The decision to hire a fractional CMO agency can be a game changer for your marketing efforts and your balance sheet. The popularity of fractional CMOs has grown rapidly over the past several years—and we want to shed some light on why.
Adopting a cutting-edge marketing strategy is a never-ending challenge. Competition across all industries is more intense than ever before, especially as online marketers have expanded their customer bases across the globe.
For smaller or up-and-coming businesses, this creates seemingly insurmountable challenges. But the same goes for even more mature and successful companies. The latest survey from HubSpot reveals that marketers across the board struggled with even the most basic elements of forming strategies.
For companies whose marketing teams are overwhelmed, unsuccessful, or even non-existent, there is a solution: hiring a fractional CMO agency.
But what does a fractional CMO do exactly?
A fractional CMO (chief marketing officer) is an outsourced partner that takes over the role of a marketing department. They manage the responsibility of carrying out marketing initiatives and handle day-to-day tasks like:
- Overseeing marketing campaigns and initiatives
- Creating and launching new marketing strategies
- Overseeing customer retention and nurturing
- Developing marketing content, messaging, and advertisements
- Designing search marketing and SEO tactics
- Gathering analytical data to measure outcomes
For businesses struggling to get positive results with their marketing efforts, it may be time to hire a fractional CMO agency. Here are just a few of the reasons why it could be the best decision for your company:
1. Reduce Overhead Costs
In general, outsourcing any aspect of business usually results in lowered costs. The latest polls show that the leading reason companies decide to outsource in the first place is cost reduction, which was significant in most cases. The same goes for working with a fractional CMO versus hiring an in-house executive to take the lead. Hiring an in-house CMO is extremely expensive, especially if you’re looking for someone with years of experience. Not only do you have to consider their annual salary and benefits, but there is the cost of simply recruiting great talent. It can take months to find someone, which alone costs an average of over $4,000.The cost of hiring a fractional CMO will be less than hiring an in-house executive, much less a full marketing suite. Another benefit is that the fractional CMO cost is based on a contract agreement, so you know exactly what it will cost and what you will get out of it. This keeps finances totally transparent and you’ll know exactly what your billing amount will be. It’s important to note that the cost is often dependent on various factors. Agencies may adjust their pricing depending on your business’s size, objectives, and current marketing status. Different services may have a different price point based on the amount of work it entails.
2. Fractional CMOs Understand the Latest Marketing Trends
Keeping up with the newest digital marketing strategies, trends, and methods is more than a full-time job. But that’s what Fractional CMOs thrive on. Their job is to take clients to the next level by incorporating marketing techniques with proven results. That includes new trends and methods your company may not be familiar with. Of course, a good fractional CMO agency will only use marketing strategies that make sense for your specific business. Not every company would benefit from launching a podcast or running a TikTok page, but it is a great way to diversify digital content for others.
3. They Bring Your Ideas and Vision to LifeYou are still in total control when working with a fractional CMO. Their priority is helping your business meet its objectives, but you are the one giving them direction. Once you bring on a fractional CMO, they will sit down with your current C-suite to discuss your goals and visions to develop a course of action. Once you’ve approved their plan, the fractional CMO agency will handle the rest. They will then handle nearly all aspects of marketing you assign to them including:
- PR and branding
- Content and digital infrastructures
- Social media outreach
- Search engine optimization
- Website design and landing page composition
Most importantly, they will report back on their progress with analytical reports. This will show the fruits of their efforts so you can see exactly how their strategies have impacted your business—and the value you’re getting from them.
4. Work with Marketers Who Have a Proven Track RecordCMO agencies can prove their results based on how they have helped past clients. While this is not a guarantee (and you shouldn’t hire an agency that promises specific results), it gives you a good idea of the scope of their work. Further, by hiring a CMO, you get to work with experts who have years of experience and credibility in their specialty areas. If you want to expand into another service (such as adding in content marketing or SEO), you can easily do this. There is no need to go through the process of vetting more people to add to your team. This also means your leaders don’t need to be constantly micro-managing the team. Fractional CMOs will set up regular communication, but you set objective timelines and develop monthly contracts based on your goals.
5. Support that Grows with YouPerhaps one of the most compelling reasons to consider working with a fractional CMO agency is that their role grows with your business. It’s a great option for smaller companies just starting out, and it’s also a fantastic solution for larger businesses struggling to keep up. Fractional CMOs can be used to fill in for interim roles as needed. Say you eventually want to hire an in-house executive, but you need someone to man the ship while you search. A fractional CMO is the perfect temporary solution to fill in the gaps. You can also assign the agency more responsibilities as time goes on. Perhaps you need them to develop your website first. Once this is done, they can take over your outreach campaigns or develop a lead nurturing system. Whatever marketing support you need, a fractional CMO agency can help.
Is Hiring a Fractional CMO Agency the Right Next Step?
Fractional CMO agencies offer countless benefits for businesses across all industries. Their goal is to support your business and help it achieve higher levels of success. If you’d like to learn more about what a fractional CMO agency could do for your business, reach out to River Avenue Digital. We’ve helped numerous small-to-medium-sized businesses reach their goals.