Strong marketing leadership is critical for businesses that are transforming and positioning themselves for the next phase of growth. But for many startups and small and mid-sized businesses, hiring a full-time Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is costly and unnecessary. Those companies may want to consider working with a fractional CMO.
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who provides part-time marketing leadership. They’re embedded with an executive leadership team and are accountable for setting the marketing direction and delivering results.
(Read: What is a Fractional CMO – and Why Should Small and Mid-Size Businesses Hire One in 2024?)
As a fractional CMO who helps businesses grow and evolve through more strategic marketing, I often get asked the question, “when should I hire a fractional CMO?” The answer is that there’s no single right time. There are actually many moments in a company’s lifecycle when it could make sense to bring in a fractional strategic marketing leader for different reasons.
Here are three stages when hiring a fractional CMO makes the most sense.
1. Growth Stage: Building the Marketing Engine
In the growth stage, the business or startup has product-market fit and market traction. There are signs that the company could scale. Marketing needs to drive both new customer acquisition and retention of existing customers. But the marketing team is still small and likely more tactical and focused on execution rather than strategy. Focus, prioritization and using resources wisely remain mission-critical.
To get to the point of being able to scale and expand, it’s important at this stage to build the marketing growth engine and put systems and processes in place. The types of marketing the business is doing diversify, and tactical execution is no longer enough. Marketing investments may include brand awareness, launching new marketing channels, testing and optimizing channels, building the initial martech stack, and setting up ways to coordinate with sales and product. Without a clear, strategic marketing direction, growth companies risk their marketing investments being uncoordinated, ad hoc and ineffective.
But marketing leaders who have experience across disciplines tend to be more senior with higher salary requirements, plus benefits. That can be a lot for a company to take on at this stage. Working with a fractional CMO will give them access to senior marketing expertise that positions them for long-term success.
Marketing is also highly multi-disclipinary, and CMOs can spike in different skillsets. Companies who haven’t had a marketing function before may not know what type of leader they need. Do they need a performance marketer? A brand marketer? A product marketer? Working with a fractional CMO can allow you to test into the right marketing skillsets before making a full-time commitment. Good fractional CMOs can help you hire a full-time CMO who’s the right fit for your culture and needs.
Growth stage fractional CMOs will set the strategic marketing direction, including defining marketing goals, building a comprehensive marketing plan that aligns with the growth objectives, managing marketing ROI, and overseeing the team’s execution of the plan. They will also set up scalable marketing processes and frameworks, and begin to build out an internal marketing team.
2. Expansion Stage: Scaling and Exploring New Markets & Products
With growth comes new challenges and complexities. As companies begin to scale – whether they’re entering new markets or expanding the product line – tailored marketing approaches for different customer bases and geographies become important. They need more sophisticated marketing strategies to be effective.
A fractional CMO can guide the company through these growing pains, ensuring that marketing strategies evolve with the company. They lead the shift towards more structured marketing campaigns and more advanced segmentation. They can help identify the best strategies for entering new markets or segments. They’re data-driven decision makers and instill an experimentation culture to optimize and expand marketing channels.
Beyond the marketing strategy, as the company grows, so does the need for a more substantial marketing team with specialized roles and functions. A fractional CMO can play a vital role in building and mentoring this team, laying the groundwork for a strong internal marketing department.
3. Mature Stage: Reinvention and Staying Competitive
As small and mid-sized businesses mature, they often face new challenges, including increased competition and market saturation. Reinvention and innovation become crucial to staying relevant. Many of these businesses never built out a marketing function, relying instead on word of mouth and referrals. When growth plateaus, it’s time to think about marketing.
A fractional CMO can provide fresh insights and new perspectives on the market, helping mature companies stay relevant and competitive. They can assist in rebranding efforts or in redefining the company’s value proposition.
It’s also likely that mature companies are sitting on substantial customer and market data. It can be overwhelming to make sense of that data and turn it into an actionable plan. A fractional CMO can help gather insights from this data to make informed decisions, fine-tune marketing strategies, and identify new opportunities for growth.
As new marketing tools and AI capabilities emerge, a fractional CMO can lead the charge in digital transformation and marketing modernization, ensuring that the company stays ahead of technological trends and uses tools effectively.
You’ll notice that I did not recommend hiring a fractional CMO in the earliest stages of the business. When a new business, pre-seed or seed stage startup is in its idea and validation stage, resources are often limited. Every investment must be carefully considered. It's also a time when establishing a strong brand identity and story, product positioning, and marketing foundation is crucial. But these businesses don’t need a full-time CMO and they don’t need a fractional CMO. The cost of both can be prohibitive.
At this stage, companies need do-ers. A true C-level marketer is not going to be the right fit. If the owner or founder doesn’t have a marketing background, I recommend hiring a marketing advisor to be a strategic sounding board to ensure the company has a solid foundation for growth. That foundation includes understanding the target audience, crafting positioning and the value proposition, and developing go-to-market strategies. Because the business and product can change rapidly at this point, a senior marketing advisor enables the company to flex, adapt, and bring in new skillsets at a lower cost.
Hiring a fractional CMO can be a strategic move for companies at various stages of growth. Whether laying the foundation in the growth phase, scaling and exploring new markets in the expansion phase, or reinventing and staying competitive in the maturity phase, a fractional CMO offers the expertise, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness that businesses need to navigate these critical periods. By understanding when to bring in this valuable resource, companies can make strategic decisions that position them for long-term success.
If you’re ready to explore how a fractional CMO can help your business achieve your growth goals, let’s talk.
