If you’re about to invest in a salesperson, a website, advertising, a tradeshow, a CRM or some other costly business development activity, consider engaging a Fractional CMO before you begin.
A CMO’s first responsibility is to ensure you’re clear on your business objectives and to make sure you have a plan for how you’ll achieve your goals. A CMO helps you invest wisely so you avoid getting sold on fad tactics or distracted by wasteful busy work.
A Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) serves alongside the President, COO, CFO or GM as a co-entrepreneur and/or member of the executive team. They are responsible for creating and performance-optimizing your sales and marketing program to maximize ROI and earnings growth.
A Fractional CMO splits their time between several companies to fulfil this strategic role cost-effectively. Of course, cost-effective is a relative term that depends on your situation and growth objectives. The more you invest in growth, the greater your risk and need for strategic direction and support.
Your Fractional CMO becomes your partner in business development. You engage them in a part-time or fractional capacity to help guide program set-up and optimization. The size of the fraction depends on your goals, but a typical CMO engagement ranges from 2 to 20+ hours a week . Your CMO may work on-site, virtually or some combination of the two to help you and your team design, build and grow your business. For a more detailed introduction, please read our article Do I Need A Fractional CMO?
It’s important to determine if you need a Fractional CMO or if a Marketing Coach is more appropriate. The main difference is speed and cost. You engage a Fractional CMO when you have more to invest, higher risk, want to go faster and require a more hands-on approach. Marketing Coaches are ideal for situations with smaller budgets or where guidance and direction are the primary goals.
