In the past, it was common for businesses to have one person fulfill all of their marketing needs. But with the rise of ecommerce, that’s no longer possible or an efficient way to grow at scale.
Ecommerce requires a variety of specialties and skill sets to succeed. There are so many moving pieces that need to be managed, including product development, pricing strategy, marketing campaigns, content creation, email marketing, social media management and more.
As an entrepreneur, it can be difficult to find time and resources to fill all of these roles, especially when you’re starting out with limited resources. That’s why so many entrepreneurs hire a Fractional CMO or Chief Marketing Officer.
What is a Fractional CMO?
A Fractional CMO is a contract Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), retained on a part-time basis to provide executive marketing leadership for a growing business.
They are highly experienced in leading marketing teams of all sizes and growth stages to scale quickly and cost-effectively.
Fractional CMOs offer a multitude of expertise, and are typically responsible for the following:
- Driving brand positioning, segmentation & messaging
- Product pricing, go-to-market, and launch strategies
- Optimizing and improving online presence
- Content marketing strategy
- Paid and organic search marketing
There are many benefits to having this type of executive on your team:
1) They know how to prioritize tasks and focus on what matters most for your business growth.
2) They have intimate knowledge of your industry and can offer valuable insight into where you should be focusing your efforts.
3) They will provide an objective view of your company’s strengths and weaknesses, which will help you make better decisions about where to allocate resources.
4) They have experience building teams, managing budgets and overseeing operations – all of which come in handy when scaling a business.
5) They have years of experience in their field so they can advise you on best practices for running a successful marketing department
6) They are a fraction of the cost of hiring an in-house CMO. Functioning as independent contractors, Fractional CMOs are usually hired on a short to mid-term basis, and do not incur expenses for searching, training, insurance, and other benefits.
How Does A Fractional CMO Help Grow Your Ecommerce Business?
A Fractional CMO will help develop a strategic growth plan for your ecommerce business that includes a specific set of goals and objectives. This plan can include anything from launching new products, SEO, paid search campaigns, content development, social media and more.
They also help you identify which channels are the best fit for your products, brand and customer base. Based on your revenue goals and sales projections, they also determine how much of your budget you should allocate to each channel based on the ROI they can deliver.
Fractional CMO’s will define your customer journey from awareness to purchase, and then develop marketing strategies that address all three stages of the funnel (TOFU, MOFU, BOFU), effectively engaging your customers at every touchpoint, which in turn will boost growth and revenue.
But that’s not all.
Once the strategic plan is developed, a Fractional CMO creates a comprehensive execution plan that outlines how each component of your marketing strategy will be implemented, including timeline goals and in-depth tactics. They will also establish KPIs for each channel so you can measure effectiveness, and will often provide dashboards and reporting for ease of analysis.
A Fractional CMO can help bring structure, focus, increased revenue and growth to any ecommerce business. If you want to scale to the next level – without adding an executive salary to your team or wasting valuable time and resources on recruiting – consider outsourcing to an experienced CMO.
The team at Woodmill Strategy , located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area of Texas, has managed over $100,000,000 + in performance advertising campaigns, and generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue for businesses both big and small. They offer a multitude of growth and scale services for ecommerce businesses, and are offering free, no-obligation consultations to discuss your marketing goals and needs.