new potential clients, it's important to keep in mind that each company is unique. Regardless of the size or stage of each client, there will always be unique challenges when it comes to marketing.?

As long as you're able to identify and tackle these challenges (bring in revenue and/or grow pipeline), you'll be making progress.

This could be the right career path to aim for

Fractional CMOs offer flexibility and access to unicorn marketers, which benefits both the fractional CMO and the organizations hiring them. To become a fractional CMO, one needs to be an effective sitting CMO with a proven track record, have experience in various areas of marketing, and have the ability to lead, communicate and think like a CEO.

If this is something that piques your interest, it could provide a new outlook on your career trajectory as a future marketing leader.

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If you enjoyed reading this post, don't forget to follow Arlyn Davich . She's the expert here—not me!??