Tech startups have great potential for success, but only if they can create demand for their products through successful marketing. There is no shortage of new brands in the tech industry, and they are all vying to make their mark as quickly as possible. It is a crowded market, and it isn’t easy to stand out from the crowd.
Change is a constant in the tech world, and marketing strategies must be on point to reach the maximum number of ideal customers and meet sales goals. Rather than rely on old standards of in-house marketing departments, more brands look to fractional marketing as an effective and affordable option.
Fractional Marketing
As the name implies, fractional marketing refers to splitting marketing efforts into pieces of the whole. In other words, instead of having one department that handles all marketing efforts, each section is dealt with by a specialist. In most cases, these are not employees; they are freelancers and independent consultants who handle strategic planning and implementation.
Outsourcing content creation and marketing-specific administrative tasks have been going on for a long time. Fractional marketing takes things further as it removes leadership roles from in-house individuals and hands them over to a part-time fractional chief marketing officer (CMO).
Fractional CMO
According to Digital Authority Partners, a fractional CMO handles the leadership roles, professional guidance, and accountability tasks for marketing. They usually work part-time for more than one company, completing similar tasks for each. They can use their talents in specific ways as freelancers, giving them more flexibility and freedom than a salaried job position.
From the perspective of a tech company, a fractional CMO saves them money while delivering expert assistance exactly where they need it. They implement effective and strategic marketing campaigns, keep track of budget concerns, and make sure everything stays on track in the company’s marketing department.
Tasks performed by fractional CMOs:
- The creation of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing campaigns specifically tailored to your tech products or services
- Close adherence to your brand’s budget and ongoing expense and ROI tracking
- Scheduling of diverse marketing strategies within an overall plan
- Leadership of in-house and other freelance marketing team members
- Strategic planning based on both past data analysis and professional experience
- Clear communication as defined by the fractional CMOs contract and expectations
- Marketing audits for existing and future strategies
- Working with tech company CEOs and stakeholders closely
Things fractional CMOs do not do:
- Dedicate all their time and attention to your brand alone
- Expect a full-time salary and benefits
- Only work within established methods and strategies
- Handle tasks or fulfill leadership roles beyond the scope of their contract
Fractional marketing makes sense for tech companies that want to get the most out of their marketing budget while promoting their growth strategies. By getting the help of an experienced and knowledgeable fractional CMO, you have a more significant opportunity to reach your target audience quickly and without bogging down the process with internal problems. However, a part-time, freelance executive may not suit every organization.
Fractional Marketing Fulfills a Tech Company’s Needs
Most tech startups do not have the budget for a full-time CMO. Cost is one of the primary factors in all decisions related to outsourcing, freelance contracts, and other non-employee use decisions. No matter how excellent the product or service and how proficient the company is at positioning itself in the marketplace, it still may not have the capital on hand to invest in another executive.
Unfortunately, whether or not you should hire a fractional CMO is virtually impossible to answer with a definitive yes or no. Every tech company has different amounts of working funds, product or service emphases, existing brand recognition and marketing reach, and structural characteristics. But once you decide a CMO is necessary, the choice to focus on fractional marketing can maximize the power of a minimal budget.
Besides saving money, fractional CMOs have many other advantages.
Vast experience and specialization top the list. Since fractional CMOs work with more than one company at a time, they have extensive knowledge and experience in effective marketing strategies. Hiring a person to work with you full-time removes them from the opportunity to further their education and, in some ways, keep up to date with the dynamic marketing world.
Fractional marketing creates constantly challenged multi-talented specialists who develop new strategies that work in today’s world.
Speed of campaign development and implementation are also essential for the highly dynamic tech sector. Startups offer new products and services all the time, and fractional marketing makes it easier to go from ad concept to active campaigns quicker. This ease primarily comes from the fractional CMO’s ability to handle multiple schedules simultaneously and communicate effectively with in-house or other outsourced teams.
Fractional CMOs also bring fresh perspectives to established tech companies. It can be challenging to push a full-time marketing executive out of a rut. Instead of looking for brand-new ideas and opportunities, they settle into a process of tweaking existing strategies.
A niche market is part of the larger market but is distinguished from the whole in that it has unique needs and preferences. Members of a niche market may identify themselves differently from the general population. A fractional CMO specializing in marketing to a particular niche market can help you introduce your product or services to consumers you may have previously not considered.
Signing a contract with outside talent can bring a breath of fresh air to your marketing efforts and propel your tech startup to the next level. Tech companies need to act fast and use the best marketing strategies to get attention and drive sales immediately and for the long term. Fractional marketing and outside CMOs provide these things.
Best of all, they have the experience and knowledge to make excellent decisions for your company without the expense of a new full-time executive employee. In the space of a single contract term, fractional CMOs can deliver explosive launch strategies for new products or reinvigorate stagnant marketing efforts to get the results you need for your tech startup to flourish.
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