The top reasons companies are turning to Fractional CMO services

What do we mean by fractional?

The idea of fractional isn't entirely new but it has until recently tended to be the domain of specific professions and we have seen a move to hire chief finance officers, IT executives and HR VP's on a fractional basis to take a look at a particular phase of a company's lifecycle or a particular problem that needs specialist insight. Those functions have dominated the on demand hire model for ambitious, growing and transformative businesses looking for an injection of key talent without committing to permanent C-suite entrants.

In a way it's a strange omission that the CMO has been absent from this new hiring approach as marketing as a profession has been one of the first to enthusiastically embrace the idea of outsourcing for specific skills and fragmenting the marketing process into a wide array of marketing services providers. Our acceleration into an on demand world, though, has extended this concept to all corners of the business process and employee structure, up to and including the boardroom. In the old world a business might have looked for an interim manager when a key individual was missing, but that concept is too narrow today for the myriad of situations and skill requirements to stay ahead of the game. A Chief Marketing Officer is the powerhouse behind opening up new market opportunities and creating a strategic marketing roadmap to deliver the business strategy. It’s a key role, not just about a missing person, but a missing piece of the success jigsaw and smart businesses bring on board the right matrix of CMO skills on a fractional basis to do just that as and when they need it.

Why does it work?

Fractional CMO services is the clever way to get strategic marketing capability into your business fast and effectively at lower cost, lower risk and better value than conventional hire. The world is changing too fast to spend time hunting, catching and on-boarding your perfect new recruit. Today's successful business is tomorrow's disrupted industry and you need a continuous flow of fresh perspective to avoid inward-looking mistakes that miss the market moment. A Fractional CMO brings a sharp focus on your business objectives with an experienced eye, specifically because they are not part of your internal viewpoint and not caught up in your day-to-day operational execution.

A Fractional CMO's job is to pay attention to aligning a company's marketing strategy to the business strategy, which means being crystal clear about the value proposition, market position and the most effective go-to-market strategy to deliver against the business goals. We don't mean ignore pragmatic considerations and constraints or make plans that remain in the PowerPoint deck, but skilled hands that can work with the executive team to translate the business proposition into a distinctive and differentiated offering in the market, built on what customers really need and want. The best CMO’s bring this strategic capability coupled with the ability to get things done. And Fractional CMO’s have the added benefit of bringing the best practices and techniques seen across other companies because by the very nature of fractional, comes a huge diversity of experience in different industries and sectors.

When does a company deploy a Fractional CMO?

The list of opportunities where a Fractional CMO can add value is endless - these are just a few of the typical scenarios.

• Start-ups looking to take their idea to the next level and need CMO-level leadership to create a distinctive value proposition and growth plan
• Companies with an existing marketing team but no CMO leader and who need to audit marketing performance and re-set marketing direction and structure
• C-suite executives who need an independent, trusted and respected CMO voice in the boardroom
• Organisations who want to recruit a permanent CMO but know that whilst they look they still need a rockstar performance to drive the business forward
• Companies who have hit a market problem - losing customers, losing marketshare, failing products - and need a fresh perspective to re-energise their thinking and go-to-market strategies

Talk to us about what we can do for your business

gigCMO Fractional CMO's work with clients to do all of these things and more. We’ve pooled our collective experience and proven track records from blue-chip companies around the world into a uniquely tailored, holistic and multi-dimensional approach. We have worked with clients on international projects with multi-cultural dimensions in the UK, Europe, Middle East, North America, Southeast Asia and China, allowing us to combine a global perspective with local knowledge to achieve better results for our clients.

You can't afford to ignore the business of marketing your business. Get in touch with us and we’d be happy to show you how a Fractional CMO could benefit you.