Blog / Do I Need A Fractional CMO?

Do I Need A CMO?

Maybe Only A Part-Time One

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Are you starting a business or considering an investment in sales and marketing? If you are, it’s the perfect time to run your idea by a Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) for critical and impartial feedback.

If you’re considering a website, an advertising campaign, building a sales team, content marketing or SEO, developing a video or anything of a similar scale, a Fractional CMO will evaluate your situation and determine if you’re prepared to benefit from the investment.

Perhaps you’re already advertising but aren’t seeing a return. Your Fractional CMO will dig into why and direct you on how to get on track.

Maybe you’re intrigued by a salesperson promoting the latest marketing fad tactic. Is it in your best interest? Your CMO will explain the option from a system’s perspective and, if you like, handle the salesperson for you.

Do you need to delegate sales and marketing leadership because you’re too busy? You might need a Fractional CMO to step into that leadership role on your behalf.

Can You Justify an In-house Executive?

Unless you’re investing $1 million+ per year on sales and marketing, you’re unlikely to justify a full-time executive. That’s why a part-time, virtual or fractional CMO is often more cost-effective.

What Does a Fractional CMO Do?

Their role is to lead a company’s pre-marketing conversations and then their sales, marketing and commercialization program development. They ensure there’s a well-thought-out plan to grow your business that aligns with your company’s mission, vision, client needs and finances.

The CMO typically develops the strategy and the team that drives sales. They help shape and control your messaging, develop sales and promotional programs, build budgets, forecasts and reporting systems to manage your risks and maximize the return on your business development investments.

Why Hire a Fractional CMO?

You engage a part-time or virtual executive to be part of your leadership team to make sure you’re balancing short-term and strategic investments. Your CMO will help you shift out of the all too common “random acts of marketing” approach; to build a purposeful, by-the-numbers program and make sure you’re investing in the right things at the right time to achieve business outcomes.

If you’re uncertain about your sales, marketing or commercialization performance, seek input from a fractional CMO.

Don’t Think You Can Afford it?

We’re betting you can. We work with everyone from solopreneurs to mid-size companies in a manner that works for them. Don’t assume you can’t without speaking with us first. Our primary role is to help business owners make good investment decisions and that starts with whether we’re right for you.

Ready To Learn More?

Contact Us and let’s discuss your business objectives.

We’ve prepared a series of Free Marketing eBooks on different aspects of sales and marketing for business owners. The best place to start is often doing a little light reading. There are 18 eBooks to choose from but consider starting with The First Seven Questions. If you want to understand the things a CMO looks after, read Mastering Marketing: Leading a Journey of Becoming.

About the Author

John Watson is the president of Accrue Performance Marketing and the author of Mastering Marketing, the Being Profitable Program, several ebooks and an avid blogger. He serves as a sales and marketing coach and fractional Chief Marketing Officer for companies that cannot yet justify a full-time CMO. He's focused on helping startups and growth-focused companies develop powerful brands, customer-centric websites, sales leads and complete commercialization programs.

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