How Does a Fractional CMO Work?

As marketing strategy becomes increasingly complex and companies aim to be more targeted in understanding and engaging customers, many are turning to fractional Chief Marketing Officers (fCMOs) to provide high-level strategic marketing leadership and expertise.

A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who works on a part-time or project basis with an organization, typically ranging from 10-30 hours per month. They take on many responsibilities of a full-time CMO but with more flexibility and often at a lower cost.

Some key characteristics of fractional CMOs include:

• Typically work remotely on a monthly retainer or project fee basis
• Commit part-time (average 10 hours/week) with flexibility to scale time up or down
• Take on strategic leadership of an organization’s marketing initiatives
• Have 10+ years experience as a strategic marketing leader
• Bring outside perspective from having worked with multiple companies and industries

While specific duties depend on the organization’s needs, fractional CMOs typically take responsibility for high-level strategy and planning, while also getting involved at a tactical level if helpful. Core responsibilities often include:

• Analyzing current marketing strategies and identifying improvement opportunities
• Creating comprehensive marketing plans and growth strategies
• Defining target buyer personas and where/how to reach them
• Establishing pricing and positioning strategies
• Overseeing lead generation programs and sales enablement
• Building marketing technology stacks to support initiatives
• Implementing processes to measure marketing performance
• Hiring and managing additional marketing resources if needed
• Integrating online and offline marketing campaigns end-to-end
• Reporting directly to CEO/Board on marketing metrics & budget spend

Fractional CMOs often work closely with internal marketing teams and other departments. They aim to collaborate rather than dictate, lending their expertise to elevate marketing throughout the organization.

When an internal marketing team exists, fractional CMOs typically:

• Assess strengths/weaknesses of current team and marketing approach
• Identify skill gaps limiting marketing effectiveness
• Provide training/mentorship to increase marketing knowledge
• Empower in-house marketers to execute strategy and tactics
• Measure progress of internal team’s strategy execution
• Recommend new team members to close skills gaps if needed

They also collaborate cross-functionally, giving input to groups like product, sales, and customer success when marketing can better support overall business goals.

In addition to working with internal teams, fractional CMOs often recommend bringing on additional external marketing consultants and agencies to provide bandwidth, specialized skills, or execution support.

Common types of external resources fractional CMOs oversee include:

• Marketing Operations Consultants: Help build marketing tech stack, implement systems, manage campaign logistics and budgets
• Creative and Content Agencies: Develop visual branded assets, collateral, videos, and content campaigns
• Social Media and PPC Agencies: Manage daily social advertising and optimize Google/Facebook paid campaigns
• Email Marketing Consultants: Craft email journeys, oversee list growth, and segmentation, and deploy messages
• Web Developers: Improve website for SEO, UX, and optimizations for lead generation
• PR Firms: Gain earned media placements and external visibility

The fractional CMO serves as the marketing leader, providing direction and guardrails to external partners while letting them handle specialized execution.

Fractional CMOs also operate at a strategic level, working closely with executives and stakeholders. Responsibilities include:

• Meeting 1:1 with the CEO to align on marketing vision and objectives
• Presenting marketing plans, budgets, and results regularly to the leadership team
• Working with the CEO and management team to balance short vs. long-term goals
• Identifying organizational blind spots limiting marketing performance
• Keeping the leadership team appraised of competitive activity and external market factors
• Requests appropriate executive support for initiatives when needed
• Leading marketing agenda and meetings with Board of Directors

The fractional CMO serves as an unbiased marketing expert, informing tactics with executive and stakeholder buy-in while creating organizational alignment.

Hiring a fractional Chief Marketing Officer offers many advantages, including:

Greater Strategic Experience: A fractional CMO has often served as a CMO or VP of Marketing for multiple companies, bringing highly strategic big-picture thinking.

Objective Outside Perspective: With an outside lens, they identify areas of optimization and provide unbiased recommendations.

Flexibility & Cost Effectiveness: Retaining CMO-level guidance at a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive, with flexible time commitments.

Relevant Skill Sets: CMOs shape their expertise to client needs, whether that’s growth marketing, branding, funnel optimization, or messaging.

Actionable Plans & Execution: Fractional CMOs build strategic plans combined with the knowledge and bandwidth to oversee tactical programs.

Accelerated Results: Rather than learning on the job, fractional CMOs have experience driving results across metrics like pipeline growth, retention, and customer lifetime value.

In today’s marketing landscape, leveraging a fractional CMO can pay huge dividends for organizations looking to optimize their marketing success. With their breadth of experience and outside-in viewpoint, fractional CMOs fast-track data-driven growth.

If your company needs a Fractional CMO for B2B SaaS consider working with Peter Geisheker. Peter has been providing Fractional CMO services for over 20 years and has expertise in growth tactics and conversion optimization.