The Benefits of Hiring a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer

How would you like to get the insights, expertise, and organizational guidance of an experienced Chief Marketing Officer? And what if we told you it was possible on the budget of a mid-sized organization – you don’t need to be a Fortune 500 company to get it? With the world reemerging from staying at home, and the consequences thereof, you’re looking at your budget more than anything right now. Luckily this is exactly why it’s time to hire a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer for your company. 

What You Need to Know About Fractional Chief Marketing Officers

What does a Fractional CMO do?

A Fractional CMO can play a number of roles in your organization. They can fill a leadership gap when one marketing leader departs and you’re working to hire another. Those executive hires don’t usually come quickly, and your business can’t do without a CMO for that long.

Luckily, a fractional CMO can provide a direction and vision for your marketing department as your small business grows into a larger one, without the cost of a full-time CMO.

Or they can come in when your current marketing isn’t working and you need to shake things up. Fractional CMOs can provide a new set of eyes on a problem, without any existing biases, but with fresh ideas for new opportunities for you to meet your target audience.

Who needs a Fractional CMO?

Fractional CMOs tend to be most helpful for small-to-midsized companies in a few different scenarios.

You might need a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer if:

• Your company has grown and needs a leader to direct your marketing efforts, but you don’t have the budget to hire an executive full-time.
• You’re looking to take your company to the next stage but you’re not sure that what you’ve done in the past will take you successfully into the future.
• You’re just feeling like your marketing isn’t up to the task but you’re not sure where you went wrong.
• You need some marketing help that fits into your budget and matches your brand

How can a Fractional CMO help you?

Hiring a full-time Chief Marketing Officer is an expensive proposition. If you’re a mid-sized business, you might not need a full-time CMO at all – it’s too much expense for too little return.

But you can’t afford to ignore your marketing leadership entirely. Your marketing team needs more than just a manager – they need a leader with vision and experience. Hiring a Fractional CMO means you get the leadership your marketing needs, in a cost-effective way.

Or, sometimes you can sense something is wrong with your existing marketing, but you can’t put your finger on the problem. Your current marketing executive assures you things are fine, but it’s your business – you know when something’s off. Bringing in a Fractional CMO means bringing in a completely fresh set of eyes with no attachment to doing things the usual way. It might be just what you need to get out of that rut.

And often a wonderful existing marketing leader decides to move on – to retire or explore bigger pastures. You don’t want to hastily hire someone for such an important role. That’s how big (and expensive) mistakes are made.

So, while you search for the perfect permanent CMO, your business can’t afford to just let your marketing stand idly by. This is when a Fractional CMO can come in and pinch-hit for your company. You get the services you need while you search for a full-time leader, avoiding a costly lag in your marketing.

Yes, You Can Afford to Hire a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer

Marketing can seem like a department that’s nice to have – sure, it can bring in results, but it’s so expensive. Is it worth the investment, or can your company go without it for a while?

But the business world moves faster than ever these days. With the widespread and increasing popularity of digital marketing, suddenly every competitor, of any size, you’ve ever had is nipping at your heels. And consumers, overwhelmed by the amount of advertising thrown at them from every channel, are becoming increasingly savvy (and wary of marketing). Your marketing strategy and execution have to be more on target than ever.

You can’t afford to be left behind.

Fractional CMO services can fill those gaps for you, wherever they come from. And they do it on your schedule and on your budget, giving you the flexibility you need to make it work for your business.

If you think you can just promote a marketing manager into a bigger role and see results, think again. Not everyone who is good at the day-to-day tasks of marketing (or any job) makes a great leader, with the vision and experience to truly take your company to the next level. 

What to Know When You Hire a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer

If you’re thinking about hiring a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, you should do some strategic thinking first.

Do you want someone to come in and maintain the status quo for a bit, or shake things up completely?

Are you envisioning a full-time but short-term assignment, or a long-term but part-time schedule?

This will make a difference in the questions you ask any potential Fractional CMOs.

Next, what kind of projects are you looking for the Fractional CMO to take on for your company? Is it restructuring how your marketing department is organized, or training managers and leaders? Do you want to explore new marketing techniques and find new opportunities or new target audiences?

The kind of marketing you’re looking to do is important as well. You want a Fractional CMO whose experience matches your preferred type: digital marketing, or traditional, or experiential marketing.

And you want one with years of experience in the business doing exactly what you’re looking to do – which is get the most from your investment.

We Can Help

The power of targeted marketing is behind everything we do. It means getting your product in the hands of people who will try it, love it, and buy it. And we do what fits your budget and gets you results without wasting your marketing dollars.

Want to learn more? Contact our expert team at MOGXP here. We’ll work together to identify the best opportunities to make your marketing campaign a success.