Benefits of using a Fractional CMO

It's been 15 years since our company launched our Marketing Management service. We first stepped in as the Director of Marketing & Communications for StFX University. Since then, we have worked as a marketing lead (CMO, VP, Director, Manager, etc.) for a wide selection of companies such as Eden Textile, Tirecraft Canada, Kinduct (now Movella), GOALLINE, Community Foundation of Nova Scotia, MacLeod Cares, MOBIA, Cresco and Graphite Innovation & Technologies (GIT). In these roles we've done everything from develop and own all of the elements within the marketing strategy; manage or evolve the organization's brand; support strategic planning across the organization; align a strategy with Sales and Client Success; bring on and manage resources - internal and external - to help execute the strategy; execute the tactical needs ourselves; and/or manage and mentor an internal marketing team that is responsible for executing the go-to-market plan. We have also offered counsel and advice in other areas such as pricing, product development, operations, client success, and organizational structure.

Based on our experience and the feedback from our clients, we can highlight 6 benefits for bringing on a Fractional CMO:
1. Cost effectiveness - access years of experience and knowledge without the hefty price
2. Customization - put together a custom strategy or plan based on your current business needs
3. Wisdom - unlock something unique you, or the wider team, didn't know you needed
4. Lighten expenses - using remote services, that can work anywhere, reduces overhead costs
5. Mitigate risk - project work, or short-term retainers, reduce any unnecessary long-term financial commitments
6. New perspective - a new, fresh set of eyes and ears can bring dynamic and unique strategic thinking

When we look back at the mix of contracts we have been involved with, we'd highlight three key learnings:
1. There has to be a handover or transition plan. Having an in-house resource(s) is always important. If no one is available on the client's team, we help hire those resources so that we can then pass the strategy over to be executed.
2. It doesn't matter the size of the company, they could all benefit from outside senior marketing leadership. Companies often have a hard time working on the business vs in the business. This is has been the case in every contract, we're not just pitching our services. 
3. There's still some training or education needed internally in most companies once we step in. Some teams (Product, Sales, Client Success, Ops, etc) may not fully understand our role and how immersed we'll be in the business.

When we launched the business in 2007, our model and approach was very new and not well understood. When we introduced the Fractional CMO offering to people, most couldn't wrap their heads around the structure or how it could work. Now it's well understood and embraced, and there's a number of people or companies offering the service. We like to say our offering is still unique, especially now that we have 15 years of experience in this type of role. That's a lot of knowledge and insight to bring to the table. We also really enjoy being part of the team. Our clients always appreciate having another set of eyes or hands to help grow their business through effective marketing.