In an ever-expanding and complicated marketplace, marketing is one of the most critical elements of any business’ success. In fact, the role of marketing in the C-suite has increased over the last decade to the point that many companies designate a chief marketing officer (CMO) instead of a marketing director, a position that requires a broader skillset and higher level of business savvy. However, not all marketing needs require a fulltime, C-level executive. It’s now possible to hire marketing experts intermittently to fit your exact marketing needs—both in terms of time and project demands. This is called fractional marketing, an option that is quickly becoming more commonplace.

The term fractional marketing refers to the practice of hiring a marketing professional to undertake only a fraction of your marketing needs. The fractional-expert model has been used in human resources, operations and other areas of business with great success.

When companies realize they need marketing expertise, they traditionally turn to one of three places, each with their pros and cons:

• Full-time marketing executive. This option allows your company to have a dedicated marketing executive entrenched in the overall management of the company. However, the cost may be more than necessary, and this option limits you to the expertise of one person.
• Full-service marketing agency. When a full-time marketing executive is not needed, you can engage the services of a specialized marketing agency — again, potentially expensive, with the added disadvantage of being entrenched in full-service you may not need.
• Expand staff duties. Although this option leverages internal knowledge of your organization, it likely will put someone in charge of marketing who doesn’t have the deep knowledge or time required to successfully manage the complexities of today’s marketplace.

Fractional marketing services through a respected external firm is a fourth and often best option for these reasons:

1. Cost efficiency. Pay a marketing professional only when you need one. This helps control costs of marketing. It also allows some marketing tasks to be completed by your own staff.
2. Combined experience. Benefit from combined expertise of several marketing professionals, each with different expertise, hired as needed for marketing projects or parts of projects.
3. Fulfill intensive marketing needs without disrupting a campaign or everyday operation of your organization.
4. If one fractional marketing professional becomes unavailable, others are standing by to ensure the continuity of your campaigns and your ongoing marketing strategies.

How do you know fractional marketing is for you?

The very nature of a fractional marketing agency is that it can adapt quickly and easily to fit your needs. However, our experience shows fractional marketing works best for companies that…

… have no marketing director or CMO in place

… are looking to pivot, scale, increase innovation or exit their business

… have a champion or coordinator on staff who can help execute internally

… understand the value of a fiduciary partner and trust the proven fractional marketing process

… understand and value marketing as a driver of sales and revenue

For more indicators that your company may be a good candidate for fractional marketing, read this article from Inc.com. YorCMO, a trusted fractional marketing agency with a proven track record, is standing by to answer your questions and get your marketing on the right track

About the Author:

Joseph is CMO and co-founder of yorCMO. In his role as CMO, he focuses his efforts on finding new CMOs to add to the yorCMO team, and developing their client marketing efforts. Prior to founding yorCMO in 2017, he began pioneering video for new media in 2007, writing the book, New Media Habits, and launching the first company to focus exclusively on new media video production in Omaha, NE.