Think about the last time you recruited for a key marketing position. The candidates you interviewed were impressive and experienced, but the perfect hire would have required you to take one applicant’s extensive industry background and combine it with the digital savvy and laser-focused strategic mindset of another. While we all strive to identify the ideal expert, securing the perfect combination of knowledge, personality, and skills seems about as likely as capturing a griffin or chimera.
A recent report by Robert Half’s The Creative Group indicates that while executives find it challenging to find exceptional marketing talent, they will continue to require the help of professionals in essential growth areas like research and brand management. If you are one of the many business leaders who needs better results from marketing, you have more options for support and reinforcement than ever before. A fractional CMO or multi-CMO team are helpful ways to add proven expertise to your staff, without the cost of hiring a permanent executive.
Whether you are moving from start-up to scale-up mode, or are currently firing on all cylinders operationally, you can ensure your business remains in forward motion by removing random acts of marketing to create a deliberate growth strategy.
According to Gartner’s 2018 CIO Agenda Report, most technology businesses consider growth and market share to be their top priorities for the calendar year. Despite billions of dollars spent on marketing efforts within the space, a competitive, rapidly changing environment makes it easy for enterprises of all sizes to lose momentum.
There are various reasons for a downward trend. Many organizations lack an appropriate strategic plan to propel growth. Others are spreading their staff too thin or allocating their resources to the wrong areas.
In their book The Growth Gears, Chief Outsiders Principals Art Saxby and Pete Hayes tell us that it is essential for companies to evolve from an operational focus to a growth-based mindset. While many executives spend precious time and resources trying to figure out how to run their organization, a market-based perspective will improve your product or service offerings and position them more competitively.
One of Chief Outsiders’ fractional partners can assist you on the task, and our multi-CMO model allows mid-sized businesses to benefit from the combined expertise of 60+ proven marketing leaders – people who have led strategy and growth initiatives inside operating companies and are now offering their knowledge on a fractional or part-time basis. Let’s examine the advantages:
Whether you are a B2B provider expanding to B2C, or are looking to diversify geographically, a tenacious team of diverse CMOs could be the combination of expertise you require for the cost of a fractional CMO. This option provides you with fractional C-level marketing insights, delivered by a team of two to three part-time experts who offer a composite of the skills and experience you need to unlock growth as you are transforming your business. This model is also ideal for companies that need to evaluate new opportunities and channels to market in other verticals.
In cases where a single fractional CMO makes sense for your business, you can also benefit from access to a robust team of CMOs who lend their expertise to your principal CMO in the background. You may need a perspective on improving your company’s LinkedIn presence, an assessment of your digital outreach vs. your competitors, recommendations regarding e-commerce best practices or an evaluation of your lead generation tools and methods. Your fractional CMO can access the Chief Outsiders team and bring in additional expertise when warranted.
However you choose to work with a fractional CMO, a best practice unique to Chief Outsiders is ongoing peer reviews. In these reviews, your fractional CMO presents your business situation and current approach for analysis by other CMOs in the company. This deep-dive discussion evaluates the current opportunity, and recommends actions based on the team members’ diverse skills and experiences helping other clients in similar situations. The study is confidential, but it is recorded to be shared with the client company. These peer reviews prove invaluable in bringing fresh ideas based on facts and replicable experience.
The expert team at Chief Outsiders is a business consultancy comprised entirely of former CMOs from dozens of industries, including, technology, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, and more. The company focuses on matching CMOs with clients based on their experience solving their unique business challenges, as well as their experience in B2B and B2C, cultural fit in the client’s industry, channel, segment, or marketing discipline.
If you are ready to ignite your growth, consider the unique capabilities that a multi-CMO approach can give you. The perfect blend is possible while still taking the fractional approach.