If we are not telling the story of our brand, and people are not listening, understanding our value to them, and compelled to engage, we will never be more than an idea.
Marketing and sales drive companies, but we are talking about marketing today.
Marketing is becoming far more complex. With the advent of a myriad of software, AI integrations, social media, relational databases, voice of client, client profiling, and who knows what else, it is easy to become overwhelmed and ineffective.
To that end, having a senior, strategic chief marketing officer onboard who can cut through the noise, understand what is relevant and practical for you, and help you communicate with your audiences effectively is vital to your survival.
I am not taking away from the junior marketers. They are keen, brilliant, and tactically proficient. However, they do not understand the language of business and tend to be hyper-focused on tasks and tactics and not strategy.
What is needed is a senior person who has seen the ebbs and flows of marketing and business, understands client needs, emotions, fears, and desires, and can help dovetail your communication so that it resonates with them and differentiates you in a crowded marketplace.
You need someone who can communicate with various stakeholders within the company, understand budgets, timelines, goals, and challenges, and ensure that marketing efforts are focused on the right products and services at the right time and that wins are seen throughout the company.
With a fractional CMO, you’ll have someone who understands the return on investment and considers marketing, branding, and advertising as a vehicle that propels the business forward. This professional perspective can give you confidence that your marketing efforts are not just a drain on resources, but a strategic investment in your company’s future.
Fortunately, there’s a cost-effective solution for most small companies and startups. The initial capital outlay for a full-time strategic hire can be too intensive, and the ROI too far out to justify the investment when companies are in growth mode. But with a fractional CMO, you can get the strategic expertise you need without breaking the bank.
This is where the fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) shines. They have years of experience across industries and companies of all sizes, understanding through experience what has worked and what has not worked elsewhere and how to apply it to your specific situation.
They can quickly come in, assess your systems, processes, brand, culture, and people, and lead any changes needed to take you from where you are to where you desire to be. This quick and effective action can provide reassurance that your marketing strategy is in good hands.
Note, what is important when hiring a fractional leader of any type is that you are crystal clear about wants, needs, fears, aspirations and goals.
If you are not, then a great fractional leader will get frustrated because they cannot help you succeed, because they don’t understand what success means to you.
You also need to be crystal clear on timelines and budgets. If the Fractional CMO does not have the budget to help you achieve your goals, more than likely they will not. Marketing is measured in arrears. Capital expenditures are done up front. That means that your return on investment probably will not be measurable in neat ninety day sprints.
It takes time to change perceptions and opinions, both inside and outside the organization. It takes time to build awareness, trust and clientele. Marketing is about brand awareness and clients understanding the value that you bring them to the table long-term. Most clients, especially those in the B2B (business to business) realm have their own budgets, goals and timelines that you need to fit into for you both to succeed. Pressure clients too much and they will go elsewhere.
Marketing sets the table, while sales serves the meal and brings the check. They work in sync, but ultimately, it is the client who makes the final decision about whether you meet their needs.
In B2C (business to consumer), the thinking is the same, but the cycles are much more compressed and in many cases far less sophisticated. Consumers buy mostly because of brand awareness, trust and immediate need.
In larger companies, a Fractional CMO can act as someone with specific expertise for a particular product, service or scenario, or they can be a temporary solution when companies are between full-time CMOs. This person can either act as a steward for the brand while a full-time replacement is being sought or when a CMO leaves under less than optimal circumstances, they can be brought in to fix problems and right the ship so that the full-time CMO when hired is spending their first year or more cleaning up a mess left by others.
However you decide to utilize a Fractional CMO, I implore you to understand why you are doing so, how they can add value to you and how you can help them help you succeed.
About Ben Baker
Ben Baker has been a Fractional Chief Communications Officer, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Podcast Officer for his clients for over a decade.
"The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
- George Bernard Shaw
We help you fix that problem and make sure you are listened to, understood, valued, and engaged with by internal and external clients, prospects and stakeholders in meaningful and profitable ways.
Nick Lamparelli is a 20+ year veteran of the insurance wars. He has a unique vantage point on the insurance industry. From selling home & auto insurance, helping companies with commercial insurance, to being an underwriter with an excess & surplus lines wholesaler to catastrophe modeling Nick has wide experience in the industry. Over past 10 years, Nick has been focused on the insurance analytics of natural catastrophes and big data. Nick serves as our Chief Evangelist.
