What Does a CMO Do?
CMO stands for chief marketing officer, a vital member of the executive team in charge of driving revenue generation. Marketing covers many techniques, but your CMO will consider your overall marketing strategy and how it ties into your company goals, vision, and mission statement.
Marketing From the Top Down
A CMO is a critical member of your C-Suite and works with other business executives to execute your tech startup's vision. A dedicated CMO will consider the impact of:
Customer service teams or other client-facing employees
Brand management
Market research
All marketing communications across all channels
Distribution channels
Pricing
The CMO helps develop the overall strategy for ensuring these aspects of your organization are delivering good ROI. They facilitate growth and provide leadership to other marketing staff within the company.
Duties of a CMO
An experienced CMO assesses a company's position within its marketplace, helping developers create a great product-market fit and better understand their target audience. They use data analytics to get to grips with shifting market trends and plan for at least the next 12 months ahead.
They may oversee the creation of marketing campaigns, ensuring these fall in line with company values, mission statements, and overall goals. They'll also explore new marketing channels and opportunities to ensure your business remains competitive and innovative.
Your CMO also manages branding and guides your brand messaging to ensure it's effective, consistent, and driving growth.
Full-Time CMO Versus Fractional CMO
A full-time hire of a CMO is an expensive investment, especially for early-stage startups that have to justify where every cent goes. While salaries vary, you may expect to pay your CMO upwards of $260,000 plus benefits.
A fractional CMO does everything a full-time CMO does, but only when you need them. They can come in for product launches, early-stage marketing strategizing, or when you're between full-time hires. They might stay for several months to ensure you've got a handle on marketing, but once they go, you don't pay them anymore. This makes fractional CMOs a much more cost-effective solution for savvy startups.
Final Word
Post-series-A funding might not always give you the financial clout you need to invest in a full-time marketing executive. Book a 15-minute free call to find out more about working with a fractional CMO that understands tech startups inside out.
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