Marketing is an unpredictable beast for many businesses. Leads might pour in one month and then slow to a trickle the next. And businesses may be unable to explain these ups and downs.
Sometimes the issue isn’t that the marketing effort is lacking in terms of time and creativity, but rather that the marketing effort lacks the necessary marketing systems. This is one of the biggest reasons why many companies turn to a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO).
Rather than simply running marketing campaigns, fractional CMOs build the underlying marketing structure that produces the right marketing results.
Here are five marketing systems a fractional CMO might put in place to improve the marketing performance.
1. A Clear Marketing Strategy and Planning System
Many businesses pursue marketing in a haphazard way. Rather than working from a marketing plan, companies often bounce from one marketing campaign to the next. They might spend one month running advertisements, the next month working on social media, and the next month trying out email marketing campaigns whenever the time allows.A fractional CMO works to put in place a marketing plan. This might include identifying the target audience, defining the marketing message, researching the competition, and choosing the marketing channels the company should use to reach the target audience effectively.
The marketing planning system might include quarterly and annual marketing roadmaps that align with the overall corporate goals.
2. A Lead Generation and Funnel System
Another challenge that businesses often face is the lack of a reliable system for generating leads. While the marketing efforts may get some attention from consumers, the leads might somehow never materialize into actual customers.A fractional CMO will help companies establish a reliable system to nurture leads until they become customers. This will involve setting up a series of campaigns to encourage leads to move down the sales funnel.
The system will encourage consumers to move down the sales funnel until they become customers. By doing so, marketing efforts will translate into sales and not be in vain.
3. A Marketing Analytics and Reporting System
One of the biggest challenges businesses face when improving their marketing is the lack of reliable data. While some companies track their performance to some extent, others are unaware of their marketing campaigns' actual performance.A fractional CMO will help businesses establish reliable systems to keep track of the performance of their marketing campaigns. This will involve setting up a system to track the key performance indicators for the marketing initiatives.
4. A Content Marketing System
Content marketing can be powerful, but when there is no organization, it can become chaotic. Companies that publish content occasionally and don’t use a system won’t get the results they otherwise would from content marketing.A fractional CMO will often establish a content marketing system to ensure content is developed regularly and strategically. An editorial calendar, content topics, and content distribution are some of the things that will go into such a system.
Over time, this system will establish authority and visibility, helping companies attract more prospects naturally.
5. A Marketing Operations and Workflow System
Even the best marketing strategies will fail when teams lack systems to execute the marketing effectively. A fractional CMO will often establish a marketing operations system to streamline the marketing campaigns, their production, and their launch.By streamlining the marketing activities into manageable workflows, marketing teams can operate their marketing efforts more efficiently. At the same time, they can maintain high standards of quality. Such an approach also enables businesses to scale their marketing efforts as the business expands. Workflows also eliminate confusion, enabling teams to focus on their creative skills rather than getting bogged down in the process.
Building the Foundation for Sustainable Growth
Most people think of marketing as advertising or promotion. However, the most successful marketing organizations have strong systems in place. This is where a fractional CMO can have the greatest impact. Instead of focusing on marketing activities, a fractional CMO can build the infrastructure that enables the marketing organization to achieve results.
As businesses achieve the infrastructure, they’ll find that their marketing efforts become much more predictable. They’ll have more leads, better metrics, and the ability to improve results.
For businesses that need strategic marketing direction but may not yet require a full-time CMO, a fractional CMO can have the greatest impact.
For businesses that need strategic marketing direction but may not yet require a full-time CMO, a fractional CMO can have the greatest impact.