The Fractional CMO - What is it? Because you need one, NOW!

With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are hopefully in the middle of a once in a lifetime event. While being locked in your house you may not have noticed marketing and sales have changed but not stopped. There are fewer deals and they have been done differently, but there have definitely been deals.

Even though we are still winning business, revenues are down. According to research published on 4 June,2020 by the Office of National Statistics, 62% of businesses have seen a decrease in turnover while 26% have seen turnover decrease by more than half.

However, there is good news. With everyone doing all of their work remotely, seeing people face to face has become less of a factor in purchasing decisions. Put another way, your market has just gone global. Now is the time to up your marketing game in order to take advantage of these opportunities. Now is the time for a Fractional CMO.

What is a Fractional CMO?

“Fractional” is just another word for part-time. Many start-up and scale up businesses do not need a full-time marketing leader. The Fractional CMO’s day to day activities and the way we get remunerated separates us from other marketing professionals you may have worked with in the past.

Freelancer, Marketing Consultant, Marketing Contractor and Fractional CMO relationships and remuneration.

Why should you consider a Fractional CMO?

A senior marketing leader will up your marketing game but why consider a Fractional CMO over the more traditional full-time option? The biggest reason is cost. According to payscale.com, the median salary for a UK CMO is just over £101,000 with an additional £40,000 in bonuses and profit sharing.

Not only is this salary essentially a fixed cost, but most companies in growth mode have a very small marketing team and people will be needed to execute the new strategy. If too much of the marketing budget is taken up by CMO salary, not only will your marketing outreach suffer but you are asking a very expensive resource to do the heavy lifting – not good value for money.

You could save some budget by bringing in a consultant to create your marketing strategy. Once done however, the consultant will move on to the next project, leaving you to oversee the execution of their plan. A Prussian general famously said, “No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy.” The same could be said for marketing plans. The plan itself is not enough. You need somebody with experience to mentor the team so that they can optimise the plan on the fly as issues and opportunities arise.

Put another way, think about a major home renovation. There are three main parties: homeowner, builder and architect. The homeowner defines what they want to accomplish with the project much as a business leader defines their company’s goals. The builder will basically do what they’re told; adding value with advice on how to functionally achieve the homeowner’s objectives but only challenge those objective if they are truly unobtainable. Marketing managers, execs and coordinators are the builders in the marketing department. The Fractional CMO is the architect. They are not onsite all of the time but are there when needed to sort through those little building problems that arise in any project. They also expand on the homeowner’s vision to create a space that is unique and exciting.

Now is the right time to hire a Fractional CMO

This lockdown will not last forever, but it is not clear when it is going to end. Now more than ever cash is king, but we need to get our marketing efforts back on track: strategies need to be reviewed, tactics like live events adjusted and young marketing teams need guidance on when to double down and when to change course. If you would like to find out more, contact me below.