Fractional CMO Explained
A Fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is a marketing executive who can lead your marketing team and strategy on a part-time basis. Some businesses aren’t ready or can’t afford a full-time CMO; this gap is where fractional CMOs work best. They bring the experience, insight, and strategy you’d expect from a high-level executive at a fraction of the cost. To learn more about what a CMO does for your business, check out our article on what a fractional CMO is.
Signs your company needs a Fractional CMO
How do you know if your business needs a fractional CMO? Below, we’ll discuss 9 signs your company needs fractional CMO services:
1. Your marketing team lacks leadership & organization
If your business is growing, more than likely, you’ll eventually need to consider marketing leadership. Without proper leadership, your marketing efforts could become disorganized, scattered, and lack a cohesive brand identity.
Fractional CMOs bring the experience and practices used by larger companies to develop your marketing strategy. They lead your team by managing their duties, focusing their activities, hiring new employees, and much more. These advantages are available to you based on your needs, and since fractional CMOs are part-time, they deliver value in the time available.
2. Your sales team makes their own marketing materials
A cohesive brand identity extends to the marketing materials you share with your customers and clients. If your business doesn’t use common marketing materials, then there’s the possibility your brand message may be considered weak, scattered, or even confusing if the information is different.
A fractional CMO works with your team to design a cohesive brand image and message that can be effectively communicated through marketing materials that share a common brand identity.
3. You lack executive marketing insights
A fractional CMO can provide the insights you need to shake up your marketing efforts. They’re not confined to the status-quo of your business and bring with them the experiences gathered from other clients. In addition, they collect and use data from key performance indicators to measure and drive their marketing results.
4. Your business needs a fresh outlook
Your business landscape is always changing, and your marketing efforts should reflect that. Put simply, just because something worked in the past doesn’t mean it’ll work in the future. That’s when fractional CMO services can help. They bring an outside perspective into your industry and business, in addition to a wealth of experience in tailoring marketing strategies for growth.
5. You lack a marketing strategist or your strategy needs executive guidance
If your business receives multiple inputs on the direction of your marketing or doesn’t have a cohesive vision for what objectives your marketing should be achieving, then a fractional CMO can help.
Fractional CMOs have skills in leading, organizing, and streamlining marketing efforts for businesses. Effective marketing management includes managing your marketing budget, creating a strategy, and managing your employees to ensure everything runs smoothly.
6. Your company’s growth requires a marketing professional
If your company’s growth is starting to stagnate, it may be a sign that you need a fractional CMO. Fractional CMO services can revamp your marketing efforts, build a marketing strategy, and lead your marketing team.
7. Your past marketing strategies failed
If your marketing strategies aren’t panning out the way you want them to, it may be time to bring in a fresh set of eyes. This doesn’t mean your current marketing leader or strategy isn’t right; it may just need a bit more support.
A fractional CMO can work with your existing team and leadership to bring new ideas to a current campaign or help design a new marketing strategy from the ground up. The outside angle can help find the cracks in your strategy.
8. Your marketing team is overwhelmed
If your marketing team is missing deadlines, opportunities and is generally overwhelmed with the work at hand, the problem isn’t a staffing issue or even a problem with too much work. This type of issue can come from a lack of guidance.
A key benefit fractional CMOs bring is their ability to set a standard for how and when things get done. Management is a key aspect of marketing because unfocused and untargeted marketing just doesn’t do as well as marketing that’s precise and tailored. Fractional CMOs set the standard, direction, and priorities of your marketing so your team can focus on the tasks at hand to stay on track.
9. Your business doesn’t need a full-time Chief Marketing Officer
In some cases, your business isn’t at the level necessary to employ a full-time CMO. Full-time CMO’s are expensive, especially for small businesses to justify. Hiring a full-time CMO is a significant commitment, and you shouldn’t commit to one until it’s absolutely necessary.
Fractional CMOs can deliver the same benefit and value to your business at a fraction of the cost. They can deliver value based on your business’s budget and capabilities.
Lighthouse offers flexible CMO services – click here for more information.
Lighthouse is part of CMOX, from where this content came from.
