What is a Fractional CMO?

Leah Yoneda
18 hours ago
3 min read

Most fractional executives are independent professionals who provide temporary and/or part-time services. They can be sole practitioners or be a part of a group or agency.

This is a strong option for organizations who:

Can't afford a full-time growth executive but need experienced support
Know they only need occasional but reliable access to a veteran professional
Need temporary executive-level support for their team during a big, one-time initiative
Are considering hiring someone full-time, but feel safer with a contract-to-hire scenario
Need coverage for their regular leader's leave of absence

Pros and Cons

As an independent contractor, a fractional executive saves a company money on benefits, bonuses, and retirement plan contributions. On the other hand, some fractional executives may work with more than one client at a time, so they may not be able to suddenly increase their level of support for you due to prior commitments.

A fractional executive may be a great fit for your firm, but if offered a full-time position, they may not be willing to accept. It may be harder for some teams to work efficiently or comfortably with a fractional executive because they may assume a lack of commitment or accessibility.

If circumstances change or things aren't quite working out, it is easier to stop working with a fractional executive than a full-time executive. On the other hand, some day-to-day logistics may be complicated by the fact that they might be remote, use their own technology and hardware, or may lack the ability to fully embed themsevles in the culture.

What does a Fractional CMO actually do?

Here is a list of activities Leah Yoneda, the Golden Ginkgo Group's fractional CMO, can perform:

Supporting Organization Leadership

Meeting with company leadership and with in-house team members on a regular basis
Serving as a thought partner to the organization's leadership team
Acting as an experienced, collaborative sounding board for new ideas
Coordinating any changes with other internal functions of the organization, such as finance, HR, advertising, PR, etc.
Notifying the organization of certain areas of potential risk and/or needed compliance
Advising leadership about important trends and changes in the market

Departmental Oversight

Managing a budget to support growth objectives, including looking for cost efficiency
Designing business development policies and procedures
Coaching and mentoring internal staff
Assessing, creating, and/or changing business operations around marketing, sales, business development, pricing, lead generation, and other similar areas
Identifying, creating, and/or reporting on key performance metrics
Advising on strategic growth opportunities and activities, including proactively suggesting ideas
Meeting with third-party marketing, sales, branding, operational, and other partners
Reviewing and commenting on contacts for third-party providers
Exercising project management around agreed-upon plans
Serving as a relationship manager, client satisfaction liaison, or other type of client-facing presence, as needed to support the organization's goals

Sales, Marketing & PR

Training employees and staff on sales techniques, relationship management, and other business skills
Collaborating around lead generation, qualification, processing, and closing strategies
Researching, recommending, and implementing technology and other tools
Generating drafts of presentations, proposals, marketing collateral, reports, social media posts, videos, and client-facing deliverables
Managing the organization's website and other digital assets
Developing campaigns to nurture future leads
Overseeing advertising, PR, and other outbound activities
Representing the organization at virtual and in-person events, such as trade shows and conferences
Enhancing and defending the reputation of the firm with the pursuit of awards and rankings, and online forum and review monitoring
Creating or advancing a client satisfaction or scoring regime
Advising on content strategy, producing actual content, and/or overseeing the production of content
Supporting the organization with crisis communications management

Brand, Data, and Research

Consulting on branding, messaging, and positioning topics, including visual identity
Advising on sales and marketing data gathering, conformity, integration, and protection
Conducting in-depth research on such topics as market opportunity, competitors, best practices, business risk, and client trends

This list is not exhaustive. It is also focused on the needs of a professional services organization. Any executive in any arena has much to offer, even on a part-time or temporary basis.