Is a Fractional CMO Right for You? 

We live in a time where everyone is a self-proclaimed marketing expert, access to information has never been easier, and AI is forcing marketers to uncomfortable territories. It can feel overwhelming, challenging, and tiring all at once. 

As a leader, the last thing you want to be spending time and effort on is solving problems that don’t directly serve your business objectives. What you want is a trusted voice who understands the balance between the art and science of marketing and who can keep the wheels turning every day, all while making sure your marketing strategy aligns with your larger business goals.

The CMO, a Role in Flux

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) role has evolved a lot over the last decade. Traditionally, it was reserved for large enterprises, serving as the brand’s custodian. Today, CMOs are expected to be brand stewards while delivering the performance goals from digital channels, communities, and more. It’s no surprise that the average tenure of a CMO is only 4.5 years - not nearly enough to make an impact as a C-level executive.

These issues are further exacerbated by the generational gap between the two groups of people forming the marketing workforce today - the old, experienced ‘brand’ marketer and the younger, ‘digital-first’ marketer - creating hurdles in team dynamics and therefore, in the efficacy of the results itself.

In this context, finding the right person to make sure that marketing fires on all cylinders is a challenge. Beyond the necessary marketing skills and experience, a good culture fit, empathetic leadership, and the ability to keep abreast with market demands are also required.

What’s more, the average annual salary today for a full-time CMO is in the range of AED 500,000, excluding equity, bonuses, and benefits. This can be an expensive, risky experiment without clearly defined deliverables and success metrics. 

Nonetheless, organisations still need to have the strategic oversight that a CMO can bring to the table.

The Fractional Leader

Fractional leadership roles are quickly becoming popular with organisations and CEOs. 

As the name suggests, the C-level executive is engaged for a fraction of their time and therefore at a fraction of the cost. 

A fractional leader is typically involved with multiple clients simultaneously, which allows them to offer their expertise with the flexibility of engaging on short-to-medium term engagements and without the overheads of cost. 

While each fractional executive has their individual offering, most seem to be positioned in a senior capacity between strategic consultancy and agency-like implementation and execution.

Indeed, a fractional CMO usually operates one step further than a strategic advisor by assuming responsibility for implementing the proposed strategy, including overseeing the management of full-time employees, vendors, freelancers, agencies, and contractors. 

Fractional CMOs can be engaged on a project or retainer basis. Given the nature of the work,  a minimum engagement length of around 6 months is to be expected, although 12 months usually allows for better results and a finer assessment of the engagement’s effectiveness on both sides.

Is a Fractional CMO Right for You?

Hiring the right marketing leader at the right time can really accelerate growth. From being prudent with where the money should be spent to building the right teams and programmes, it can make all the difference in growing your brand and the top line. 

Organisations with 30 or more employees stand to benefit most from a fractional CMO as they scale but, as always, there are exceptions, with solopreneurs and early-stage startups hiring fractional CMOs too. 

As you consider your options for a fractional marketing leader, here’s a handy checklist of things to keep in mind to make the engagement as fruitful as possible:

• Ensure that you have clearly defined objectives for your fractional CMO.

• Inform your team of the new role, person, and engagement model.

• Be willing to share information as you would with your internal full-time, marketing leader.

• Set a roadmap of mutually agreed deliverables. 

• Set up recurring calls, check-ins, and reports to ensure transparency in communication and information capture.

While still in its infancy, fractional leadership is definitely breaking new ground with organisations. The adoption and success rates of these engagements are too good to ignore. For the first time, companies of all sizes have access to the expertise and experience of senior leaders that were previously out of reach. This can greatly enhance the teams’ marketing capabilities and contribute towards achieving business goals.