Companies who shy away from the heavy commitment of getting a full-time CMO on board but wish to boost their marketing strategies can decide to go for a functional or part-time CMO. These outsourced CMOs go into companies with a wealth of experience, industry knowledge, and expertise that can revamp the fortune of any ailing business.
What is a Fractional CMO?
The full moniker for a fractional CMO is Fractional Chief Marketing Officer, He or she functions as a part-time CMO and works for multiple firms on a contract basis. Companies who don’t have the resources to employ a CMO full-time basis often resort to part-time Chief marketing officers who do the same work.
The Roles of a Fractional CMO
As different businesses strive to outshine each other in the highly competitive markets, fractional CMO responsibilities become increasingly vital. Because they are marketing experts, these CMOs come into firms with a wealth of experience gathered from working for short periods with different businesses across diverse industries. This is the reason a fractional CMO is better equipped to understand the unique opportunities and challenges faced by each client. Therefore Fractional CMO services are very important in the overall progress of a firm. Some of what they do include the following:
Leads the marketing team
When a company employs the services of a fractional Chief Marketing Officer, he or she is presented with a typical fractional CMO scope of work, and most important on this list is leading and pioneering the affairs of the marketing department. The job of streamlining his team’s day-to-day operations is of utmost importance He guides them toward achieving their self-set goals which all culminate into the company’s objectives.
Conducting research
A typical fractional CMO job description entails conducting market and product/service research and analyzing data. Immediately after he/she resumes work in a new company, a competent CMO would waste no time in launching a research project, collecting data on the company’s target audience, industry, trends, competitors, and more. Armed with the right information, he moves on to map out a relevant strategy for the marketing force to follow. The CMO is expected to bring a deep knowledge and fresh perspective into marketing through his research but his strategies must align with the objectives and goals of the company.
Improves digital presence
Where a company’s existing digital outlets are not beneficial, it is the job of the fractional CMO to revamp all, including social media, email, website, customer service, online ads, and more. This engenders a unified branding across all the channels. Needless to say, a stronger online presence attracts more customers.
Manages content marketing
With all the digital assets up and running, the fractional CMO would proceed to face content marketing squarely. He starts by revamping the current marketing practices and optimizing them for growth. Once he lays the foundation, he empowers the marketing department to build upon the groundwork. A CMO who knows how to navigate the intricacies of the current marketing landscape would also know how to leverage the ever-evolving digital world to outdo the competition. He has competence in identifying emerging trends, applying ground-breaking marketing strategies, and driving growth.
Manages company branding
For any business concern to succeed, it must build a strong brand identity and it is the responsibility of a fractional CMO to create a compelling image for the brand and develop it. They achieve this by crafting all-inclusive branding strategies, and brand personality, focusing on basic values, and target customer preferences. With effective brand positioning, any business would have a great chance of outshining the others. This is core in a fractional CMO job description and a major benefit of hiring a fractional CMO.
Drives marketing initiatives
Businesses thrive on sales which is the major part of a fractional CMO’s responsibilities. Marketing is what drives sales and a competent CMO has all the experience, expertise, and apparatus to discover new opportunities to boost sales. Any team he works with will be taught the rudiments of understanding their target demography, including effective ways to convey value to customers.
Hires new marketing team members
When a functional CMO arrives in a new company, he is given a free hand with the marketing team and if he is not satisfied with the existing staff, it is his job to take in new employees to make the team stronger. The new people he hires will be trained to work effectively with existing marketers. He needs to put them on the same page with the entire team.
Manages marketing technology integrations
A company’s growth opportunity is something that needs to be constantly monitored and part of the fractional CMO responsibilities is to monitor this by tracking data. It is also the job of a part-time CMO to ensure that the needed technology is in place for date tracking while monitoring effectiveness in the marketing unit.
Monitoring progress among marketers
In addition to monitoring the company’s overall progress, it is also incumbent on the fractional CMO to set up Key Performance Indices for every marker in his team and monitor how they achieve these KPIs. This is a measure of progress for the sales team which comes in handy while making future decisions.
