I’ve been having some long overdue catch ups with old friends and co-workers recently, and they’ve almost all said, “I’d never heard of a fractional CMO until you became one.” 

It made me laugh because, to be honest, I’m not sure I had either. There’s nothing like becoming something you didn’t even know existed. 

But in all seriousness – in the current economic and business environment, hiring a fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) makes a ton of sense for many startups, small businesses, and middle market companies. 

Consumer behavior is changing, marketing channels are fragmented, and the marketing technology landscape is evolving rapidly. It’s overwhelming for already busy business leaders, and confusing for non-marketers. CMOs help businesses navigate through those changes so that marketing is a growth lever. 

But what if you don’t need a full-time CMO? Enter: a fractional CMO.

What is a Fractional CMO?

A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who’s retained to provide part-time marketing leadership. Unlike consultants or advisors, fractional CMOs are embedded with an executive leadership team, and they’re accountable for setting the marketing direction and delivering results. Because of that, fractional CMOs have longer-term engagements and work on monthly retainers, rather than on an hourly or project basis. 

What does a Fractional CMO do?

Fractional CMOs work collaboratively as part of your team. Where a consultant functions as an outsider, working with only a few team members and handing off a strategy for implementation, fractional CMOs have end-to-end accountability. 

Their responsibilities include:

• Defining the marketing strategy, objectives and key results

• Building and managing the brand

• Translating the strategy into action and driving results

• Continually analyzing market trends, consumer behavior and marketing performance to adapt strategies 

• Building, leading and growing the marketing team

• Building the “marketing engine,” including processes, infrastructure, tools and technology

• Leading storytelling around marketing results for investors and advisors

• Optimizing marketing spend

What are the Benefits of Hiring a Fractional CMO?

If you’ve realized your marketing could be more strategic, but you’re not ready to commit to a full-time CMO, a fractional CMO offers a number of benefits.

Fractional CMOs are:

• Cost-Effective: Hiring a fractional CMO as a contractor gives you access to executive marketing expertise, as needed, without having to pay an executive level salary and employee benefits.

• Flexible: As businesses grow and scale, the type of marketing leader they need can change. Fractional CMOs offer flexibility, allowing you to bring the right skill sets into your business at the right time. 

• Accountable: Fractional CMOs have skin in the game because they’re accountable for marketing results. You’re more likely to get strategies that are realistic for your business to implement, and you’ll have an expert adapting your strategy to continuously drive performance. 

• Objective: While fractional CMOs operate as part of your team, they’re still external. They need to be aware of internal politics, but they don’t get caught up in them. They can provide unbiased opinions and fresh perspectives, often seeing challenges and opportunities that internal teams might miss. Because fractional CMOs work with various businesses, they have diverse insights, which can lead to new and innovative approaches.

Why is 2024 the Year to Hire a Fractional CMO?

2024 is the year to put structure and strategy around marketing, if the conversations I had with middle market CEOs throughout January are any indication. 

In 2023, I heard a lot of “we should probably have a strategy, but we just want to get going, so we’re going to do some stuff and see what works.”

Months or a year of marketing tactics > marketing strategy have led to some common challenges that are holding marketing back:

• Business and marketing goals are only loosely connected: Their business goals include things like growing existing customer relationships or expanding in certain industries or acquiring higher value customers. But their marketing goal is only an acquisition volume number. Marketing has more of a role to play in different types of business growth than some might think. Without the right marketing goals, it’s highly unlikely the marketing activities are the right ones to drive all the business growth they’re looking for.

• No executive team capacity to manage marketing: If the marketing team is small and tactical, then leading and managing them is likely a side of desk job for an already time-stretched executive. 

• Marketing approaches and execution are inconsistent: If it’s a side of desk job, then it’s probably not surprising that the actual marketing is inconsistent. It gets bursts of attention and energy, when leadership has time. Then “shiny object syndrome” sets in. Something new and innovative catches their attention and suddenly the team is running in a different direction. Consistency is key to marketing success, and they haven’t stuck with anything long enough to see if it works.

• Once-strong strategic marketing foundations are outdated: Strategy isn’t set-it-and-forget-it. The competitive and marketing landscapes are constantly changing. Customer needs evolve. Without marketing strategy leadership, there’s a good chance the strategy is on a dusty Google Drive shelf from two years ago where it’s not helping anyone make smarter marketing decisions.

• Unclear what tactics are working: Reporting, analyzing and iterating are an afterthought. It’s hard enough just to get marketing out the door.

After a year of messy and confusing marketing, middle market founders and CEOs are craving structure, strategy and the confidence they’re getting the most out of their marketing investment. They’re feeling the marketing leadership void.

One solution? A fractional CMO. Add an executive marketer to your leadership team without the full-time cost and commitment. As the marketing and economic landscapes continue to shift, the strategic vision, flexibility and adaptability offered by a fractional CMO will only become more valuable. 

If you’re ready to explore how a fractional CMO can help make marketing a strategic growth lever, not a drag, let’s talk.