When Should You Hire A Fractional CMO?

Hiring a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is a big decision for any company. It requires a significant investment of time, money, and resources to find the right person for the job. But what if you don't need a full-time CMO? What if your company is still growing, or you're not yet ready

Speed: 

Hiring a perm solution, especially at the CMO level will take 3 months, minimum. That is if you are going through the correct process, think: 

1. Market mapping - if you’re running a proper recruitment process you will be researching and mapping your market to identify the best prospects for your role
2. Outreach - now the best talent requires considered engagement. We’re not in the market here for average talent, we’re looking for the best talent possible at your price point
3. Interviews - 1st stage, 2nd stage, Task, 3rd stage, Presentation, senior stakeholders interview, meet & greet coffee - quite quickly we get to 7 or 8 stages for a senior hire 
4. Offer negotiation & management - now this is a process in itself, managing the hiring process can make or break your success in securing the right talent: what are they looking for, do you really know, and why? Do they have alternative opportunities and if so what are they paying? 

Budget preservation: 

Fractional: part time leadership will often mean that a business definites from 100% of the business expertise of the individual and at a fraction of the costs associated with hiring the Fractional CMO on a permanent basis. This is a benefit for all business sizes but often it is highlighted for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) and startups operating within tight budget constraints, employing a full-time marketing executive might not always be financially feasible. In such circumstances, enlisting the services of a Fractional CMO can prove immensely beneficial. Rather than bearing the expense of a full-time CMO, companies can secure the insights of a part-time, seasoned leader at a significantly reduced cost. This approach enables many SMBs to maximize their financial resources by availing the expertise of an affordable marketing executive, even if only for a few hours per week.

Project based problem solving 

Incorporating a fractional CMO can aid businesses confronting specific challenges and seeking a fresh perspective to evaluate their existing marketing strategies and plans. Introducing a new strategist to tackle the company's marketing objectives sometimes reveals overlooked details, allowing teams to shed light on previously unseen aspects. With diverse experience derived from working across various industries and serving numerous clients, a fractional CMO brings a breadth of expertise crucial for problem-solving, identifying weak spots, and uncovering insights and trends.

New opportunities 

During pivotal junctures in a company’s journey, opportunities for expansion and progress emerge. Occasionally, the existing team might lack the resources to fully leverage these openings, and engaging a fractional CMO can provide the necessary marketing impetus to swiftly capitalize on such prospects. Given that fractional CMOs engage in multiple projects concurrently, they interact with diverse teams, technologies, and systems, thereby gaining exposure to the most current marketing trends, tools, and platforms. This valuable knowledge is shared across their portfolio, benefiting the companies they serve.

Knowledge specialisms 

In certain instances, companies require specific, specialized expertise to aid in endeavors such as launching a new distribution channel, devising partnership strategies, or entering a new market. Engaging a fractional CMO with that particular niche experience enables businesses to leverage that expertise, avoiding missed opportunities. Fractional CMOs, collaborating with multiple companies and diverse teams across various industry sectors, amass a varied skill set and knowledge that might be challenging to find within full-time employees.

Transitional leadership 

Occasionally, when a marketing leader departs a company unexpectedly, there's an immediate need for someone to manage the team and ongoing campaigns. However, securing the right long-term CMO can be a time-consuming process. Fractional CMOs step in to bridge this interim gap, utilizing their experience to assess the company's requirements and even aiding in the selection process for a permanent marketing leader.

Wider opportunities:

Fractional CMOs, working concurrently with a few companies, open avenues for accessing economies of scale by pooling resources among different clients. This collaboration may involve joint media purchases, sharing tools, reports, or even collaborative marketing efforts. Identifying these opportunities, fractional CMOs can interconnect businesses and foster mutually beneficial prospects.

The marketers in your busieness can execute but need guidance on what to execute:

Businesses can often fall in the trap of being fully focused on outcomes and just hire candidates that are action-oriented, i.e. focusing on execution, which can cause an issue at later stages when they later progress to hiring managers and strategic thinkers. The issue you face can arise for different reasons but often it leaves a business without strategic leadership which impacts your business: think revenue, profit and higher than necessary costs. Hiring a fractional CMO provides you with the leadership to navigate the relative unknown. 

In Conclusion

The fractional CMO model has gained significant momentum in recent years, although it may not suit every organization. While many companies require a long-term, full-time marketing head to oversee their teams and processes, the option to access part-time marketing leadership at a reduced cost has transformed the landscape for those in need of senior-level marketing expertise affordably and promptly. Recognizing the appropriate scenario for deploying such a resource can assist a business in maximizing its limited resources.