Fractional CMO Services

If your leadership team lacks a seasoned head of marketing, our part time CMO offering can help.

Everyone thinks they’re a marketer until they get around to trying it themselves. We've seen our fair share of hiccups with small to mid-sized businesses and in some cases, we recommend bringing in a fractional CMO — a part-time Chief Marketing Officer, to help. From brand audits and setting your long-term strategy to digital marketing, budgeting, OKRs, regionalization strategies, org design, and more — we’ve got you covered.

Should you hire a chief marketing officer or get your CMO outsourced?

Here’s what you should think about:

  1. Cost-Effectiveness: When it comes to startups, every penny counts. Hiring a full-time CMO can drain your bank account faster than you can say "ROI". With outsourced CMO services, you can get a team of marketing wizards without breaking the bank. 

  2. Expertise and Experience: Outsourced CMO services bring a team of seasoned marketing professionals who have seen it all, including massive successes and, equally importantly, epic fails. They possess more marketing knowledge than an encyclopedia and have the experience to navigate the most challenging terrain. 

  3. Scalability and Flexibility: Some startups grow from a tiny acorn to a massive oak tree overnight and some take a while to find their way with a crawl-run-walk approach. Having a team that can flex up and down given marketplace shifts is key.

  4. Objective Perspective: Let's be honest, startups can sometimes be like overprotective parents who refuse to acknowledge their child’s flaws, even when the ship is sinking. That's where an interim CMO can be a handy reality check. They bring an objective perspective, fresh ideas, and constructive feedback that will make you rethink or execute those marketing ideas that come to you in the middle of the night that you can’t get out of your head.

  5. Access to a Network of Resources: Startups are like lone wolves trying to do it all -- but in reality, they need a pack to survive. The good news is outsourced CMO services come with a network of industry contacts, vendors, and technology platforms that can give your startup a boost. This can open doors, create partnerships, and bring opportunities you might not have considered.

Top reasons to outsource your CMO

  • You want a seasoned, full-time chief marketing officer to work cross-functionally, but lack the proper budget and need a more cost-effective solution

  • Hiring a full-time CMO seems overwhelming and you’re not sure where to start

  • Your brand positioning is weak or not resonating with prospects and/or customers

  • Your marketing department is one entry-level marketing person acting as five and they’re not getting results

  • You have an army of freelancers operating in silos without a master plan or real accountability

  • You’re trying to DIY it yourself (without an experienced marketing professional) and it’s going nowhere, fast

  • Your marketing campaigns are ad-hoc and/or you don’t have a marketing strategy or specific goals in place

  • Your day-to-day activity does not align to your overarching business strategy

  • You’ve hired a marketing agency but haven’t seen the results you want

  • Morale in your marketing team is suffering from a lack of vision and/or internal conflicts — and is completely disconnected from your sales team as a result

  • You’ve gone too far down one path and you need to hit the reset button on your marketing efforts

  • You’re launching a new brand and have a slim team without a marketing leader

  • You have too many marketing programs running at the same time and as a result, you’re doing none of them well

  • You don’t have the time to vet and hire a marketing executive but you need a short term fractional chief marketing officer, stat

Common ways we help

01. Strategic Marketing Assessment & Planning

Let us come in and look at your marketing function and what you're doing (if anything at all), what's working, and what's not (and why) and our fractional CMOs will give you our no-nonsense opinion on what you should start, stop or continue. Sometimes that can mean developing an entire marketing plan from scratch. And most importantly, a really good fractional CMO agency will establish the right company, marketing initiatives, source marketing talent, and individual goals.

 

02. Marketing Operations

If things like CRM, marketing automation, segmentation, or integration give you slight panic, don't worry. We’re buzzword bingo decoders and make sure you understand decisions before they’re made. Bring us in to make sure your marketing operations setup is right for your business and stage. And that doesn't have to mean the most expensive tools and platforms out there. The best software is only as good as the people and strategy in place to run it.

 

03. Organizational Planning

Soooo… you have a big idea but might not have a clue about marketing, or the types of people you need to bring your vision to life. The good news is we do, so if you need senior marketing help here, holler. Finding the right marketing leadership is one of our favorite things. ​Sometimes, hiring a fractional CMO is the answer

 
 

How much does a fractional CMO cost with TFC?
$15K USD monthly*

(*includes 20 hours per week)

Our part time fractional CMO consulting (like us) is pretty straightforward and upfront. We don’t believe in luring you in with sales pitches.