Why Hire a Healthcare FCMO for Your B2B SaaS Business?

B2B healthcare SaaS companies have a lot to juggle in terms of product development, sales, and customer support, and marketing gets lost in the mix. When your SaaS company has limited marketing resources or if you’re not getting the results you want, seeking help from a B2B SaaS CMO may be a wise decision.

Fractional CMOs provide the marketing power you need to beat the competition and scale and grow your business to new heights. With their guidance, your business can respond to market changes and client needs quickly and strategically.

So, why hire a healthcare fractional CMO for your B2B SaaS businesses? We have it here plus top challenges & recommendations for cracking the SaaS marketing code: 

What Is a Fractional CMO?

A Fractional CMO is a marketing professional who guides businesses through their marketing initiatives. Unlike a traditional CMO, FCMOs only work part-time or per-project on an hourly basis.

In other words, you save a significant amount of money while still receiving the entire range of digital marketing services. This is great if you’re a growing company or startup with a tighter budget, as you can still achieve growth and sustainability without breaking the bank.

Fractional CMOs also have an active role in planning, developing, and executing marketing campaigns. They offer a wide range of services, which leaves more room for flexibility and adaptability to different scenarios.

These services include, but are not limited to:

• Branding and identity
• Market research
• Competitor analysis
• Campaign planning and execution
• Campaign progress tracking and analysis
• Digital marketing channels (Email, social media, SEO, content marketing, PPC, website design and development, etc.)
• Marketing compliance

What Can a Healthcare FCMO Do for B2B SaaS Businesses?

Let’s break down the reasons that cover reasons why to hire a healthcare fractional CMO for B2B SaaS businesses.

Develop a Holistic Marketing Plan

A SaaS fractional CMO knows the ins and outs of marketing and creates the ideal go-to-market (GTM) strategy for your software solution. This involves focusing on channel partnerships, pricing optimization strategies, product-market fit, and creating content that aligns with the B2B SaaS buyer journey.

A fractional CMO also develops healthcare-specific campaigns that address the needs of various demographics. One way the FCMO accomplishes this is through lead segmentation, which categorizes audiences according to:

• Demographics
• Company needs
• Specific departments (administration, billing, nursing, office managers, and clinicians, etc.)
• Specialized departments (Radiology, pharmacy, etc.)
• Current Electronic Health Record System (EHR) system (your SaaS software must be compatible and integrate seamlessly into a healthcare company’s existing system) 

Healthcare companies require significant information before purchasing software. Healthcare content marketing is one of the best ways to introduce your SaaS software and get buyers to trust it. This could be in the form of product demonstrations, case studies, white papers, or published content to reputable health publications.

Reduce Costs While Maximizing ROI

While full-time CMOs come with six-figure annual salaries, fractional CMOs offer the same level of services at a fraction of the cost. This is great for growing SaaS businesses that don’t have the budget or resources to hire full-time marketing professionals.

Fractional CMOs work part-time remotely, which reduces overhead costs for office space, utilities, and salary benefits. The amount of money saved could then be redirected to more important company initiatives like product development and core competencies.

Fractional CMOs also help SaaS businesses reduce costs while maximizing ROI by allocating existing budgets and resources to the highest-value channels. For example, if your B2B SaaS SEO strategies are bringing in more leads than paid advertising, the FCMO would prioritize SEO efforts and invest more resources in that area, leveraging the most effective channel.

Upselling and Cross-Selling

A fractional CMO helps SaaS businesses increase customer lifetime value (CLV) through upselling and cross-selling. Generally, it’s a good idea to provide more than what the customer expects, as it increases customer loyalty and shoots revenue upwards as well.

One way a fractional CMO accomplishes this is through feature-based upselling. They offer high-value features or advanced packages that buyers can upgrade to based on usage patterns (such as moving from a basic plan to a premium plan with upgraded features and analytics).

A fractional CMO also gathers insights from support tickets and reviews, which is a goldmine of information from customers. For example, let’s say a company is looking for smart prescription or predictive analytics in your EHR software. You can use feedback like this to come up with upsell and cross-sell ideas and future add-ons and enhancements.

Meet T2D3 Goals

T2D3 stands for triple, triple, double, double, double. This metric determines a SaaS company’s growth rate expectations, wherein they have to triple their annual revenue for two consecutive years and then double it for the next three years.

To achieve this, fractional CMOs focus on inbound marketing efforts. This may look like investing more in content marketing, SEO, and email marketing to attract and provide value to new leads. These improve conversion rates, reduce churn rates, and optimize SaaS customer retention metrics and KPIs, customer acquisition cost (CAC), and average revenue per user (ARPU).

How to calculate customer acquisition cost:

Total Marketing and Sales Expenses - Total New Customers Acquired = Customer Acquisition Cost

Another way fractional CMOs bring SaaS companies closer to T2D3 is through engaged advocates. Engaged advocates are individuals actively involved in promoting your product. One way to do this is to use a Net Promoter Score (NPS) to gauge your user’s satisfaction levels. You can easily set up “How much are you liking our products” or similar as a pop-up on your website.

NPS ranges from -100 to +100.

• Promoters (score 9-10): These are your most loyal customers.
• Passives (score 7-8): These customers are satisfied but not overly enthusiastic. Their impact on your score is minimal.
• Detractors (score 0-6): These are unhappy customers who harm a brand with negative feedback or word-of-mouth.

Feedback loops are another way to continuously engage with users and acknowledge their pain points. This also shows that you value their input on how to make the product better.

Build Your Marketing Team

A SaaS company sometimes lacks the proper manpower and experience to execute marketing campaigns. That’s when a fractional CMO can help. Using their knowledge in talent acquisition, hiring, and training, they can assemble a high-performance team with the right skills and expertise.

Fractional CMOs work with the hiring teams to create a hiring framework that outlines the roles and requirements needed, such as performance marketers, lead generation specialists, virtual compliance officers, and more. They outsource talent or work with agencies or freelancers to handle specialized tasks like SEO, marketing, PR, and content creation if hiring resources are limited.

Once the FCMO and the company find the right people, the FCMO uses their leadership and mentorship skills to show the team the ropes and hone their skills. This could be done by supplying relevant marketing resources and conducting training programs and workshops.

Lead Nurturing

Attracting clients to your SaaS business is one thing; getting them to stay long-term is another story. A fractional CMO implements customized lead nurturing strategies that turn prospects into lifelong customers.

One way they do this is open communication via email. When an organization purchases your healthcare software, you can send them an automated welcome email and thank them. Email automation involves using different email types to maintain engagement with leads. 

These could include:

• Welcome emails
• Follow-up emails
• Onboarding emails
• Thank you emails
• Feedback emails

A fractional CMO also helps win leads over by offering exclusive incentives like discounts, free trials, or early access. They develop loyalty programs that encourage customers to stick around longer, such as referral bonuses or reward points. These also strengthen your relationship with your leads and motivate them to move further down the funnel. 

Identify Qualified Leads

Securing many leads is good, but securing many high-value leads should be the goal. This is where an FCMO can help refine your lead qualification process and help you find qualified leads. One way they do this is by creating a list of criteria for evaluating lead potential.

One of the most common methods is the acronym MEDDIC, which is a sales optimization framework that can lead to a successful lead conversion strategy.

By incorporating these into your lead generation strategy, you can better understand the company’s needs and how to better respond to them. 

Let’s break down each part of the process:

• Metrics: What are the quantifiable benefits that the company can expect from this product?
• Economic Buyer: What’s the healthcare company’s financial situation?
• Decision Process: What factors go into the decision to purchase?
• Decision Criteria: What criteria or requirements does the company use to evaluate the product? (Ex. Price, functionality, vendor reputation, or similar.)
• Identity Pain: What are their specific pain points?
• Champion: Who will advocate for your product?

Minimize Customer Churn

Customer churn not only indicates lost revenue but it can also be a reflection of your product quality and client loyalty. The fractional CMO crafts strong retention strategies that address the user’s concerns while reducing churning factors.

One way they do this is by gathering feedback (via reviews, surveys, in-app forms, social listening, etc.) and identifying common issues. Customers appreciate when SaaS companies are transparent in addressing feedback via personal emails, newsletters, or in-app notifications. This builds trust and shows clients that you value their input.

The FCMO also creates a solid onboarding process that prevents early churning and gives the user an easier time familiarizing themselves with the product. This can be achieved through product demonstrations, tutorials, and customer check-ins.

When To Hire a Fractional CMO for Your B2B SaaS Business

Now that we’ve talked about why to hire a healthcare fractional CMO for B2B SaaS businesses, let’s talk about when to hire a healthcare fractional CMO for B2B SaaS businesses.

Before you hire a fractional CMO, you should make sure that your company actually needs one. If any of these signs seem familiar, hiring an FCMO may be the best decision.

Stagnant or Declining Growth

If your company isn’t achieving the desired results or if it’s been way too long since your last significant growth, hiring a fractional CMO may be a wise idea.

A fractional CMO conducts a comprehensive analysis of your current marketing process and identifies areas for improvement to address what’s causing declining sales. Some ways they could accomplish this are by revamping lead generation tactics, gathering customer feedback, and using account-based marketing to target high-value accounts.

Low Conversion Rates

If your conversion rates are lower than expected, hire an FCMO to help refine your brand’s messaging and lead nurturing efforts. Low conversion rates may be a result of messages or campaigns not resonating with the user or not communicating your value proposition effectively enough to fulfill a call-to-action.

FCMOs can improve conversion rates through audience segmentation and creating buyer personas to get the full picture of your ideal client. This addresses their unique situation and pain points and makes it easier to create tailored messages and content.

Another helpful way FCMOs can help is by optimizing your landing pages and calls-to-action. They conduct A/B testing for key elements (such as copy, layout, and design) to optimize conversions and demonstrate your value to users.

Lack of Marketing Leadership

Without a marketing leader, growing teams end up feeling lost and confused about how to execute strong campaigns. With an FCMO by your side, your team can gain expert-level guidance from an experienced professional.

FCMOs bridge the gap between teams and ensure all marketing objectives and KPIs are defined and met. They use their knowledge to come up with SaaS inbound strategies to attract the right customers. They also help create strong team structures by assisting with hiring and delegating tasks to the appropriate team members.

FCMOs oversee operations to make sure everyone is pulling their weight while also playing an active role in planning and executing marketing initiatives. They also provide mentorship and support to inexperienced team members to elevate their performance. 

Final Thoughts on Why Hire a Healthcare Fractional CMO for B2B SaaS Businesses

Fractional CMOs are game changers when faced with marketing roadblocks. They provide the full suite of marketing services that drive results beyond your expectations. The best part? It costs a fraction of what you would pay a full-time CMO!

If you’re ready to bring a fractional CMO on board, look no further than a healthcare SaaS marketing agency like Digital Authority Partners.

Our B2B fractional CMOs are the best in the business, with an impressive track record of helping businesses create award-winning, successful, and compliant customized marketing solutions. Yours could be next!

Contact us now to get started or if you have a few more questions about when and why to hire a healthcare fractional CMO for B2B SaaS businesses.