Do you need a marketing leader to help you reach your business goals but don't have the budget for a full-time CMO? A fractional CMO may be the answer. A fractional CMO is a marketing specialist who works with companies for a fixed period of time in a given month, often just a few hours. They are experienced executives who can create and execute a company's marketing strategy, and their annual salary varies depending on their rate and the number of hours they are hired for. If your marketing team is inexperienced or doesn't exist yet, six to twelve months under the guidance of a fractional CMO can get you up to speed.
At the strategic level, a fractional CMO can develop marketing plans, lead competitive intelligence initiatives, identify and track progress towards KPIs; in essence, create a marketing machine that you can trust. In fact, you might find that your fractional CMO can help you achieve those goals much sooner than you think. A fractional CMO also takes a hands-on approach with their existing marketing resources to focus on business growth, audience growth, and implementing account-based management strategies. They are the owner of your marketing function, that is, someone who can be the most senior marketing executive in a company, without needing you to bear a full-time cost. An important distinction to be made in this case is that, compared to an external consultant, a fractional CMO tends to participate in daily operations as if they were an employee. If you're stuck between working with freelancers or agencies and hiring a full-time CMO, a fractional CMO may be an option worth considering.
A good fractional CMO knows which strategies pay dividends and which don't; he understands which strategies work for other organizations but will not be appropriate for his own; he knows the best service providers, how to communicate their vision and expectations to them and how to get the best offer. A fractional CMO generally works on an advance basis and is compensated depending on the amount of time required for hiring. A fractional CMO is an essential part of your executive team, equipped with first-class experiences and knowledge that they use to take an all-encompassing view of your business. An average hourly rate is a good starting point for understanding the cost of a fractional CMO. In other words, the fractional CMO has no time to waste designing an effective strategy, testing and iterating it, and putting it into shape on time and within budget.
