It happened again: you hired a new, full-time marketing executive, only for them to leave after a few months. Or maybe you found a fantastic agency, but they can’t squeeze you into their schedule. Now, you’re looking for a new marketing assistant and feel like you’re back at square one.
You have a few traditional options.
Hire a full-time employee
The first is to try finding and hiring a full-time employee.
This option has some clear benefits; an in-house employee is a great asset, especially when you have sudden, start-of-the-day inspiration or want a lunchtime brainstorming session.
A full-time team member also has time to acclimate to your company culture and integrate into your office. They can get to know colleagues from different departments and use their insider knowledge to find creative new paths forward.
Of course, onboarding a new employee involves time, money, and a certain amount of risk. Even after looking through piles of resumes and interviewing, you’re still taking a leap of faith when you hire someone. There’s no guarantee that they’ll fully commit to your team.
Whereas your marketing needs ebb and flow based on seasonal trends, project load, and budgetary changes, a full-time person is there all day, every day, for a set price. Those cons can make the other traditional option tempting.
The part-timer, freelancer option
You can instead hire an outside marketing company or freelance marketer on a project-to-project or seasonal basis. This option can seem less expensive than hiring a full-time employee, and it certainly helps you stay flexible as your business needs change.
Sometimes, having an outsider’s perspective can help you feel like you’re getting the fresh pair of unbiased eyes that you need to make tough decisions.
Unfortunately, just like with a full-time employee, there is a lot of risk involved with hiring an outside marketing agency. You have to invest the time you saved with training an employee into catching the agency up on your goals and ambition.
After investing that time, chances are, the agency will not stay long enough for you to see your project through and evaluate the end results. To top it off, agencies have their own financial incentives and goals that might prevent them from going the extra mile to help you.
These two options might feel like a rock and a hard place.
The fractional way
But when you’re weighing your pros and cons, you should know that there’s another path.
It’s called fractional marketing.
A fractional approach can win you the benefits of a full-time employee and the flexibility of a freelance contractor without the financial risks and growing pains associated with other alternatives.
The fractional model is designed to allow us to integrate with your existing team so that you get the customized solutions, executive expertise, and proven process you need
Fractional marketing is executive marketing with C-level expertise at a fraction of the cost.
It is leadership without the full-time cost.
Businesses investing in this model benefit from the value an experienced CMO brings to the table, becoming an integral member of the team while holding internal staff and vendors accountable.
And, let’s face it:
It’s hard to find good part-time marketing help when you need it.
Freelancers are expensive or flaky
Remote workers are hard to manage
Part-timers just don’t stay around long term
At yorCMO, after listening to our clients, we developed yorMarketingMVP: we’ve combined a fractional CMO with a full-time Virtual Assistant to create yorMarketingMVP.
Here is how it works:
- Our fractional CMOs work with you to customize the marketing role necessary to support your business.
- Our team searches, screens, and presents candidates for you to approve to be yorMarketingMVP
- With leadership from a fractional CMO and clear KPIs, yorMarketingMVP will excel.
What are some of the differences between yorMarketingMVP, hiring a full-time CMO, or just hiring a marketing consultant or an agency?
The main difference is involvement and the scope of work they are willing to take on during the course of the engagement.
Marketing agencies and consultants typically analyze your gaps, review your budget, develop strategies and make recommendations to your key contact inside the company.
Most marketing consultants and agencies offer some level of strategic planning but from the outside.
Alos, good tactical work also doesn’t get done well without strong strategic leadership.
More bang for the buck
An external advisor can’t fix internal issues that keep their strategy from being successful, nor should they. In contrast, a fractional CMO is essential to your team as they have an inside perspective on your business, sales, and finances.
They also engage with your team to help them and your company reach your marketing goals.
Another perk: a trained fractional CMO uses a unique and proven process and methodology to bring alignment, focus, and rigor to the marketing process. This helps drive growth, ensure sustainability, and build intrinsic value.
After reading all this you may wondering whether the fractional model is the right fit for your business, download this comprehensive guide includes everything you may have been too reluctant to ask (and more!)
Click here to download your free guide
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