Just What Is a Fractional CMO

A fractional CMO is a part-time contract executive, a Chief Marketing Officer, who is responsible for leading the marketing strategy and managing the marketing department for you small business. As Fractional CMOs we typically work with businesses that need the role of a CMO, but only in a part-time basic. Small Businesses use this type of service because they require expert strategy and leadership and often enjoy the flexibility a fractional CMO provides.

Think of a Fractional CMO as an out-sourced service instead of a position within your business structure. When your small businesses need someone to come in and perform tasks that a CMO would traditionally perform for a few hours a week, they would in turn bring in someone or a team member who has the top-level experience that they need, but who doesn’t tether them to the cost of having a CMO as permanent employee or member of their staff.

You Get The Full Power of a Chief Marketing Officer Without the Full-Time Cost or Commitment

Whereas a conventional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) adheres to a typical 40-hour weekly schedule dedicated to overseeing marketing tasks solely for a single company, a fractional CMO commits to a specific number of hours per month so this king of arrangement often involves serving multiple companies simultaneously. The most appealing advantage of a fractional CMO frequently lies in their cost-effectiveness; their fees are significantly lower than the expenses incurred by hiring a full-time CMO as an employee to address your business requirements.

Ber Mitchell writing in Forbes Magazine (The Benefits Of Hiring A Fractional CMO (And How To Choose One)):

“The problem isn’t finding someone with the skills to help; there are plenty of skilled marketers in the world. The problem is finding the right person for the job: someone who will tell you the truth and provide the required guidance for the right price.”

Is a Fractional CMO Right for You?

You will benefit from a Fractional CMO if:

• You want to accelerate your growth to get to the next level, but you need executive-level guidance and leadership with solid execution capabilities.
• You want an independent, outside perspective on your business, marketing strategy, and commercial tactics.
• Your growth has stagnated and you’ve never invested in marketing (and don’t know where to start).
• You need to hit the ground running, but do not have the time or budget to hire a full in-house team.
• You are spending time on marketing that is not cohesive or effective.
• You are planning to launch more products and services, or grow with new types of customers.

What Is Your Marketing Budget?

Most small businesses have no real idea what their marketing budget should be and they need help with that kind of planning. Our initial contract commitment is for 4 months and in that time period we will research your industry and your local competition and give you suggested budget figures for you to evaluate.

The U.S. Small Business Administration typically recommends small businesses (they define small as businesses with revenue less than 5 million) allocate between 7% and 8% of their total revenue to marketing and typically the smaller the operation the the higher those percentage might be. BUT there are other factors to consider when determining a budget such as the type of industry, size of business, growth stage, etc. and with a businesses that is just getting started you will need to work on “brand building” so you might find a 20 percent of sales figure for a marketing budget is more appropriate.

I (We)...What does that mean?

I approach business improvement projects the same way I approached building & remodeling projects during my career as a general contractor in that while I am capable of doing almost all the tasks myself I also work with and hire talented subcontractors to work with me when the need or time constraint call for it.

As the Project Manager I will at times work with and contract outside graphic designers, web designers, copywriters and programmers etc.

 Arrange a Zoom Meeting or Phone Call with Jerrald Hayes of The Small Business System Company to Discuss How a Fraction CMO Can Help Your Small Business.