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Fractional CMO

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Do you feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day to manage all the aspects of your business? Are you struggling to keep up with the latest marketing trends? If so, you may need to consider hiring a fractional CMO. A fractional CMO agency can help manage your marketing efforts while freeing up time for you to focus on other areas of your business. Keep reading to learn more about fractional CMOs and whether or not they could be a good fit for your small business.

What is a fractional CMO?

A fractional CMO (chief marketing officer) is a digital marketing consultant who helps businesses with everything from social media to email marketing to website design — in short, a small business marketing expert who can help your business communicate with your clients and prospects all while working on a part-time basis. A fractional CMO agency can help you with things like social media, email marketing, brand identity, and more. 

When should I hire a fractional CMO?

Do you feel like you don’t have enough time to do everything that needs to be done for your business? You’re not alone. Many small business owners struggle with trying to wear all the hats and do everything themselves. If your business matches any of the descriptions below and would like to explore fractional CMO services, then maybe it’s time to consider hiring a fractional CMO.

You own a startup or new business

You’re busting your hump day and night trying to get everything off the ground, and you’ve chosen to be in this business because you’re good at producing products or performing services. But how are you at marketing? Odds are you’ve already had to figure out more unexpected details of business ownership than you ever thought possible, and figuring out how to “do marketing” probably sounds overwhelming. You know that trying to DIY the marketing probably wouldn’t be in your business’s best interests, but you can’t afford to bring on a full-time CMO. 

Enter the fractional CMO, who can help you develop your brand and build your marketing strategy, and oversee tactical marketing activities to grow your business a little at a time according to how many hours of their time you can afford to pay for per month.

You own a small business looking to grow

You don’t have the time or resources to invest in a full-time marketing team, but you know digital marketing is essential to reach new customers and stay competitive. A fractional CMO can help. A CMO can provide access to experienced digital marketing professionals who can develop and execute effective marketing campaigns at a fraction of the cost of a full-time marketing team.

Fractional CMOs work with you to understand your business goals and create a custom marketing plan that fits your budget and needs. Whether you’re looking to launch a new product, grow your customer base, or simply increase brand awareness, a fractional CMO can help you achieve your goals and take your business to the next level.

You’re looking to implement more mature marketing practices

You’ve been in business for a while now, and you know better marketing is what your business needs to achieve significant growth, but you don’t have the in-house expertise or bandwidth to make it happen. That’s where a fractional CMO comes in with their fractional marketing services.

A fractional CMO is like an extension of your team, providing fractional marketing services and strategic guidance you need to grow your business. Fractional CMOs work with you to develop a marketing plan that aligns with your business goals and budget, and then help you execute it.

Fractional CMO benefits

As we’ve shown, hiring a fractional CMO can help your business grow no matter what stage your business is in. Here are some specific benefits of working with a fractional CMO that apply to all business stages.

You’ll get access to a team of experienced marketers who can help you with everything from developing a small business marketing strategy to executing campaigns and measuring results. And because fractional agencies work on a project basis, you only pay for the services you need, when you need them.

If you own a small business, you may not have the budget to hire a full-time CMO. But that doesn’t mean you can’t have access to top-level marketing talent. A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who works with businesses on a part-time or project basis.

A fractional CMO can help you save money on marketing tools. Because fractional CMOs already have the marketing and SEO tools for use with their other clients, you’ll save money by benefiting from their subscriptions rather than paying for those tools yourself.

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Fractional CMO drawbacks

While there are some clear benefits to hiring a fractional CMO, there are also some potential drawbacks you should be aware of.

Once you see the positive effect a fractional CMO can have on your business growth, you’ll probably want to hire them for more hours or a greater number of projects. But since fractional CMOs work with several different clients, they may not have the available hours to accommodate your request for more of their time. That being said, fractional CMOs agencies, like Take the Stairs, will help you transition into hiring and training a full-time replacement for your business when the time is right.

Additionally, since they do have other clients to work with, your business won’t be the focal point of their attention all the time. You may want to set a meeting for the afternoon to discuss a question or issue, but they may not be able to meet for a few days due to the deadlines and meetings they’ve already agreed to with their other clients. If you’re beginning to feel this way, it may be time to look at adding a full-time CMO or Marketing Director for your business.

Since a fractional CMO works with several clients, rather than having one client or employer who pays their benefits, they have to choose clients who are the most ideal to work with. As a fractional CMO’s clientele changes over time, it could happen that a new client is a better fit for that fractional CMO, and they could choose to drop your business in order to make more time available to another client.

Still not sure? Set a meeting to speak with a fractional CMO in Nashville 

If you’re looking to take your business up a notch, but don’t have the budget for a full-time CMO, consider hiring a fractional CMO. A fractional CMO can help you with all aspects of marketing, from developing a strategy to executing campaigns and measuring results.

Take the Stairs is a Nashville-based agency offering fractional CMO services that can help you get the most out of your marketing dollars. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business reach its goals.

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