For Best Results: Do Your Homework Before Hiring an FCMO

Maximizing the benefits a fractional Chief Marketing Officer (FCMO)  provides relies on an amazing collaboration between the C-level marketing expert and the organization. Clients should be prepared before, during, and after the FCMO’s tenure.

This article shares seven strategies to ensure a company gets the maximum out of an FCMO’s services:

• Know your needs
• Audit your existing marketing campaigns
• Set realistic expectations
• Clean your data
• Strengthen your marketing team
• Allocate sufficient budget
• Give fractional CMOs room to work

Bring the right FCMO onboard and watch your business thrive. Read below to learn more about these tips! Let’s go!

Wondering what a Fractional CMO can do for your business? Watch this video below.

1. Know Your Needs

Companies often hire FCMOs without knowing their problems and desired outcomes. They expect this expert to boost revenues instantly, unaware that marketing alone cannot drive growth. Avoid this misstep by taking the time upfront to analyze your business deeply. 

Ask these questions: 

• Is your messaging consistent and compelling? 
• How are your campaigns performing? 
• Are they integrated across channels with clear objectives and return tracking? 
• How strong is your content strategy? 
• Are you publishing high-quality content tailored to different buyer personas and stages? 
• How are leads, conversions, engagement rates, retention, and referrals? 
• Where are the weak points costing you customers and revenue? 
• What processes or skills need to be optimized?

The more you can pinpoint problem areas, the better an FCMO can develop solutions.

Next, identify your marketing goals in the next six to 12 months. Precise objectives improve allocating resources and measuring impact.

Make them concrete. Do you want to increase lead conversion rates by 25%? How about shortening sales cycles from three months to six weeks? Would you like to reduce customer acquisition costs by 30%? 

Finally, outline how you envision an FCMO addressing your challenges and goals. What strategies, channels, and capabilities should they focus on to move the needle? Get clear on expected deliverables and responsibilities.

Fractional CMOs are marketing geniuses but not mind readers. Thoroughly assess your marketing gaps and define goals to give them direction. 

2. Audit Your Existing Marketing Campaigns

A comprehensive audit shows systemic roadblocks beyond surface numbers. It gives the FCMO insight into your weaknesses and how to address them. The review sets them – and your company – up for success.

Go deeper than just the basic campaign numbers. Look at how your messaging connects with each customer type. Are you reaching buyers at all stages? Do your words and images address the problems? 

Consider how marketing and sales work together. Do lead nurturing programs result in sales-ready leads? Can you spot opportunities to smooth the flow of demand- and lead-generation activities?

Review your technology stack. Are your customer relationship management platform, email system, and analytics strong enough to support growth? Identify any weak links the FCMO should address by adding new platforms or integrations.

3. Set Realistic Expectations 

Fractional CMOs are great at what they do but can only do so much. Be sensible with your expectations. Avoid demanding huge overnight changes. A ten-fold revenue increase in six months is often unrealistic for most CMO engagements.

Instead, do the following: 

• Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) that fit the CMO’s role and your budget. 
• Focus on gradual improvements, such as better leads and more sales. 
• Know your top priorities. Pick two or three of the biggest problem areas or opportunities. 
• Look at your competitors. Research their marketing performance and success. Use the data as benchmarks for scaling expectations.
• Keep long-term vision in mind, but also celebrate short-term wins. Marketing takes patience, but early signs of traction validate that you are on the right track.
• Be flexible. The marketing landscape evolves quickly. Expect that strategies should adapt to new technologies, platforms, and competitors.

With realistic expectations, CMO services confidently improve processes and campaigns for long-term growth.

4. Clean Your Data

Outdated, redundant, or irrelevant information bogs down strategy development and execution. Analyze your existing database and clean it up before hiring an FCMO. 

Suppose you have customer data on your CRM, email marketing platform, and analytics tool. Carefully consolidate these sources into a single marketing database. Include details such as the following:

• Demographic information such as names, age, location, and gender
• Psychographic information such as interests, values, and personality 
• Behavioral data such as purchase history, website activity, and email engagement
• Contact information such as email addresses, phone numbers, and social media handles 

As you pull this data together, standardize formats and eliminate duplicates. Fill in the missing values. Segment them into categories. These include customer lifecycle stages, purchase recency, order frequency, etc.

The robust database gives the FCMO reliable, accurate information to work with from day one. It also enables them to develop sound data-driven decisions. 

5. Strengthen Your Marketing Team

The best FCMO partnerships involve regular, effective communication between this C-level marketing expert and the staff. 

Set up times for check-ins and reviews to know if you are hitting goals. Include leaders from sales, product development, and finance. This way, you receive diverse feedback and ensure everyone agrees on the objectives. 

Fractional CMO services bring short-term help, but their work should make a lasting impact. Use the time to learn as much as possible. Have your team work closely with the marketing expert. This helps them build skills that stay within your company after the contract ends. 

6. Allocate Sufficient Budget

Fractional CMO services are cheaper than hiring full-time chief marketing officers but can cost you thousands of dollars monthly. Additionally, severely limited resources often hamper an FCMO’s performance. They struggle, or fail, to execute critical marketing campaigns. 

With an insufficient budget, you are stunting your growth.

How do you know how much you can afford? Consider these tips:

• Benchmark similar companies to estimate realistic marketing spending 
• Account for technology and service costs
• Include the budget for any additional staff or contractors.
• Allocate funds for testing and optimization
• Set aside a budget for monitoring campaign analytics

Plan for multiple budget check-ins to adjust if needed. Discuss the following during the meetings:

• Total budget for every milestone
• Process and timelines for budget approval 
• Any phasing of budgets across fiscal quarters
• Funding details for specific initiatives, if available

Under-budgeting forces trade-offs. Be honest with what you can afford so that you can maximize an FCMO’s benefit.

7. Give Fractional CMOs Room to Work

Nothing ruins any FCMO partnership other than a micromanager who slows its momentum or a passive business leader who ignores its needs. 

Even the most experienced marketing expert struggles. They hit roadblocks as much as you do. Empower them by providing enough support. Start with these ideas: 

• Limit the number of meetings. Address concerns during scheduled meetings instead of piecemeal interventions, unless necessary. 
• Respect their time. Avoid encouraging them to work beyond the agreed-upon monthly hours. 
• Prevent requiring excessive approvals that delay action.
• Give the FCMO leeway to make judgment calls based on their expertise. Do not undermine their authority by overriding decisions without cause.
• Provide access to the required tools, data, and team members.
• Give feedback on their ideas.

Learn how to work with FCMOs by giving them executive access and autonomy. Make them feel more confident about delivering outstanding results.  

Summing Up

FCMO services become a smart investment when you lay the groundwork for mutual success. Avoid rushed decisions or vague objectives. Be rigorous in your due diligence. Set a realistic budget and expectations. Let them do their work. 

Are you looking for the best FCMO partner? Contact Digital Authority Partners to schedule a free consultation.