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Fractional CMO Versus an Internal CMO: Which One Do You Really Need?

It’s time to bring in the big dogs.

Your business has grown to the point that it’s time to consider bringing in some marketing expertise.

When you first started your business, you probably thought this was an easy hire.

You find someone that’s a marketing smarty and you give them green paper in return for more green paper coming your way.

Unfortunately, hiring isn’t that simple.

When it comes to hiring your Chief Marketing Officer, you have the choice between two types of hires.

You can bring on a fractional Chief Marketing Officer or an internal Chief Marketing Officer.

Because word count doesn’t matter, we’re going to use CMO in place of writing Chief Marketing Officer moving forward.

A Fractional CMO

A fractional CMO works part-time.

They might work with just your company or have a few other marketing clients.

Fractional CMOs work as contractors and freelancers who don’t go on your normal employee payroll.

Together you’ll decide how many months you’ll work together and what results in you expect (a.k.a when does the green paper flow in?).

An Internal CMO

An internal CMO works full-time.

They’ll work exclusively with your company and their LinkedIn page will promote the work they do with you (because by now we know that employee-generated content gets conversions).

Internal CMOs will get health benefits and all the other fun incentives you give to your employees.

They will plan to work with you long-term (we’re talking years here) to grow your brand and create a predictable selling system.

How do you know which type of CMO to hire?

Someone get the chalkboard…it’s time for the pro/con list.

Fractional CMO versus an Internal CMO

Aside from rocks, paper, scissors, the best way to figure out what type of CMO you need is through a pro/con list.

We’ll outline the pros and cons of each type of CMO so you can figure out which option works best for your business.

Before we get into that list though, we have to go over something.

Just because you hire a fractional CMO today doesn’t mean you can’t hire a full-time CMO down the line.

You’re not stuck with the option you choose.

Yes, we’re talking to those of you who feel analysis paralysis when making this decision.

Working with any marketers is a great idea.

Alright, someone hands us the chalk.

Pros of a Fractional CMO

Fractional CMOs will work with your business for a set amount of months with a specific result in mind.

This means that they won’t be as integrated as a full-time CMO would be and this comes with a lot of pros.

You can hire them for a specific campaign or channel instead of your entire marketing strategy:

With a fractional CMO, you can pick and choose what strategies they work on and hire an expert at paid ads, email marketing, content marketing, etc.

You can test out working with them for a few months without having a full-time commitment:

If your fractional CMO doesn’t fit your company culture or isn’t able to hit their required results in due time, your contract ends and you’ll be able to work with somebody else.

They’re not as expensive as an internal CMO:

If you want to take your business to the next level but you don’t have the budget for a full-time executive yet—hiring a fractional CMO can help you get to a point where you can afford an internal CMO.

(P.S. You also have the option of hiring your fractional CMO as your internal CMO!)

Of course, there are cons to hiring a fractional CMO.

Cons of a Fractional CMO

The cons to hiring a fractional CMO all come from their temporary work with your company.

Unlike an internal CMO, fractional CMOs can see their way out once their contract is up.

Sometimes this is a good thing, but other times it doesn’t benefit the company.

They won’t be as available as an internal CMO:

Fractional CMOs have other clients to focus on which means you’ll only have a portion of their time each week.

You’ll have to bring on another CMO after them:

Training can be the hardest part of hiring new employees and with a fractional CMO, you could end up training a full-time CMO in a few months (right after training your fractional CMO) which can set your profits back.

They might not see your new marketing strategy through:

Once your contract is up, a fractional CMO can choose to continue working with you or to prioritize another client.

This means that you might have a marketing strategy built by them that you need to hire another marketer to help run (and chances are that marketer wants to do things their way).

Before you decide if a fractional CMO is right or wrong for your company, we have to give internal CMOs a chance or their fair share of cons.

Pros of an Internal CMO

Internal CMOs will work closely with your team and be one of the main points of contact for your employees.

You’re going to need someone that fits your company culture and makes your employees feel empowered and excited to do their work—which can lead to a lot of pros in your business.

Their only focus is your company:

Having a CMO that’s entirely focused on your marketing strategy is massively beneficial in creating a predictable selling system.

(How much better do you work when you’re only focused on one business?)

You don’t have to train anyone for this role anytime soon:

Once you’ve brought on your internal CMO, you can expect to work with them for years to come, saving you the time it takes to retrain for the same position in the future.

They can build out your entire marketing funnel:

Building a marketing funnel takes time and expertise.

With an internal CMO, you can create a funnel with lead magnets, entry-point offers, and challenges that lead to sales.

Fair is fair, so we have to cover the cons of working with an internal CMO now…

Cons of an Internal CMO

Hiring a full-time employee comes with a list of cons.

Internal CMOs are great for some reason (see above) but also have their 2-star ratings…

They’re more expensive:

An internal CMO is not only a full-time employee but an executive as well.

This makes them more expensive than a fractional CMO brought on part-time for a few months.

You have a longer commitment to them:

If you bring on an internal CMO and realize a few months in they might not be a great fit, it can be hard to let them go.

You spent a lot of time and effort teaching them about your customers and products and building their version of your marketing strategy—this can sting.

They’ll work on your entire funnel:

Sometimes this is a great thing, and other times it’s not necessary.

If you have a great paid ads funnel running and you just need help with content marketing, you might not need a full-time marketer.

A fractional CMO with expertise in content marketing could do the trick.

At the End

At the end of the day, we can’t recommend an internal CMO or a fractional CMO for your business.

(We do wish we could though because we live to make your marketing life easier).

We can only lay out the pros and cons of each type of CMO and let you decide which makes the most sense for your business today.

Go get that green paper friend.

The post Fractional CMO Versus an Internal CMO: Which One Do You Really Need? appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

Source: digitalmarketer.com

What is a Fractional CMO

Have you ever fallen prey to this line of thinking?…

Your marketing efforts are the only way your business will find new customers.

True.

But you don’t have 40 hours a week to dedicate to it… So you need another executive at your company who focuses entirely on your marketing.

Also true.

That executive must be a full-time staff member in order for your business to succeed.

False.

Your marketing executive does NOT need to be a full-time staff member to get the benefits of having marketing be a leadership focus.

Sometimes, the right fit for your company isn’t a traditional CMO, but a fractional CMO.

Never heard of a fractional CMO?

Don’t worry.

We’re going to break down what a fractional CMO is and what you might want one for your business (or even why you might want to become one yourself).

 

What is a Fractional CMO

While the name might sound super technical and complicated, the idea is actually really simple.

A fractional CMO is someone who acts as the Chief Marketing Officer for your company but is hired as a contractor or consultant.

Generally, fractional CMO’s are working with several different companies at one time, much like freelancers or consultants do.

They work for you a fraction of their time (hence fractional).

But don’t let that spook you.

A good fractional CMO is going to give your business as much attention as it needs.

Why Outsource Marketing?

It might feel a little weird at first to outsource an executive-level position.

And in fact, there are certain positions that you should be wary of handing off.

For example, you want someone deeply familiar with all the ins and outs of your business to handle the financials, so a fractional CFO is probably not the best idea for most companies.

But marketing is different.

Why?

Because the basic principles of all marketing are the same, no matter what you are selling.

This is why marketing agencies can work with all different types of clients.

It’s why our customers here at DigitalMarketer run the gauntlet of industries.

Marketing is just marketing.

So hiring a fractional CMO is not going to lower the quality of your marketing at all.

In fact, sometimes getting an outside set of eyes on your strategies can be the secret to pushing through any problems.

The right fractional CMO is going to have been there and done that already, so they have the tools to deal with any problem.

What Does a Fractional CMO Do?

A fractional CMO will do all the same things a traditional CMO will:

• Get more leads
• Manage digital ads
• Create marketing strategy
• Oversee marketing tech integrations
• Grow email list and engagement
• Build marketing reports
• Work with freelancers or marketing agency
• And more…

Primarily, a fractional CMO will help provide marketing leadership, a service that is far too often overlooked in businesses.

The reason why you need a marketing executive is to provide that leadership.

You want someone who can ensure there is a singular overall direction for your company’s marketing.

The fractional CMO will be that person.

They will make sure there is a general marketing message and will work with the other executives in the company.

These needs will be very dependent on the size of your company, so make sure you know exactly what you need.

If you are a tiny business with only a few employees, you won’t need as much help “interfacing with the other executives.”

Your communication with the fractional CMO will serve just fine.

But if you have a huge leadership team, this will be a really important part of their job.

Additionally, depending on how long you want to work with them, your fractional CMO can either set things up for you to run, or they can manage the processes long-term.

The biggest advantage of a fractional CMO is that you don’t have to pay them for full-time CMO work.

It means they won’t be doing full-time work, so make sure you consider whether this is the right fit for you.

But this isn’t the only thing you need to consider when looking at a fractional CMO for your business.

What Does a Fractional CMO NOT Do?

But before you start going through portfolios looking for the right person, it’s important to understand what a fractional CMO does NOT do.

A fractional CMO has the same role as an executive.

They should be managing your strategy as a whole and working on your marketing as a whole.

That means this person should NOT be used as a lever puller or grunt worker.

If you need someone to just do all parts of your marketing, you’re better off hiring an agency.

A fractional CMO probably won’t:

• Write and send all emails to your list
• Upload blog posts
• Schedule social media posts
• Redesign button colors on landing pages
• Track detailed metrics for every marketing asset

A fractional CMO is there to care for the overall health of your business’s marketing, and their time is probably wasted by getting too deep into the weeds.

Remember, you’re paying this person for the holistic expertise, not their skill at picking an Instagram caption.

 

Is a Fractional CMO Right for You?

The best way to know if a fractional CMO is right for you is to look at your marketing performance and to look at your team.

• Do you have someone dedicated to your marketing as a whole?
• Are you struggling to find a direction with your marketing?
• Do you have a solid understanding of marketing yourself?
• Do you have a marketing team, but no marketing leaders?
• Are you struggling to coordinate with your marketing contractors or agency?

If you are facing any of the problems, a fractional CMO might just be the person you need to get your marketing back in line and grow your business.

The post What is a Fractional CMO appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

Source: digitalmarketer.com

The Top Outsourced Executive Function Will Be THIS in 2021

It’s not easy being a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) these days. According to research featured in Forbes, the average tenure of a CMO is just 3.5 years. Compare this to the average 6.9-year tenure of CEOs, and you get an idea of how sad that statistic really is.

If you’ve dealt in marketing, you probably have some idea of why such a vital role can be so rapidly replaced.

Marketing (read about why we’re not referring to it as “digital marketing” specifically by Clicking Here), is a very dynamic, evolving component of business these days, and the management of it is getting more difficult all the time.

It’s the wild west in the marketing industry right now.

You have to accept that and realize that you may not be fully equipped to judge incoming marketing executives as effectively as you have in the past.

Why go through the pain, time, and expense of vetting and onboarding a CMO that might prove futile in under a year’s time?

Why not test a potential CMO prior to hiring, or get a premium CMO to guide your existing marketing department temporarily while you get your next campaign in order?

That’s where the Fractional CMO comes into play.

A fractional CMO is someone who acts as the Chief Marketing Officer for your company but is hired as a contractor or consultant.

 

Why Are Long-Term CMO’s So Hard to Find?

Good CMO’s are actually REALLY easy to find.

Put up an ad and you’ll probably get 100+ submissions from lots of qualified, experienced professionals.

Many will be excellent during interviews, their past results will shine, and their references will sparkle.

The problem is that they won’t be long-term. Just think of your last CMO.

It’s not that your last CMO was bad per se, they just didn’t “fit” right.

• Or the revenue didn’t grow fast enough.
• Or they misjudged their projections.
• Or the CEO/CFO/COO/etc hated their guts.
• Or whatever.

The truth is that letting go of a CMO is easy because their results are VERY tangible and obvious.

Whereas a CEO can blame a number of abstract factors like the economy, global events, competitor moves, and the actions of individual departments, the CMO’s performance analytics are simple. They look something like this:

ACTIONS OF THE CMO = REVENUE GROWTH/DECLINE

The revenue declines, they did a bad job and you can’t argue with hard numbers.

You should have gone with that other candidate that seemed better.

Then the cycle will repeat itself.

Why Aren’t CMO’s More Effective?

The Chief Marketing Officer position looks a lot different than it did five years ago.

Between new methodology, technology development, and societal change (Click Here for a more detailed breakdown), today’s CMO has a lot to think about.

Here are a few of the reasons why CMO’s are so short-lived in the business world today:

• Traditional CMOs Lack the Experience to Effectively Manage Current Marketing Techniques
• A Lack of Understanding of the Company They’re Marketing for
• Too Great a Focus on Short-Term Results Rather Than Long-Term Objectives
• Lack of Support from Other Executives
• Lack of Resources or Adequate Marketing Budget to Enact Plans

 

The Solution to High CMO Turnover: The Fractional CMO

With the role of marketing evolving every day, it’s easy to see how hiring a good CMO has become a monumental task.

At DigitalMarketer, our whole business is built around the skills necessary to be a capable marketing professional in the 2020s, and let me tell you, the list is not short.

Here are just a few of the benefits your business can glean by using a Fractional CMO for your next marketing push:

• Easily Assess Results Based on Limited-Term Contracts and Campaigns
• Create an Effective Brand Education Process While Transitioning Through Multiple F-CMOs
• Save Money in the Form of Employment-Related Expenses (Insurance, Workers Comp, etc)
• Test Different CMO Personality Types Before Committing to Long-Term Arrangements

 

Why 2021 is the Year to Use a Fractional CMO

Outsourcing in general has seen a huge upswing over the last few years.

In 2019, it was estimated that more than a third (37%) of all businesses were outsourcing a business process. Further, one of the greatest outsourced components was marketing.

After the healthcare difficulties of 2020 and 2021, you can see why that percentage may certainly increase. Everything has shifted, both the task of marketing and the environment it’s used in.

You can’t afford to make a costly hiring mistake during such a vital, transitional period.

You need to start using Fractional CMOs.

The post The Top Outsourced Executive Function Will Be THIS in 2021 appeared first on DigitalMarketer.

Source: digitalmarketer.com