Fractional CMO - Chief Marketing Officer Services

Many different definitions and opinions exist on what this role is and means but we like to think in terms of simplicity.

Every successful business has 4 main roles:

The CEO - who is responsible for setting the vision and direction of the business.
The CFO - is responsible for making sure the business has money to achieve the vision
The CMO - is responsible for utilizing the limited resources to get customers and achieve the vision
The COO - is responsible for making sure the business fulfills the promises to the customer

Now, yes, there are many other roles in a business in order to be successful but these are the core 4.

So the job of a Chief Marketing Officer is actually rather focused.

Let’s draw an analogy to something we are all mostly familiar with.

Let’s build a house.

First, we have the homeowner, they have the vision for the house they want to build.

How many bedrooms, bathrooms, the type of house, location, color, everything.

That is the CEO.

Then the homeowner has to get the money to build the house. And, spend that money wisely because it is not an unlimited amount. They need to be able to complete the build with the original budget.

That is the CFO.

Then you have the architect who takes the vision of the homeowner, the limited budget, and combines those to draft the blueprint of what and how to build the house.

The blueprint is the key ingredient to the success of the entire build. Without a blueprint, or a poorly drafted blueprint, the house will never be completed or turn out the way the homeowner wants.

This is the CMO

Finally you have the general contractor. They have to manage the entire project, hire the workers, the plumbers, electricians, drywallers, painters, and everyone who is a specialist to complete the house.

This is the COO

Makes sense right?

Now, you should be able to see clearly the roles and responsibilities that are necessary for your success.

The problem is, in today's world, we see many people who are not qualified for the role, or they are performing the wrong role in the wrong position.

Take marketing for example.

If I am a marketing specialist, even greatly experienced, it doesn’t mean I can draft a blueprint.

Just because you have been successful with SEO for a few years, doesn’t mean you know or understand the big picture of taking all the business resources and allocating them to achieving the goals of the business.

It would be like hiring a plumber to draft and build your blueprint. They might be successful, but there is sure going to be a lot of pain in the process.

When you go actually hire an Marchitect (Marketing Architect) who knows what to do and can get the blueprints done effectively and efficiently.

So, at the end of the day, we view the CMO role as a combination of both the architect and the general manager.

Sales falls under this responsibility.

More on this later, but essentially your CMO should be able to take the vision and work with the CFO to determine a plan to make the dream a reality.

That is a huge responsibility.

And should be very carefully considered.

“I appreciate many things about the relationship, but the thing that stands out the most is your level of passion and dedication. I've always felt that your team has been fully invested in our success and you've gone above and beyond to deeply understand our business and help us in ways beyond what we expected.”

Dan Konigsberg CEO, CampMinder

That is where fractional comes into play.

As with all jobs, you are dealing with time and money.

In a full-time job you are paying someone a salary for a typical 40 hour work week.

From here it is simple.

The median salary of a Chief Marketing Officer is $353,673, or around $35k per month.

This is outside the cash flow possibility for most small businesses.

So which of those two has to give in order for you, the entrepreneur, to get this experience on your team?

Time...

or money?

Easy, it is time.

You do not need a Chief Marketing Officer full-time when part-time (or fractional) is more than enough.

Another analogy.

Think of it like going to the doctor.

A young doctor just out of medical school may have all the knowledge, but not the experience.

That is fine for small issues, but if you are faced with a life or death situation, you are going to want the best, most experienced, highly skilled doctor you can find.

And even when you get the best doctor you can find, you don’t need them full-time.

You don’t need to pay them to diagnose and apply the band-aid and then hold it on your arm the entire time.

The doctor prescribes the treatment, the therapy, and the medications. Then we have to let the medicine do its job.

So no, you do not need a full time Chief Marketing Officer.

Fractional is more than enough for your business.

You just need to find the most experienced CMO with the greatest skill sets who gives you the confidence that you can and will hit your growth goals.

In the case of a fractional CMO, you want to make sure they have acted and performed in the role of a Chief Marketing Officer before.

What companies?
What type of companies?
What challenges did they face?
How did they overcome them?
How many different companies?
What is the direct relevant experience they are bringing to your business?

That is essentially what you are investing in with fractional services.

You need someone who has been there, and done that.

Who has walked a mile in those exact shoes.

When you hire a fractional C-Level expert you are buying your way through the learning curve.

You are, in a very real sense, bending time.

Rather than having to survive the painful learning curve in your business, you can skip ahead down the road of success by hiring a fractional executive who knows what to do and how.

That is the key to success.

What you really don’t want is someone who is a good marketer, say they have been doing SEO for ages and are pretty darn good at it.

Then one day they wake up and decide "Hey, I'm gonna be a fractional CMO".

This happens A LOT these days.

The problem is that a CMO is a managerial C-Level role.

The chief marketing officer is responsible for understanding the vision, having a complete grasp of the financials in the business, and then having enough experience and knowledge to then draft the marketing plan that will utilize those limited resources to achieve the vision.

Just because you are good at marketing, does not mean you are a CMO.

This is a position of responsibility.

The “Buck stops here” role for growth.

Your fractional or full-time CMO had better have the skill sets that can not only determine the course but also sail the ship to the destination.

They work hand in hand with the CEO, CFO, and COO to ensure that every part of the business is operating as efficiently as possible.

This is the key concept that you must grasp - if you want to have a successful engagement with a Chief Marketing Officer, be it fractional or full-time.

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What Does An Experienced Fractional CMO Do?

Makes sense right?

Take marketing for example.

That is a huge responsibility.

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What does a fractional CMO cost?

That is where fractional comes into play.

Easy, it is time.

So no, you do not need a full time Chief Marketing Officer.

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