Need Marketing Help but Not Full-time? Consider Fractional Marketing

You have a stellar marketing team of seasoned experts ready to take on all marketing challenges. But do you know that your team can perform better, faster, and more efficiently than before with good marketing leadership? We’re talking about adding a chief marketing officer (CMO) to your roster to steer your team toward massive success.

A CMO is indeed a fantastic addition to your company. But what if you’re not financially up for a C-level professional? What if you don’t need a full-time CMO? The answer is fractional marketing.

Fractional CMO Defined

Forbes defines “CMO” from its three components. A CMO is a chief, leader, and role model. They are an expert in all marketing disciplines. They are an officer with a position on the leadership ladder. A CMO defines marketing goals with a respected opinion and voice.

A fractional CMO leads the marketing arm of your company but on a short-term basis or part-time role. You have a senior marketing officer ready to work with your team but won’t cost as much as a full-time marketing executive.

The word “fractional” means that the cost of hiring a fractional CMO is just a fraction of the cost of a full-time CMO. It may also refer to the time a CMO needs to work, depending on your company’s marketing needs. Some fractional CMOs work from 10 to 20 hours per week or sometimes longer.

Fractional CMOs can work for a company for a few months or more. Crafting a new marketing strategy can take time to complete. There are a lot of planning, strategizing, testing, and evaluating. You can’t rush success, so it is possible to keep a fractional CMO for a good year.

Employing a fractional CMO is not a new concept. Many small or medium-sized companies are taking advantage of the benefits of hiring fractional executives. Aside from the affordable cost, the contribution of a CMO to a marketing team is so valuable that it is too hard to overlook.

How to Tell Whether You Need a Fractional CMO

A fractional CMO could be the solution you’ve been looking for. Here are ways to tell whether you need the help of a fractional marketing executive.

You Can’t Afford a Full-time Marketing Leader

You are still a small startup, a small business with only limited marketing needs. At this point, you may not even have the budget for a full-time marketing executive to lead your marketing team. 

But you know that having a CMO can jump-start your marketing campaigns. A CMO can guide your team through coming up with a more efficient marketing strategy.

There is no excuse to disregard the benefits of hiring an experienced marketing executive. A fractional CMO is the best and the most affordable alternative, even if you have limited marketing campaigns or do not have enough material for your team to work on.

How much is hiring a fractional CMO? 

The cost of hiring a fractional executive depends on many factors. Codrin Arsene from Digital Authority Partners explains in this article that some fractional CMOs are under a project-based contract. Therefore, it depends on the overall project cost. Because they do not work full-time, they are not covered by full-time employee compensation and benefits.

Your Marketing Team Lacks Leadership

You may have a seasoned marketing team, but they are no longer familiar with updated, complex, and automated marketing strategies. It would help if you prepared for future marketing trends, learned how to use new tools, and understood new marketing tactics. 

Only a fractional CMO can help your team gain the upper hand even with new trends available. With a fractional executive, even late-stage marketing teams can evolve and adapt to these changes.

Your Marketing Strategies Lack Coordination

Your goal is to send your message across and make your brand known. Your marketing team works hard to establish these, but it seems that other teams create their materials.

Your sales team, for one, may be developing their own marketing materials, not consulting your marketing team. If this happens, your message will likely become fragmented and ineffective. With a fractional CMO, you can unite your teams to create a more effective and unified approach.

Your Marketing Strategies Are a Mess

Marketing trends change from time to time. There may be new trends emerging and old ones still paying off, but it does not mean that you need to follow these trends. 

You do not need to follow all marketing suggestions you find online, too! Without evaluating your marketing needs, doing so will only result in a messy and costly strategy.

A fractional CMO will help you make sense of new trends and find the right marketing strategy through research, careful study, and evaluation of your needs. A fractional expert knows the trends worth following and those best for future marketing campaigns.

Your Marketing Tactics Are Costing You a Lot of Money

Money and budget are always issues, even for large and established companies. You can’t just waste money on marketing campaigns that will not produce the effects you are looking for. It is best to have a sure-fire strategy that will give you a higher return on investment (ROI), which will promote your brand, products, or services better.

A fractional CMO can help you save money on marketing campaigns that matter. Your efforts will not be a hit or miss. You will not have to rely heavily on trends and tactics but use sound analysis and data from your online analytics. 

You can hire a fractional CMO to work on these updated strategies, saving you time, money, and effort.

Final Words

Strategizing your marketing efforts is crucial to connecting with more customers and helping them find your business online. A fractional CMO can enhance your marketing tactics, look through trends, and find the one that works with your business.

Hiring a fractional marketing expert is practical and efficient. It is a smart strategy for startups and small to medium-scale businesses. Fractional CMOs are for all businesses, from startups to big companies, from successful to thriving. We all need the power and strategic thinking of a fractional CMO.