The Virtual CMO: Why You Can’t Afford Not to Outsource Your Marketing Chief
Good news!
Your business’ marketing output can become a whole lot easier and cheaper thanks to a virtual CMO (Chief Marketing Officer).
Outsourcing the role of a previously expensive and old-school marketing officer to an agile, remote, and focused virtual option is one of the biggest growth opportunities cloud computing and new technology offers small-to-medium-size businesses.
The potential for your organisation to soar with comparatively less exertion and expense is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the benefits of hiring a virtual CMO.
Let’s explore the positives in more detail and bust some myths while we’re at it.
A virtual CMO can put all your marketing pieces together. Credit: Diggity Marketing on Unsplash.
5 Benefits of Hiring a Virtual CMO
We have a handful of key reasons why hiring a virtual CMO is the answer for your business:
1. Money Talks
A traditional, in-house Chief Marketing Officer with experience and networks will cost in the ballpark of $185,000. That’s a lot of cash. And the cost of hiring an entire creative marketing team surpasses $500,000.
Hiring a virtual CMO to do everything that its traditional, in-house counterpart would do – and more – runs at about 40-60% of the cost. Another commonly used term for this specific function is fractional CMO.
A traditional CMO does not come cheap. Credit: Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash.
2. Increase Your Options
Widen your talent pool. Not being limited by your geographical location means you have access to a greater number of potential CMOs to overhaul your marketing.
This also means you can find someone with experience that is better aligned to your business; ideas and networks you would have never heard of and access to a greater breadth of resources.
Embrace the virtual world. Credit: Kenny Eliason on Unsplash.
3. More Than a Marketing Consultant
While a virtual CMO will determine specific needs and opportunities relevant to your business, marketing consultants tend to go with a one-size-fits-all approach.
A virtual CMO likely won’t use the same methods and strategies it adopts for all its clients. They become part of your team and generate more traffic by understanding your business and strategising around your particular needs – whether that be branding, a new product portfolio, a clearer message, or anything else.
Expect tailored strategies. Credit: Stephen Phillips: Hostreviews.co.uk on Unsplash.
4. Outsider’s Perspective
Without being caught up in the daily chores of the business, a virtual CMO has the privileged position of being able to see exactly how your marketing is working – or not working.
From an outside, unbiased perspective, a virtual CMO offers a fresh take on how you could be doing business better without wasting time on the everyday running of the workplace.
Sometimes it pays to have an outsider’s perspective. Credit: Campaign Creators on Unsplash.
5. Focused and Comprehensive Approach
A virtual CMO can take care of your business’ needs, such as developing a marketing strategy, getting your sales team up to speed, and on-boarding for new talent.
A role that would traditionally be split between two or more people can be handled by one virtual marketing officer, because their tasks are more specific and focused.
A virtual CMO can iron out your marketing strategy among much more. Credit: Campaign Creators on Unsplash.
Arguments Against a Virtual CMO Debunked
“I prefer to have someone in-house so I know they are actually doing what they say they are…”
Turns out, a virtual CMO is more efficient, focused, and engaged than a traditional marketing officer.
Remote work offers employees more flexibility and more work-life satisfaction in comparison to traditional workers – so why not hire the happier and more driven marketing professional?
As well as this, you pay a virtual CMO only for the work they actually do for your business.
In-house talent is good, but it’s not everything. Credit: Austin Distel on Unsplash.
“How will this ‘outsider’ know what my business is about?”
Without being caught up in the daily deluge of emails dealing with workplace logistics, correspondence irrelevant to your business’ marketing, and other distractions, a virtual CMO has a sharp focus.
This makes it much easier for an unbiased expert to improve your business’ operations and offer new insights that enhance the overall experience of your customers.
You can take care of the inbox juggling. Credit: Justin Morgan on Unsplash.
“Maybe it’s best if I just outsource all my individual marketing needs like strategy, copywriting, SEO, etc…”
This may be true if you have excess time and money that you’re looking to spend in an inefficient and ineffective way.
A virtual CMO takes care of everything, so why hire five or more different professionals for a role that one could fill?
They will first identify your business’ needs and create an integrated branding, marketing, and sales plan around it. And where extra resourcing is required, they can provide guidance.
A virtual CMO should be across SEO and much, much else. Credit: Merakist on Unsplash.
“Sounds great, but I can’t afford to hire a virtual CMO right now…”
This is really counterintuitive. If you can’t afford a virtual CMO, it means your current approach to generating leads and retaining clients is not working.
As a general rule of thumb, your marketing budget should be 5-10% of your revenue.
Creating a successful and results-driven marketing strategy does not happen overnight and requires investment.
Hiring a virtual CMO is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways businesses can completely refocus, redefine, and refresh their approach to marketing – and receive a great return on investment while being able to remain focused on what they do best.
A virtual CMO should help to improve your ROI. Credit: rc.xyz NFT gallery on Unsplash.
Virtual CMO – the Hunt & Hawk Approach
Below is a diagram of Hunt & Hawk’s virtual CMO solution.
It covers most key areas, but depending on what you need and want, our virtual chief marketers can tailor the solution for you.
We’re Here to Help
If a virtual CMO – coupled with a whole team of marketing experts – sounds appealing to you, get in touch.
- Contact us at hello@huntandhawk.com.
- Or book a meeting to chat.
For more marketing tips, insights, news, and plenty else, follow us on LinkedIn. Or explore more of our blog.
