Who needs a Fractional CMO?

 

We usually see three common scenarios where a Fractional CMO is most helpful.

 

• Scenario: Testing the Waters
  Clients who’ve never had a dedicated marketing leader and feel ready to form a new position but want to do a beta test before hiring a full-time employee.

 

• Scenario: Need a Bridge 
  Clients who have suddenly lost their marketing leader and need immediate stabilization while they search for a replacement.

 

• Scenario: Need a Liaison
  Clients who have a marketing function in place, but they need someone to work more closely with their board of directors.

 

What does a Fractional CMO actually do?

 

It all depends on what you really need. Here are a few examples of what our clients usually seek:

 

Assessing

• Work with leadership and/or board of directors on strategy and policies

• Initiate new marketing strategies and/or optimizes existing efforts

• Facilitate discussions and ideation sessions with sales and marketing team

• Study key customers and prospects’ buying behaviors to develop buyer personas

• Evaluate current marketing spending and ROI

 

Recommending

• Formulate marketing strategies that align with customer journeys (e.g. demand generation, lead generation and customer retention activities)

• Formulate brand strategies (e.g. market positioning, brand promise, customer experience, brand personality, tone of voice, core messaging, brand guidelines) 

• Develop, write and present overall marketing plan and/or campaign plans

• Prepare and/or adjust marketing budgets

 

Implementing

• Educate and align staff on marketing vision, strategy and their roles

• Lead complex marketing projects (e.g. website redesign, rebranding, a new product launch, thought leadership activities)

• Write or hire writers for tactical writing needs (e.g. website copy, campaign copy, video script writing and more)

• Assist with hiring missing marketing talent (e.g. employees, freelancers, agencies)

• Develop and/or analyze marketing metrics

 

 

What should I expect from a Fractional CMO?
 

Your Fractional CMO will help you explore, expand and engage in the right marketing activities. You should expect three distinct phases of engagement:

 

• Assessment Phase
  This is the time to orient your Fractional CMO to the key things happening within your industry, organization and the sales and marketing realm. Your Fractional CMO will analyze existing data, available marketing metrics and your past and present marketing activities/campaigns.

 

• Recommendation Phase
  This is the time for your Fractional CMO to formulate and present a vision and plan of action moving forward. This is also the time where there will be some “back and forth” over what to do first and how much to invest.

 

• Implementation Phase
  This is the time when your Fractional CMO is turning your plans into reality. Often partners and resources are brought to the table to speed up implementation and systems are also put into place to measure outcomes.

 

How much does a Fractional CMO cost?
 

We structure an agreement that makes sense for you. Some clients need 20 hours a week, while others only need 20 hours a month. A minimum of a four-month commitment is required. Our hourly rate is $175.