More and more business leaders are working with a fractional Chief Marketing Officer rather than a full-time CMO. You may be wondering why that’s happening. I’m going to give you the six reasons. But before I get into those six reasons, I want to break down what a true CMO is and is not.
What is a Chief Marketing Officer?
A Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is responsible for managing a company’s growth, whether measured in terms of revenue or perhaps audience growth. A CMO’s role is to collaborate, measure, and provide support for growth initiatives, to reshape the organization they work in, in order to stay ahead of buyer needs.
4 Traits You Need As A Chief Marketing Officer
Forbes.com recently posted an article about the 4 traits you need as a Chief Marketing Officer.
- Future-Thinking: CMOs with an eye on the future will empower greater team agility, performance, and innovation.
- Optimism: A positive attitude when making difficult decisions is key to creating a positive workplace environment. This will keep your organization resilient and stable, so it can continue achieving its goals.
- Curiosity: Curiosity is key in evolving a company’s marketing and sales strategies. After all, the CMO’s role is to revitalize your operations with fresh ideas and tactics—not to allow them to remain stagnant.
- Adaptability: CMOs must be adaptable in today’s ever-changing marketplace. As digital transformation continues to elevate the workplace, companies must remain open-minded and embrace change.
What’s the difference between a CMO and a CGO?
Both CGOs and CMOs focus on driving growth for their company. A CGO leverages a more comprehensive approach to business growth as a whole, while a CMO will focus specifically on marketing efforts to drive growth.
Companies like Coca-Cola, Lyft, and even Kimberly-Clark have opted for a CGO over their previous CMO position.
Why? According to experts, due to emerging technologies and the demands of digital transformations, it’s becoming clear that the CMO needs help from a fellow C-suite focused on driving revenue and business growth.
For continued success in a marketplace now saturated with online marketing campaigns, Coke had to reevaluate its reliance on marketing and the aspects of its corporate structure resulting in limited growth.
8 Reasons More Of Your Competitors Are Pivoting To A Fractional Chief Marketing Officer
1. Cost-Efficiency
Cost is the biggest reason and perhaps the easiest to guess. A true seasoned CGO or CMO, according to glassdoor.com, states that the average CMO/CGO is paid somewhere between $190k to $250k annually, and frequently, equity positions in the company. And this doesn’t include vacation downtime or sick leave. This doesn’t include office space, computers, software, and if functioning effectively and efficiently, a support team to serve with and under the CMO/CGO.
The cost differential between a fractional CMO/CGO and a full-time CMO/CGO is significant. The reality is, that many businesses can’t afford a full-time CMO/CGO. You’d be surprised at the number of $100M+ ARR businesses I’ve worked for that would NEVER deem a full-time CMO/CGO or marketing department as a necessary function of their businesses. So by working with a Fractional CMO or CGO, you get to leverage the broad experience and brainpower you need without all of the expensive full-time costs.
2. Broader Experience Leading To New Strategies
The second reason more business leaders are partnering with a fractional (vs full-time) CMO/CGO, is the desire for new strategies via a broader level of experience. Someone who has only served with your company brings knowledge and insight, but they likely lack a broader perspective that a fractional CMO/CGO, who has worked with both B2B and B2C businesses in a wider range of industry sectors, can deliver.
When you collaborate with a fractional CMO/CGO who has multiple clients, and, again, multiple years or decades of practicing their craft, you’re bringing in a partner who typically has much broader experience in dozens or more different industries, different sectors, and niches, that you get to leverage and bring those insights into your business rather than just someone who goes to work every day at your office and can only see what’s in front of them; that myopic view that is limited by the fact that they work at one place full time.
3. Time Compression
The third reason more of your competitors are working with a fractional CMO/CGO, and this is something really that any CMO/CGO should bring, is their ability to compress time. An experienced CMO/CGO helps business leaders compress decades and years of learning and experience into hours and minutes for their clients. Why would a business leader or owner want to reinvent the wheel when it’s not necessary?
4. Efficiency
Since a fractional CMO/CGO isn’t a full-time employee, they’re more typically aware and in tune with the value of time. They’re commonly more able to completely focus on a specific project or a marketing initiative instead of needing to attend to the other day-to-day time-wasting tasks that full-time employees often need to contend with.
We all know what it’s like to deal with the day-to-day distractions at the office, the water cooler conversations, and hallway chats. This can be achieved at even higher levels with deadlines, and project outlines that are written out. This can be used to utilize a strategic marketing and growth approach so that you get the results that you want faster, and more efficiently.
5. Deeper Bench Of Relationships
Most fractional CGOs and CMOs I know, just like myself, have spent decades running marketing agencies, which means they know how to find, attract, vette, and hire the right technicians to execute. They know how to vet talent, and they have a deep bench of existing talent resources that have already been vetted because they’ve collaborated with them on multiple initiatives. A great CMO/CGO instinctively knows who is good at what they do and who is not. And that deep bench of strategists and technicians comes along with a fractional CMO/CGO, which benefits your business.
6. Risk Avoidance
We strive to avoid unnecessary and uncalculated risks when possible. And by working with a fractional CGO or CMO, you minimize many of the risks associated with hiring a full-time employee. You’ve hired full-time employees. You know that the process, when done well, is cumbersome and requires a multi-step process that can take months. There’s always the risk that you might hire someone, only to discover months later that they don’t quite fit well within your company, your culture, or your brand.
But you don’t have to worry about this risk when you’re working with a fractional (AKA part-time) CGO or CMO. Because they’re part-time, they act more as a consultant, which means you don’t have to worry as much as to whether or not they’re an exact fit for your culture, the recruiting process is much quicker.
They’re not there all the time. You also don’t have to worry about basic personality incompatibilities nearly as much. I’m not suggesting that all of that risk goes away. We need to like and enjoy those with whom we work. Life is way too short to work with people that we don’t enjoy being around. But clearly, the risk of being around someone who doesn’t fit in the organization is exponentially greater if you’re going to be working with them all day, every day.
7. Specialization
Fractional CMOs/CGOs are typically experienced professionals with a deeper understanding of marketing disciplines, growth strategies, and trends. They more commonly provide specialized skills like digital marketing, branding, lead generation, and overall business and profitability growth strategies that are tailored to your specific business goals and objectives.
8. Leadership & Mentorship
Fractional CMOs/CGOs often act as mentors to your existing marketing and growth team, providing guidance, leadership, and training. They help develop your team’s skills, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth.
About the author.
Brian Webb is a 22-year entrepreneur, private investor, business & profit growth mentor, a B2B marketer, and the host of the Business Growth Show podcast.
In addition to managing a growing portfolio of businesses, Brian is the CEO of the award-winning marketing and business growth consulting agency in The Woodlands, Texas (Greater Houston Metroplex), Whatbox Digital, LLC.
You can find Brian on Apple, Google, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Amazon. Brian’s writings have been published and featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and MarketWatch, and has been approved as a Forbes Business Council member and content contributor.
You may also recognize some of Brian’s anchor clients like Coca-Cola, Comcast, Coldwell Banker, Entrepreneur’s Organization, Hospital Corp of America, and Karbach Brewing, to name a few.
More and more business leaders are working with a fractional Chief Marketing Officer rather than a full-time CMO/CGO. You may be wondering why that’s happening. I’m going to give you the six reasons. But before I get into those six reasons, I want to break down what a true CMO/CGO is and is not.
What is a Chief Growth Officer?
A Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is responsible for managing a company’s growth, whether measured in terms of revenue or perhaps audience growth. A CMOs/CGOs role is to collaborate, measure, and provide support for growth initiatives, to reshape the organization they work in, in order to stay ahead of buyer needs.
4 Traits You Need As A Chief Marketing Officer
Forbes.com recently posted an article about the 4 traits you need as a CMO.
- Future-Thinking: CMOs/CGOs with an eye on the future will empower greater team agility, performance, and innovation.
- Optimism: A positive attitude when making difficult decisions is key to creating a positive workplace environment. This will keep your organization resilient and stable, so it can continue achieving its goals.
- Curiosity: Curiosity is key in evolving a company’s marketing and sales strategies. After all, the CMO’s role is to revitalize your operations with fresh ideas and tactics—not to allow them to remain stagnant.
- Adaptability: CMOs must be adaptable in today’s ever-changing marketplace. As digital transformation continues to elevate the workplace, companies must remain open-minded and embrace change.
What’s the difference between a CMO and a CGO?
Both CGOs and CMOs focus on driving growth for their company. A CGO leverages a more comprehensive approach to business growth as a whole, while a CMO will focus specifically on marketing efforts to drive growth.
Companies like Coca-Cola, Lyft, and even Kimberly-Clark have opted for a CGO over their previous CMO position.
Why? According to experts, due to emerging technologies and the demands of digital transformations, it’s becoming clear that the CMO needs help from a fellow C-suite focused on driving revenue and business growth.
For continued success in a marketplace now saturated with online marketing campaigns, Coke had to reevaluate its reliance on marketing and the aspects of its corporate structure resulting in limited growth.
8 Reasons More Of Your Competitors Are Pivoting To A Fractional Chief Marketing Officer
1. Cost-Efficiency
Cost is the biggest reason and perhaps the easiest to guess. A true seasoned CGO or CMO, according to glassdoor.com, states that the average CMO/CGO is paid somewhere between $190k to $250k annually, and frequently, equity positions in the company. And this doesn’t include vacation downtime or sick leave. This doesn’t include office space, computers, software, and, if functioning effectively and efficiently, a support team to serve with and under the CMO/CGO.
The cost differential between a fractional CMO/CGO and a full-time CMO/CGO is significant. The reality is, that many businesses can’t afford a full-time CMO/CGO. You’d be surprised at the number of $100M+ ARR businesses I’ve worked for that would NEVER deem a full-time marketing department and/or a CMO/CGO as a necessary function of their businesses. So by working with a Fractional CMO or CGO, you get to leverage the broad experience and brainpower you need without all of the expensive full-time costs.
2. Broader Experience Leading To New Strategies
The second reason more business leaders are partnering with a fractional (vs full-time) CMO/CGO, is the desire for new strategies via a broader level of experience. Someone who has only served with your company brings knowledge and insight, but they likely lack a broader perspective that a fractional CMO/CGO, who has worked with both B2B and B2C businesses in a wider range of industry sectors, can deliver.
When you collaborate with a fractional CMO/CGO who has multiple clients, and, again, multiple years or decades of practicing their craft, you’re bringing in a partner who typically has much broader experience in dozens or more different industries, different sectors, and niches, that you get to leverage and bring those insights into your business rather than just someone who goes to work every day at your office and can only see what’s in front of them; that myopic view that is limited by the fact that they work at one place full time.
3. Time Compression
The third reason more of your competitors are working with a fractional CMO/CGO, and this is something really that any CMO/CGO should bring, is their ability to compress time. An experienced CMO/CGO helps business leaders compress decades and years of learning and experience into hours and minutes for their clients. Why would a business leader or owner want to reinvent the wheel when it’s not necessary?
4. Efficiency
Since a fractional CMO/CGO isn’t a full-time employee, they’re more typically aware and in tune with the value of time. They’re commonly more able to completely focus on a specific project or a marketing initiative instead of needing to attend to the other day-to-day time-wasting tasks that full-time employees often need to contend with.
We all know what it’s like to deal with the day-to-day distractions at the office, the water cooler conversations, and hallway chats. This can be achieved at even higher levels with deadlines, and project outlines that are written out. This can be used to utilize a strategic marketing and growth approach so that you get the results that you want faster, and more efficiently.
5. Deeper Bench Of Relationships
Most fractional CGOs and CMOs I know, just like myself, have spent decades running marketing agencies, which means they know how to find, attract, and hire the right technicians to execute. They know how to vet talent, and they have a deep bench of existing talent resources that have already been vetted because they’ve collaborated with them on multiple initiatives. A great CMO/CGO instinctively knows who is good at what they do and who is not. And that deep bench of strategists and technicians comes along with a fractional CMO/CGO, which benefits your business.
6. Risk Avoidance
We strive to avoid unnecessary and uncalculated risks when possible. And by working with a fractional CGO or CMO, you minimize many of the risks associated with hiring a full-time employee. You’ve hired full-time employees. You know that the process, when done well, is cumbersome and requires a multi-step process that can take months. There’s always the risk that you might hire someone, only to discover months later that they don’t quite fit well within your company, your culture, or your brand.
But you don’t have to worry about this risk when you’re working with a fractional (AKA part-time) CGO or CMO. Because they’re part-time, they act more as a consultant, which means you don’t have to worry as much as to whether or not they’re an exact fit for your culture, the recruiting process is much quicker.
They’re not there all the time. You also don’t have to worry about basic personality incompatibilities nearly as much. I’m not suggesting that all of that risk goes away. We need to like and enjoy those with whom we work. Life is way too short to work with people that we don’t enjoy being around. But clearly, the risk of being around someone who doesn’t fit in the organization is exponentially greater if you’re going to be working with them all day, every day.
7. Specialization
Fractional CMOs/CGOs are typically experienced professionals with a deeper understanding of marketing disciplines, growth strategies, and trends. They more commonly provide specialized skills like digital marketing, branding, lead generation, and overall business and profitability growth strategies that are tailored to your specific business goals and objectives.
8. Leadership & Mentorship
Fractional CMOs/CGOs often act as mentors to your existing marketing and growth team, providing guidance, leadership, and training. They help develop your team’s skills, fostering a culture of continuous learning and growth.
About the author.
Brian Webb is a 22-year entrepreneur, private investor, business & profit growth mentor, a B2B marketer, and the host of the Business Growth Show podcast.
In addition to managing a growing portfolio of businesses, Brian is the CEO of the award-winning marketing and business growth consulting agency in The Woodlands, Texas (Greater Houston Metroplex), Whatbox Digital, LLC.
You can find Brian on Apple, Google, Spotify, Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Amazon. Brian’s writings have been published and featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, and MarketWatch, and has been approved as a Forbes Business Council member and content contributor.
You may also recognize some of Brian’s anchor clients like Coca-Cola, Comcast, Coldwell Banker, Entrepreneur’s Organization, Hospital Corp of America, and Karbach Brewing, to name a few.