JANUARY 17TH, 2016

Your Chief Marketing Officer has a big job. She works with senior leadership to understand the company's goals, then develops strategies and associated initiatives to move the needle on those goals. On top of that, she leads execution on those strategies and initiatives, and reports on results. Finally, she analyzes the results to optimize successes and plan future initiatives.

And there's more. Today's marketing leaders must have a solid understanding online marketing in addition to traditional marketing techniques. Search optimization, website usability, social media, audience targeting, and email are some of the new proficiencies a CMO has to have. Without a solid grasp of these, opportunities will be missed.

But not all companies have a CMO at their disposal. In the absence of senior marketing leadership, companies may employ a marketing person or team consisting of mid-level professionals focused on executing tasks that come from the CEO or other leadership. Others outsource everything to a firm or firms.

There is real value in having a senior marketing professional sitting between leadership and execution. Only an experience leader can properly ensure alignment between goals, direction, and initiatives. Further, in the same way that marketing and brand touch all parts of a business, marketing leadership should give input on products, plans, and initiatives company-wide.

Whether you plan to use an outsourced CMO for a short period, or long-term, here are some situations in which it's an appropriate solution to consider.

1. When growth is a priority - Is your product ripe for more widespread adoption among your target audience? Then you need strategic leadership. The right CMO can help you find more customers similar to your best customers. Plus she can help you identify new channels and markets you yet haven't considered.
   
   Example: When you have an existing customer base, but are ready for more of them. An outsourced CMO can look at your audience, channels, and message with fresh eyes. They can evaluate the intersections between product, customer, and timing in order to find the ways to get your message to the people most likely to act.
   
   
2. When seeking investment (especially after series A) - For startups the first investment round gets the company off the ground on vision. After the initial round comes the more structured and stringent process of raising venture funding. This means the company needs to be running and ready to scale. During this time it is important for a company to find and understand its market and audience.
   
   Example: I coach several startups with solid products, and a limited following. They have built their MVP and gained some adoption. Now is the time to find the people most likely to buy their product, and then multiply that audience in order to prove the product's viability and the company's ability to find a fit with their market.
   
   Budgets at startups are often low. Before hiring an entry or mid-level marketer and hoping he'll grow into the CMO role, consider outsourcing. A contract CMO can save the company 75% over hiring a full-time CMO with the same experience.
   
   
3. During a crisis - There are situations in which an outsourced CMO should be brought in for a finite period of time in order to solve a specific problem.
   
   Example: Let's say 
    - your sales rely heavily on traffic from Google, but you keep losing ground in search rankings.
    - your teams aren't working well together, and its starting to affect sales.
    - your website is getting traffic, but isn't selling.
    - your Facebook ads have stopped producing.
    -OR sales have just plain dropped off.
   
   It's time to engage an expert to triage and rehab the situation. An expert can diagnose the problem, develop a plan to address it, lead execution of the solution, and report on the results.
   
   
4. When you need strategic marketing leadership, but not the full-time price tag - You can expect to pay an outsourced CMO roughly 25% - 50% what you would pay an in-house CMO.
   
   Example: Companies creating revenue of $3 - $5M a year, with 15 - 75 employees will usually have a marketing team, but not senior leadership with advanced marketing experience. Keeping an outsourced CMO on retainer can help these companies ensure they are targeting the right audiences with the right messages using the best channels. They can ensure the appropriate key performance indicators are being reported on a regular basis, and provide invaluable mentorship to the team.
   
   
5. Between full-time in-house CMO's​ - The search for the right in-house CMO can sometimes stretch for an extended period of time. During that time your marketing will likely become more task-based, and less strategic by the minute. The existing in-house team and vendors need guidance and oversight. It can be a good time to consider outsourcing CMO duties for a little while.

In my opinion, a good outsourced CMO will be focused on finding the highest impact strategies for reaching your ideal customer. This shouldn't include branding or rebranding right away. It SHOULD include strategies for messaging to more customer who resemble or have a personal relationship with your current customers.

CMO outsourcing is a new service my company, Kelly Coulter and Associates, provides to a select few companies. Depending on your needs the cost can be as low as $4500 a month. That's a hell of a savings vs. the $15K or more a full-time, in-house CMO can cost.

And there are others out there. Lots of consultants and firms are offering this service. Google it - you'll see. Whoever you use remember to check references and ask every question you can think of. Get your candidate to meet with everyone he/she will be working with, and make an informed decision.
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