How a Chicago FCMO Uses Data for Business Growth

Data is more than just numbers or statistics; it can tell stories, predict the future (mostly), and guide your business in a new direction.

In a thriving business hub like Chicago, having a strong grasp of data is essential for business growth and standing out from the competition.

A Chicago fractional CMO helps you harness the potential of data to grow your business to new heights. Continue reading to learn how!

But before you get to that, here’s Jason with how a Chicago fractional CMO can improve business.

What Is a Fractional CMO?

A fractional CMO helps companies plan and execute marketing strategies for sustainable growth. They are brought in on a part-time or per-project basis, meaning companies get expert-level marketing guidance without the commitment of a full-time hire.

This also makes FCMOs more affordable to hire than full-time CMOs: Clients don’t have to accommodate monthly salaries, health insurance, annual bonuses, and other full-time benefits.

They have years of experience working in many different fields, making them adaptable to any scenario. A fractional CMO consultant for Chicago business growth can help with:

• Brand management
• Market research
• Lead generation
• Campaign planning and development
• Data management and analytics
• Digital marketing platforms
• Marketing regulations and ADA compliance

What Is the Difference Between a Fractional CMO and a Consultant?

A fractional CMO provides ongoing support and leadership. They usually cover multiple areas of marketing, making them suitable for general services and strategic direction. If you’re not sure, review the different signs your mid-size company needs to hire a fractional CMO.

Meanwhile, consultants are best suited when you need short-term solutions to precise problems. They’re usually hired to address specific issues or solve urgent or larger-scale problems. Consultants are less hands-on than FCMOs as they aren’t directly involved in executing concrete marketing strategies.

Both a consultant and fractional CMO for Chicago business growth bring a lot to the table. Choosing which one to hire would depend on your current business needs.

How Many Hours Does a Fractional CMO Work?

Most often, fractional CMOs can work around 20 to 40 hours per week. Some FCMOs can work for as little as five hours per week, while others are hired for as long as six months. The hourly rate of a fractional CMO can vary depending on many factors, but it typically starts at $200 and goes up from there.

Business Growth Defined

Generally, business growth refers to a stage in a company that allows for expansion. However, the definition of business growth varies slightly from company to company. An FCMO is instrumental in helping companies define what growth means to them and guide them toward meeting that objective.

This expansion can take shape in various ways. Key data points that can measure growth, include:

• Revenue: Total amount generated from sales
• Profit: Total amount the business keeps after accounting for all associated expenses
• Company value: The total value of everything a business owns (equipment, inventory, etc.)
• Sales
• Number of employees
• Number of customers
• New technologies
• New processes
• New products

Growth doesn’t necessarily mean an increase in all of these data points; some may increase while others decrease or remain constant.

For example, revenue may increase but only because of the same customers repeatedly buying. Another example could be that when prices decrease, more customers come in, but less revenue is generated.

Business growth can also be separated into different categories: organic, strategic, partnership, and internal.

• Organic: Natural growth through internal efforts (e.g., increasing sales, developing new products, and more)

• Strategic: Focusing on long-term sustainable growth through specific strategies

• Partnership: Joining another business for greater opportunities

• Internal: Improving internal processes (optimizing workflow, streamlining operations, enhancing technology, and more)

How Do You Calculate Business Growth Rate?

Business growth rate gives you a clearer picture of how much your company has grown or any declines in growth over a specific period. It’s a useful metric for tracking revenue increase and expansion potential.

This is where a fractional CMO consultant for Chicago business growth comes in handy. They use their expertise in analyzing financial data and revenue over time to determine growth opportunities and identify areas for improvement.

To calculate your growth rate, follow this formula:

Growth rate = [(Current value - Previous value) / Previous value] X 100%

For example, let’s say your previous month’s revenue was $1000, and your current month’s revenue is $1500. Using this formula, your business growth rate is 50%.

[(1500-1000) / 1000] X 100 = 50%

The Rule of 72

Alternatively, companies also use the Rule of 72 to estimate how long it’ll take for an investment to double at an annual rate of return. Divide the number 72 by your expected annual rate of interest rate (by percentage, not decimal). The result is the number of years it’ll roughly take for your money to double.

For example, if your annual rate of return is 9%, it’ll take approximately eight years for your investment to double. The higher your annual return rate is, the faster an investment will double.

Alternatively, companies also use the Rule of 72 to estimate how long it’ll take for an investment to double at an annual rate of return. Divide the number 72 by your expected annual rate of interest rate (by percentage, not decimal). The result is the number of years it’ll roughly take for your money to double.

For example, if your annual rate of return is 9%, it’ll take approximately eight years for your investment to double. The higher your annual return rate is, the faster an investment will double.

How To Use Data To Grow Business

A fractional CMO consultant for Chicago business growth helps you use data to your advantage. Listed below are five ways to maximize the power of data and create new growth opportunities — check it out!

Discovering Your Ideal Target Market

Finding your ideal target market is one of the first steps to growing as a business. This process starts with gathering data on your new or existing customers to understand their needs and preferences.

Lead segmentation is one of the best ways to gather data on your customers. This process categorizes a general audience into smaller, more specific groups based on similar characteristics.

This data also helps personalize your marketing campaigns to better answer your customers’ needs. With the help of an FCMO, you can narrow down your audience according to the following data:

• Demographic data (age, gender, income, education, etc.)
• Behavioral data (past purchases, time spent on the website, etc.)
• Psychographic data (beliefs, lifestyle values, life choices, etc.)
• Geographic data (location, timezone, etc.)

Understanding Your Competitors

A strong online presence is a must-have to stand out in a competitive market.

It’s time for a pop quiz:

• Question: How can you differentiate yourself from the competition?
• Answer: Use data to understand the market and make your business stand out.

This can be done using a thorough SWOT analysis, which gathers relevant data on your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses, as well as identify opportunities and threats to your business.

It helps you understand how others in your industry operate, what gaps your business can fill, and what strategies they’re using that you can adopt or improve upon.

Creating an SEO Presence

From relevant and user-first keywords to site analytics, data helps enhance brand visibility and attracts the right audience.

An FCMO can use data to improve SEO rankings, which is crucial in helping a business grow. Data in this context can come in many forms, such as:

• High-volume and low-competition keywords
• Relevant and user-centric content
• Competitor data
• Website analytics (Organic traffic, number of visitors, loading speed, and more)

Thanks to proper data gathering and analysis, one of Digital Authority Partners' clients, Orthogonal, achieved a significant increase in SEO performance.

Thanks to DAP’s data-driven SEO efforts, Orthogonal saw:

• 65% increase in page views and time spent on the site
• Page 1 rankings on Google
• 43% increase in conversion rate
• 20% drop in bounce rate

Optimizing Website and/or App

Data plays a big role in showing how your site or app is currently performing and what areas to improve on. An FCMO can utilize tools like Google Analytics, Google Ads, and heatmaps to understand user behavior, page load speeds, bounce rates, and conversion rates.

These tools also give data-driven insights into how you can create better user experiences and smoother site or app performance.

For example, Digital Authority Partners was able to improve the website performance of Geode Health, a leading mental healthcare provider focusing on accessible, affordable, and effective healthcare services.

One of DAP’s strategies was to focus on using Google Analytics to track online appointments and contact requests. This was coupled with improved site design and SEO-optimized landing pages. All this resulted in a 26-fold in organic results and 11 locations ranking #1 on Google.

Identifying New Growth Opportunities

Data isn’t just handy for understanding current customers and markets; it can also be used as a predictive tool for identifying future growth and expansion opportunities. 

By looking over historical data, businesses can find new areas to capitalize on, creating opportunities to reach new markets and anticipate market shifts and changing consumer demands.

A fractional CMO plays a big role in this process. Given their expertise in data analytics for business growth and their understanding of market trends and consumer behavior, they can help companies come up with scalable solutions to remain competitive and adaptable to market shifts.

This can be achieved with advanced analytics tools to predict future outcomes. These tools give precise projections on customer behavior, sales growth, and market demand.

How Chicago Industries Benefit from Data-Driven Strategies

Digital Authority Partner has helped multiple companies achieve growth through data-driven decision-making. Read more about one of our success stories below.

Digital Authority Partners' Case Study: Omron

Omron is a medical device company that created a wearable, FDA-approved blood pressure monitor. They wanted to launch an easily accessible and intuitive digital experience that supports multiple touchpoints.

User behavior data laid the groundwork for our product roadmap. Then, DAP created an Omron app and website that are easily accessible via smartwatch.

These solutions delivered a seamless user experience, integrating virtual assistant technology with Alexa. With this integration, users could monitor their blood pressure more easily with reminder-setting and cardiovascular health tips.

This led to a 4x increase in sales and Omron receiving multiple accolades, like Best of CES and Time Innovation of the Year.

Talk to Chicago’s Best Fractional CMO Today

With the right data-gathering strategies and analysis, businesses in The Windy City can maximize the power of data with the help of a fractional CMO and consultant for business growth.

Digital Authority Partners provides you with Chicago’s best fractional CMO services. Our team of fractional CMOs and digital-first CMO consultants are ready to guide you through the world of data and utilize it to achieve business goals and reach new milestones.

If you're interested in our offer, send us a message, and let’s chat!