Who should hire a fractional CMO? Is there a certain size of brand that makes sense? A specific revenue number or scaling goal that you hit when a fractional CMO is the right step?

Once you’re clear on what a fractional CMO is, you may think it sounds like the right next role in your company.

Like any decision in company growth, it’s important to understand your options, what results to expect, and how to assess the right action to take.

The Right Time to Hire a Fractional CMO

A fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is a professional with C-Suite level marketing expertise that companies invest in to lead their marketing department, establish strategy and implement processes.

When it comes to driving company sales for your product or service, your marketing strategy/team/execution/leadership are the 4 key elements to moving the needle and seeing results. 

The strategy and leadership often go hand in hand in your marketing department. Typically, emerging or mid-sized companies have a team ‘doing’ their marketing but reach a point where they are ready for a higher level of leadership and guidance.

Bringing on someone with C-Suite level marketing experience and leadership skills is a big undertaking and it can take a long time to find the perfect fit. This is when a fractional marketing executive makes the most sense.

• Have a person or team ‘doing’ the marketing
• Need a higher level of marketing leadership
• Leadership is managing the junior marketing team
• Ready for a third-party perspective
• Not in a position to hire a full-time role

Key Moments When Fractional CMOs Can Help

Beyond the points above, there may be times when your company is facing some challenges that a fractional marketing executive could help with.

There are several instances where fractional CMOs can step in, assess the situation, and develop a custom-tailored strategy to help you right the ship – thereby allowing you all to sail in the same direction again. 

These scenarios include:

• Leadership transitions; losing a key marketing lead
• Stagnant or declining sales numbers
• The need for specialized assistance and expertise
• Lack of cohesion, direction, and leadership in your marketing team
• Large-scale marketing pushes; product launches or special projects

When your company is facing one of the challenges above, it may be time to contact a leading fractional CMO service or franchise marketing consultancy.

When Your Messaging Isn’t Working

We had to include one of the biggest reasons a company reaches out to a fractional CMO for support with their marketing.

When your messaging isn’t working.

When your messaging falls short and fails to resonate with your audience, it may be time for an unbiased check-up from a third-party with years of experience.

Messaging not resonating properly can look like:

• Stagnant or declining sales numbers
• Campaign performance declining steadily over time
• Outdated website, sales tools, or long-form content
• Stagnant or declining lead numbers
• Lack of cohesion, direction, and leadership in your marketing team

Who Is NOT a Fit to Hire a Fractional CMO

As we ask who should hire a fractional CMO, we must look at who should NOT hire a fractional CMO.

Although a fractional marketing executive offers so many benefits to many different companies and brands, there are some teams who wouldn’t benefit.

If you’re a small business with no marketing team and a shoestring budget, a fractional CMO is likely too big a step for where you are at in your growth. Keep the idea in  your back pocket, though. You’ll get there!

Instead, a good step for a smaller company may be to bring on a marketing freelancer, a small marketing agency to support with the basics, or to DIY some elements of their marketing on their own.

Another great option is to seek marketing consulting services on a smaller scale, such as strategy calls, business coaching, or project-based work from contractors.

Another type of business who may not be a great fit to hire a fractional CMO is a company who needs a full-time team member to be in-office. Fractional CMOs are just that… fractional.

Typically fractional CMOs work with several clients at one time and offer leadership and specific deliverables as opposed to coming on board to your team in a full-time capacity. 

HelloCMO Fractional CMO Services

Liane Caruso is one of the foremost fractional CMOs in the world of franchising. With over two decades of B2B and B2C experience, her insights have become an invaluable resource for the companies and brands she’s partnered with over the years. 

Having worked with so many franchise brands both in consumer marketing and franchise development marketing, she realized there was a gap in executive leadership in emerging and mid-sized brands to accomplish comprehensive strategic marketing planning, marketing and sales alignment, and initiatives that produce real results with strong ROI. 

And so, HelloCMO was created.

HelloCMO is Liane Caruso’s franchise marketing consultancy dedicated to fractional CMO or outsourced franchise marketing consulting engagements and projects for franchise concepts. If you need the kind of assistance that only a fractional CMO can provide, we’ve got your solutions waiting.