February 6, 2025 • 18 mins
Marketing is essential to growing your business, but hiring the right support can be confusing. Should you work with a marketing agency, bring in a consultant, or hire a Fractional CMO? Each option has its pros and cons, and making the wrong choice could mean wasted budget and minimal results.
In this episode, I break down the differences between agencies, consultants, and fractional CMOS—so you can decide which is best for your business. I’ll share real insights from my experience in all three roles and explain why a fractional CMO offers the best mix of strategy, execution, and ROI. If you want to get smarter about your marketing spend and grow your business with real results, this is the episode for you!
Learn More:
- Buy Digital Threads: https://nealschaffer.com/digitalthreadsamazon
- Buy Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth: https://nealschaffer.com/maximizinglinkedinamazon
- Join My Digital First Mastermind: https://nealschaffer.com/membership/
- Learn about My Fractional CMO Consulting Services: https://nealschaffer.com/cmo
- Download My Free Ebooks Here: https://nealschaffer.com/books/
- Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/nealschaffer
- All My Podcast Show Notes: https://podcast.nealschaffer.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, as a business owner or someone that spends
money on marketing, do you feellike you're spending that money
but not seeing real results?
You're not alone.
Many businesses turn tomarketing agencies or
consultants.
But what if there's a betterway?
In this episode, I'm going tobreak down the key differences
between agencies, consultantsand fractional CMOs, and why a
(00:23):
fractional CMO might just be thesmartest investment for your
business.
So stay tuned for all the deetsin the next episode of the your
Digital Marketing Coach podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Digital social media content, influencer marketing,
blogging, podcasting, vlogging,tiktoking, linkedin, twitter,
facebook, instagram, youtube,seo, sem, ppc, email marketing
there's a lot to cover.
Whether you're a marketingprofessional, entrepreneur or
business owner, you need someoneyou can rely on for expert
(00:57):
advice.
Good thing you've got Neil onyour side, because Neil Schaefer
is your digital marketing coach, helping you grow your business
with digital first marketing,one episode at a time.
This is your digital marketingcoach and this is Neal Schaefer.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Hey friends, we are up to episode number 398 of the
your Digital Marketing Coachpodcast, and this is Neil
Schafer reporting to you on,well, what inspires me, what I
see, things, I read, things, Ihear, interactions I have with
companies or with people justlike you that inspire me to
(01:42):
provide an educational messageso that every single episode you
listen to of the your DigitalMarketing Coach podcast delivers
some sort of ROI for the timethat you invest.
For those of you that have beenlistening for a while, you know
that the way I roll is I do 50%solo episodes, like today, and
50% guest expert interviews.
So today I want to start with adisclaimer.
(02:04):
I am a fractional CMO, but inno way am I trying to make this
episode a glorified sales pitch.
Let's just start that way.
But, time in and time again, itjust crushes me when I hear
about small businesses thatwaste so much of their precious
marketing budget for inefficientservices that are provided with
(02:27):
very little ROI.
So obviously, because you'relistening to this podcast, you
know that marketing is acritical function for any
business, and I understand thatoften you will hire support
based on recommendations frompeople in your network, people
in your friends.
Maybe you were at a businessbefore company before.
That's the way you did things,so hiring the right support can
(02:51):
be confusing.
The beautiful thing is there'smore options than ever,
especially post-COVID, withremote work and what have you.
I know my fractional CMObusiness really took off during
COVID, and the options,including freelancers, like I
talk about in digital threads,are really endless.
So, of the options, though, Ibelieve the three mainstream
(03:11):
options, the three best optionswould be working with an agency,
working with a consultant orbringing on a fractional CMO.
But what's the best approach?
Now you're going to have tomake the final decision as to
what the best approach is, buttoday I'm going to at least
demystify these options, sharethe pros and cons of each and
help you make the best decisionfor your business.
(03:33):
By the end, I think you'regoing to understand why a
fractional CMO offers the bestmix of strategy execution and
long-term ROI and how they and Ican help you grow your business
smarter.
So I am able to talk about thisbecause I've actually been
involved in all three.
Right Before I was a fractionalCMO.
(03:55):
And my fractional CMO cameabout because before I was a
marketing consultant and it wasreally a suggestion from a
client a marketing consultingclient, where I helped develop
their strategy to come intotheir office a half day a week,
report to the CEO, help fleshout the strategy, help train the
marketing team and thenimplement the strategy Right.
(04:16):
So that is what became myfractional CMO service, which is
solely what I do today.
But let's take a step back.
I've also worked with marketingagencies.
Marketing agencies, especiallyin the early days of social
media marketing, had a hard timeselling social media marketing.
They knew that in order to sell, they needed to create a social
media marketing strategy.
(04:38):
So they often brought me in tohelp, with their clients,
develop a social media marketingstrategy.
So then the agency can makerecurring monthly revenues after
they deliver the one-offstrategy right, because at that
time most businesses reallydidn't know what they were doing
with social media.
It was still the very, veryearly days, but the way that
marketing agencies work is theywork on a scaled operation,
(05:01):
right.
They work on offering serviceswhich you subscribe to on a
monthly operation, right.
They work on offering serviceswhich you subscribe to on a
monthly retainer basis ormonthly basis that often require
long-term contracts.
These are things likepay-per-click ads or social
media ads.
They could be SEO, they couldbe content creation, they could
(05:21):
even be influencer marketing orinfluencer outreach.
There's a lot of differentthings they do, but often the
whole concept is, if you look atit from an agency owner
perspective, I want to sell asmany of these services that I
can because I know over timethings like pay-per-click or
social media ads.
Once you get it locked in, youmight not have to do a lot of
extra work yet you can stilldeliver ROI right or SEO.
(05:45):
Yes, there's an initialtechnical SEO audit and
implementation that you need todo for a new client, but after
that, the monthly needs of anSEO service outside of content
creation maybe some backlinksmay not justify what you may be
paying.
At least, this has been from myexperience.
So marketing agencies, like Isaid, typically offer these
(06:06):
bundled services requiringlong-term contracts, and really
they're going.
And reputable agencies do notdo this.
So I'm going to take a stepback and say that.
But the goal of most agenciesis to sell more services, even
if they're not always necessary.
Now, I have always thought thatwhen a business hands over
their marketing strategy to anagency, it is a conflict of
(06:27):
interest.
I don't even know if people inthe United States even
understand what that is, becauseI see so many conflicts of
interest in today's government.
But that aside, this is not apolitical podcast.
Sometimes they will recommendthings because they can make
money but it might not benecessary for you, or they will
create a strategy because ithelps them best develop the
services that they've alwaysprovided you when it might not
(06:49):
be necessary.
So I began my career as amarketing consultant really
focusing on the strategy piece,right, my motto is educate and
empower.
Educate and empower throughtraining and, at the early days,
social media marketing strategycreation, right?
So, hey, if you're going towork with an agency, own the
strategy, make sure that whatthe agency does is dictated in
(07:11):
your strategy, and I think,right alone there.
If you are going to work withan agency, that would be my
recommendation.
But, as I was saying, the realwork behind services like SEO
and ad management specifically,often declines over time while
fees stay the same.
I'd that agency what are theydoing on a monthly basis to
justify the money that you'repaying them?
(07:32):
Because probably in anegotiation you ask that
question but maybe after a fewmonths, after a few years, after
you know seeing a automaticallygenerated report which a lot of
agencies use to show their ROI,you may not understand really
what real work is going on on aday-to-day basis compared to the
amount of money that you'repaying.
So some agencies do great workright, don't get me wrong but
(07:55):
too many overcharge and underdeliver and at a minimum, this
is a service that I offer aswell.
I would really bring in afractional CMO, even if it is
just solely for.
I mean, if you're spending sixfigures with agencies or even
tens of thousands of dollars,it's worth your time to spend a
few thousand dollars on alimited fractional CMO
(08:16):
engagement to see how you mightbe able to get better ROI out of
that engagement right With theagency.
So that, I believe, is theworld of marketing agencies,
both from my own experience andwhat I've heard with clients,
and yes, I mean, I wrote digitalthreads to educate and empower
and a lot of companies will hirefractional CMOs because either
they don't want to work withagencies, they want to minimize
(08:37):
their work with agencies, butoverall they want to develop
more in-house expertise and Ithink this is really the way
that the industry is going.
If you read the reports I don'thave the data on hand but a
year in and year out, it seemslike more and more brands are
doing more and more marketingin-house.
(08:58):
Okay, let's now go over tomarketing consultants.
Marketing consultants areusually hired for one-off
projects like rebranding, awebsite audit, social media
marketing strategy creation andall that.
The pricing is often a blackbox.
It is well, we estimate it'sgoing to take this many hours
and therefore this is how muchit's going to cost, but it's
really hard to gauge the valueupfront.
But the other thing that youknow, reflecting upon my
(09:20):
experience as a social mediamarketing strategy consultant,
is that consultants often workat an arm's length right,
because they already have aproject to find and an amount to
find.
They don't want to spend toomuch time answering your
questions, visiting you, havingconversations, because it's
going to take away from theprofit.
In all honesty, when I signcontracts as a consultant, I
(09:42):
would specify the number ofmeetings and the number of hours
for each of those meetings thatwe would have up front, because
time is money if you're aconsultant, right?
So consultants work at thisarm's length, meaning that you
only receive often the finaldeliverable, not their ongoing
expertise, and they don'ttypically integrate into your
(10:02):
team or help execute strategieslong term.
It is a one-off, you know, whambam.
Thank you, ma'am, for lack of abetter word.
And that's it, and it is.
You know.
I often ask Neil, can you giveexamples of your social media
marketing strategy, consultingclients and how the strategy is
performed over time?
And I can't, because I was theconsultant in, you know, in
(10:25):
charge of the project.
Once the project is done, I'mnot part of the execution team.
I have no idea if they weresuccessful or not, if they
veered off the strategy orrevised it or what have you
Right?
And that is sort of the worldof marketing consultants.
So I understand, for somethingvery, very niche, you want to
bring in someone with nicheexpertise, I get it Right.
But I also think that having abroader perspective agencies
(10:48):
definitely bring broaderperspectives, as do truly
seasoned fractional CMOs whohave the experience in what you
want to do, assuming you ask inadvance hey, do you have
experience working in this sortof niche, right?
Obviously you want to make sureyou have that, or make sure
that the fractional CMO iscomfortable working in that
niche.
So, compared to these, right, Imentioned to you that first
(11:09):
fractional CMO client I had.
It was based on time.
The time was spent in theiroffice.
I was reporting to the CEO, Iwas in charge of their strategy
and I was in charge of trainingtheir junior marketing staff and
really raising them to the nextlevel.
That is what a CMO would do,right?
(11:30):
So a fractional CMO just meansit is fractional.
You're not going to pay afull-time salary.
The fractional CMO does notexpect a full-time salary.
The fractional CMO willnegotiate for a salary, like I
do, based on the number of hoursper week or month that you need
their service and how long thecontract is going to be.
And the fractional part is thatthe fractional CMO will work
(11:50):
with multiple companies at thesame time, and I believe this is
a plus for your businessbecause they are getting
expertise from a variety ofcompanies, a variety of
industries.
Obviously, this is allconfidential, but you are able
to stand on the shoulders ofgiants, leveraging all the
experience the variousexperiences that the fractional
CMO brings to the table.
(12:11):
So the fractional CMO, as I'vemapped out, becomes a strategic
partner, embedded in yourbusiness, acting as an executive
team member, should you allowthem to do so.
I have been a fractional CMO forcompanies where they wanted me
to work more behind the scenesor the CEO didn't want me to
report to him.
The CEO wanted me to report toa marketing director, which is
(12:32):
fine.
I think it doesn't reallyexpose the CEO to the greatest
value.
Yet every company's needs aredifferent, right, but the
fractional CMO, as you canimagine, is very flexible
because, at the end of the day,the CEO calls the shots as to
what you want the fractional CMOto do.
In this way, the fractional CMOworks transparently, ensuring
(12:52):
that all strategies, playbooksand execution become your
company's IP.
In other words, the marketingagency might be running Google
Ads or running social media adsand creating creative contents.
I mean, they might be doing itin your dashboard, which I hope
they do, or in your ad manager,but when a fractional CMO does
it together with your employees,you can then own that work and
(13:17):
then you realize you know what.
It doesn't have to take a lotof time, it doesn't have to take
as big of a budget to do itin-house as we had to do with an
agency.
Now, an agency obviously don'tget me wrong are really really
experienced at doing these nicheservices.
But on the other hand, I alsounderstand there are a variety
of automated and AI automatedtools out there that agencies
(13:41):
often use, and sometimes theywill use no more than the
automations in that AI tool,right?
So working with a fractionalCMO can help bring that in-house
.
Now, maybe the first month ortwo it may not be as efficient
if you're starting from scratch,but over time you can learn and
, most importantly, it becomesyour IP.
So, unlike agencies orconsultants, a fractional CMO
(14:04):
truly aligns directly with yourbusiness goals, not just selling
a service.
When I go into businesses, I'mtrying to serve.
I'm not there to sell, right?
I'm not going to tell them whatthey need.
Unless they want to hire me asa fractional CMO, then together
let's discuss what they mightneed, right?
So I'm not trying to push aservice.
I'm not trying to say, oh mygosh, you got to be doing paid
ads, right?
(14:25):
Maybe, maybe not, I don't know,but that's not part of my
business model.
That's not part of, well, everyclient that I engage with.
I got to sell them admanagement because it's going to
be a nice recurring revenue forme.
Stability, right, and afraction of CMOs, should you
hire them to stay on long enough.
I have companies that I'veworked with for several years.
(14:46):
They provide long-term growthstrategies that evolve as your
business scales.
So, with all this in hand, let'slook at the key differences in
ROI.
I believe my personal opinionworking with agencies, the ROI
often diminishes over time dueto recurring services that don't
(15:07):
require continuous effort, andI believe the ROI, on the other
hand, for agencies, increasesover time.
With consultants, the ROI islimited to the scope of the
project, with no ongoing impact.
With fractional CMOs, the ROIis truly maximized because they
build internal marketingcapabilities and transfer
(15:28):
knowledge directly to your team.
So I believe, if you're a smallbusiness, if you're a startup
especially, but even if you're alarger business, I believe a
fractional CMO whether it's meor some of the other qualified
fractional CMOs that are outthere is the best choice, and
I'll tell you why Because afractional CMO acts as your
in-house CMO without thefull-time cost.
(15:50):
No need to pay any benefits.
No need to worry if you need torestructure or pivot right
benefits no need to worry if youneed to restructure or pivot
right.
There's no contractualliabilities or commitments
outside of that time span thatyou commit to when working with
your fractional CMO.
Fractional CMOs bring thestrategic expertise of a
seasoned executive assumingyou're working with someone who
(16:11):
is experienced while helpingexecute and train your team.
Therefore, every dollar spentgoes towards real business
impact, not just services orprojects that keep agencies or
consultants profitable.
You get agility, transparencyand long-term marketing success
without wasting budget.
(16:34):
So I began this podcastrecording talking about spending
on marketing without clearresults.
If that's you and you're tiredof doing that, it's time to
rethink your approach.
A fractional CMO gives you thebest of both worlds agency level
execution with an executive'sstrategic insight.
So if you're serious aboutmaximizing your marketing ROI, I
(16:57):
encourage you to reach out to afractional CMO.
If you want to reach out to me,just go to neilschafercom slash
CMO.
You can fill in the contactform.
I'll then be sending you a caton the invite and we can have an
open discussion.
So reach out.
I would love to help you scalesmarter and grow your business
(17:18):
with marketing that actuallyworks.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeof your Digital Marketing Coach
Podcast.
As always, I want to remind youif you got any value out of
this or other episodes.
I would so much appreciategoing to your favorite podcast
app, wherever you're listeningto this, giving it a five-star
(17:38):
rating and, where possible,write a quick one or
two-sentence review and send mea screenshot, because I would
love to thank you.
And well, those that know meknow that I have various ways of
thanking those that support me,because you know what, without
your support, I'm nothing.
Without your downloads, I'mnothing.
Without you sharing theseepisodes on social media, I
can't grow, and if I can't grow,I can't serve you in helping
(17:59):
you grow.
So it all comes around right.
So I'll leave you with thosefinal thoughts.
This is your digital marketingcoach, neal Schaefer, signing
off.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
You've been listening to your digital marketing coach
.
Questions, comments, requests,links go to
podcastneilschafercom.
Get the show notes to this and200 plus podcast episodes at
neilschafercom to tap into the400 plus blog posts that Neil
has published to support yourbusiness.
(18:30):
While you're there, check outNeil's digital first group
coaching membership community ifyou or your business needs a
little helping hand.
See you next time on yourDigital Marketing Coach.
Hey, as a business owner or someone that spends
money on marketing, do you feellike you're spending that money
but not seeing real results?
You're not alone.
Many businesses turn tomarketing agencies or
consultants.
But what if there's a betterway?
In this episode, I'm going tobreak down the key differences
between agencies, consultantsand fractional CMOs, and why a
(00:23):
fractional CMO might just be thesmartest investment for your
business.
So stay tuned for all the deetsin the next episode of the your
Digital Marketing Coach podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Digital social media content, influencer marketing,
blogging, podcasting, vlogging,tiktoking, linkedin, twitter,
facebook, instagram, youtube,seo, sem, ppc, email marketing
there's a lot to cover.
Whether you're a marketingprofessional, entrepreneur or
business owner, you need someoneyou can rely on for expert
(00:57):
advice.
Good thing you've got Neil onyour side, because Neil Schaefer
is your digital marketing coach, helping you grow your business
with digital first marketing,one episode at a time.
This is your digital marketingcoach and this is Neal Schaefer.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Hey friends, we are up to episode number 398 of the
your Digital Marketing Coachpodcast, and this is Neil
Schafer reporting to you on,well, what inspires me, what I
see, things, I read, things, Ihear, interactions I have with
companies or with people justlike you that inspire me to
(01:42):
provide an educational messageso that every single episode you
listen to of the your DigitalMarketing Coach podcast delivers
some sort of ROI for the timethat you invest.
For those of you that have beenlistening for a while, you know
that the way I roll is I do 50%solo episodes, like today, and
50% guest expert interviews.
So today I want to start with adisclaimer.
(02:04):
I am a fractional CMO, but inno way am I trying to make this
episode a glorified sales pitch.
Let's just start that way.
But, time in and time again, itjust crushes me when I hear
about small businesses thatwaste so much of their precious
marketing budget for inefficientservices that are provided with
(02:27):
very little ROI.
So obviously, because you'relistening to this podcast, you
know that marketing is acritical function for any
business, and I understand thatoften you will hire support
based on recommendations frompeople in your network, people
in your friends.
Maybe you were at a businessbefore company before.
That's the way you did things,so hiring the right support can
(02:51):
be confusing.
The beautiful thing is there'smore options than ever,
especially post-COVID, withremote work and what have you.
I know my fractional CMObusiness really took off during
COVID, and the options,including freelancers, like I
talk about in digital threads,are really endless.
So, of the options, though, Ibelieve the three mainstream
(03:11):
options, the three best optionswould be working with an agency,
working with a consultant orbringing on a fractional CMO.
But what's the best approach?
Now you're going to have tomake the final decision as to
what the best approach is, buttoday I'm going to at least
demystify these options, sharethe pros and cons of each and
help you make the best decisionfor your business.
(03:33):
By the end, I think you'regoing to understand why a
fractional CMO offers the bestmix of strategy execution and
long-term ROI and how they and Ican help you grow your business
smarter.
So I am able to talk about thisbecause I've actually been
involved in all three.
Right Before I was a fractionalCMO.
(03:55):
And my fractional CMO cameabout because before I was a
marketing consultant and it wasreally a suggestion from a
client a marketing consultingclient, where I helped develop
their strategy to come intotheir office a half day a week,
report to the CEO, help fleshout the strategy, help train the
marketing team and thenimplement the strategy Right.
(04:16):
So that is what became myfractional CMO service, which is
solely what I do today.
But let's take a step back.
I've also worked with marketingagencies.
Marketing agencies, especiallyin the early days of social
media marketing, had a hard timeselling social media marketing.
They knew that in order to sell, they needed to create a social
media marketing strategy.
(04:38):
So they often brought me in tohelp, with their clients,
develop a social media marketingstrategy.
So then the agency can makerecurring monthly revenues after
they deliver the one-offstrategy right, because at that
time most businesses reallydidn't know what they were doing
with social media.
It was still the very, veryearly days, but the way that
marketing agencies work is theywork on a scaled operation,
(05:01):
right.
They work on offering serviceswhich you subscribe to on a
monthly operation, right.
They work on offering serviceswhich you subscribe to on a
monthly retainer basis ormonthly basis that often require
long-term contracts.
These are things likepay-per-click ads or social
media ads.
They could be SEO, they couldbe content creation, they could
(05:21):
even be influencer marketing orinfluencer outreach.
There's a lot of differentthings they do, but often the
whole concept is, if you look atit from an agency owner
perspective, I want to sell asmany of these services that I
can because I know over timethings like pay-per-click or
social media ads.
Once you get it locked in, youmight not have to do a lot of
extra work yet you can stilldeliver ROI right or SEO.
(05:45):
Yes, there's an initialtechnical SEO audit and
implementation that you need todo for a new client, but after
that, the monthly needs of anSEO service outside of content
creation maybe some backlinksmay not justify what you may be
paying.
At least, this has been from myexperience.
So marketing agencies, like Isaid, typically offer these
(06:06):
bundled services requiringlong-term contracts, and really
they're going.
And reputable agencies do notdo this.
So I'm going to take a stepback and say that.
But the goal of most agenciesis to sell more services, even
if they're not always necessary.
Now, I have always thought thatwhen a business hands over
their marketing strategy to anagency, it is a conflict of
(06:27):
interest.
I don't even know if people inthe United States even
understand what that is, becauseI see so many conflicts of
interest in today's government.
But that aside, this is not apolitical podcast.
Sometimes they will recommendthings because they can make
money but it might not benecessary for you, or they will
create a strategy because ithelps them best develop the
services that they've alwaysprovided you when it might not
(06:49):
be necessary.
So I began my career as amarketing consultant really
focusing on the strategy piece,right, my motto is educate and
empower.
Educate and empower throughtraining and, at the early days,
social media marketing strategycreation, right?
So, hey, if you're going towork with an agency, own the
strategy, make sure that whatthe agency does is dictated in
(07:11):
your strategy, and I think,right alone there.
If you are going to work withan agency, that would be my
recommendation.
But, as I was saying, the realwork behind services like SEO
and ad management specifically,often declines over time while
fees stay the same.
I'd that agency what are theydoing on a monthly basis to
justify the money that you'repaying them?
(07:32):
Because probably in anegotiation you ask that
question but maybe after a fewmonths, after a few years, after
you know seeing a automaticallygenerated report which a lot of
agencies use to show their ROI,you may not understand really
what real work is going on on aday-to-day basis compared to the
amount of money that you'repaying.
So some agencies do great workright, don't get me wrong but
(07:55):
too many overcharge and underdeliver and at a minimum, this
is a service that I offer aswell.
I would really bring in afractional CMO, even if it is
just solely for.
I mean, if you're spending sixfigures with agencies or even
tens of thousands of dollars,it's worth your time to spend a
few thousand dollars on alimited fractional CMO
(08:16):
engagement to see how you mightbe able to get better ROI out of
that engagement right With theagency.
So that, I believe, is theworld of marketing agencies,
both from my own experience andwhat I've heard with clients,
and yes, I mean, I wrote digitalthreads to educate and empower
and a lot of companies will hirefractional CMOs because either
they don't want to work withagencies, they want to minimize
(08:37):
their work with agencies, butoverall they want to develop
more in-house expertise and Ithink this is really the way
that the industry is going.
If you read the reports I don'thave the data on hand but a
year in and year out, it seemslike more and more brands are
doing more and more marketingin-house.
(08:58):
Okay, let's now go over tomarketing consultants.
Marketing consultants areusually hired for one-off
projects like rebranding, awebsite audit, social media
marketing strategy creation andall that.
The pricing is often a blackbox.
It is well, we estimate it'sgoing to take this many hours
and therefore this is how muchit's going to cost, but it's
really hard to gauge the valueupfront.
But the other thing that youknow, reflecting upon my
(09:20):
experience as a social mediamarketing strategy consultant,
is that consultants often workat an arm's length right,
because they already have aproject to find and an amount to
find.
They don't want to spend toomuch time answering your
questions, visiting you, havingconversations, because it's
going to take away from theprofit.
In all honesty, when I signcontracts as a consultant, I
(09:42):
would specify the number ofmeetings and the number of hours
for each of those meetings thatwe would have up front, because
time is money if you're aconsultant, right?
So consultants work at thisarm's length, meaning that you
only receive often the finaldeliverable, not their ongoing
expertise, and they don'ttypically integrate into your
(10:02):
team or help execute strategieslong term.
It is a one-off, you know, whambam.
Thank you, ma'am, for lack of abetter word.
And that's it, and it is.
You know.
I often ask Neil, can you giveexamples of your social media
marketing strategy, consultingclients and how the strategy is
performed over time?
And I can't, because I was theconsultant in, you know, in
(10:25):
charge of the project.
Once the project is done, I'mnot part of the execution team.
I have no idea if they weresuccessful or not, if they
veered off the strategy orrevised it or what have you
Right?
And that is sort of the worldof marketing consultants.
So I understand, for somethingvery, very niche, you want to
bring in someone with nicheexpertise, I get it Right.
But I also think that having abroader perspective agencies
(10:48):
definitely bring broaderperspectives, as do truly
seasoned fractional CMOs whohave the experience in what you
want to do, assuming you ask inadvance hey, do you have
experience working in this sortof niche, right?
Obviously you want to make sureyou have that, or make sure
that the fractional CMO iscomfortable working in that
niche.
So, compared to these, right, Imentioned to you that first
(11:09):
fractional CMO client I had.
It was based on time.
The time was spent in theiroffice.
I was reporting to the CEO, Iwas in charge of their strategy
and I was in charge of trainingtheir junior marketing staff and
really raising them to the nextlevel.
That is what a CMO would do,right?
(11:30):
So a fractional CMO just meansit is fractional.
You're not going to pay afull-time salary.
The fractional CMO does notexpect a full-time salary.
The fractional CMO willnegotiate for a salary, like I
do, based on the number of hoursper week or month that you need
their service and how long thecontract is going to be.
And the fractional part is thatthe fractional CMO will work
(11:50):
with multiple companies at thesame time, and I believe this is
a plus for your businessbecause they are getting
expertise from a variety ofcompanies, a variety of
industries.
Obviously, this is allconfidential, but you are able
to stand on the shoulders ofgiants, leveraging all the
experience the variousexperiences that the fractional
CMO brings to the table.
(12:11):
So the fractional CMO, as I'vemapped out, becomes a strategic
partner, embedded in yourbusiness, acting as an executive
team member, should you allowthem to do so.
I have been a fractional CMO forcompanies where they wanted me
to work more behind the scenesor the CEO didn't want me to
report to him.
The CEO wanted me to report toa marketing director, which is
(12:32):
fine.
I think it doesn't reallyexpose the CEO to the greatest
value.
Yet every company's needs aredifferent, right, but the
fractional CMO, as you canimagine, is very flexible
because, at the end of the day,the CEO calls the shots as to
what you want the fractional CMOto do.
In this way, the fractional CMOworks transparently, ensuring
(12:52):
that all strategies, playbooksand execution become your
company's IP.
In other words, the marketingagency might be running Google
Ads or running social media adsand creating creative contents.
I mean, they might be doing itin your dashboard, which I hope
they do, or in your ad manager,but when a fractional CMO does
it together with your employees,you can then own that work and
(13:17):
then you realize you know what.
It doesn't have to take a lotof time, it doesn't have to take
as big of a budget to do itin-house as we had to do with an
agency.
Now, an agency obviously don'tget me wrong are really really
experienced at doing these nicheservices.
But on the other hand, I alsounderstand there are a variety
of automated and AI automatedtools out there that agencies
(13:41):
often use, and sometimes theywill use no more than the
automations in that AI tool,right?
So working with a fractionalCMO can help bring that in-house
.
Now, maybe the first month ortwo it may not be as efficient
if you're starting from scratch,but over time you can learn and
, most importantly, it becomesyour IP.
So, unlike agencies orconsultants, a fractional CMO
(14:04):
truly aligns directly with yourbusiness goals, not just selling
a service.
When I go into businesses, I'mtrying to serve.
I'm not there to sell, right?
I'm not going to tell them whatthey need.
Unless they want to hire me asa fractional CMO, then together
let's discuss what they mightneed, right?
So I'm not trying to push aservice.
I'm not trying to say, oh mygosh, you got to be doing paid
ads, right?
(14:25):
Maybe, maybe not, I don't know,but that's not part of my
business model.
That's not part of, well, everyclient that I engage with.
I got to sell them admanagement because it's going to
be a nice recurring revenue forme.
Stability, right, and afraction of CMOs, should you
hire them to stay on long enough.
I have companies that I'veworked with for several years.
(14:46):
They provide long-term growthstrategies that evolve as your
business scales.
So, with all this in hand, let'slook at the key differences in
ROI.
I believe my personal opinionworking with agencies, the ROI
often diminishes over time dueto recurring services that don't
(15:07):
require continuous effort, andI believe the ROI, on the other
hand, for agencies, increasesover time.
With consultants, the ROI islimited to the scope of the
project, with no ongoing impact.
With fractional CMOs, the ROIis truly maximized because they
build internal marketingcapabilities and transfer
(15:28):
knowledge directly to your team.
So I believe, if you're a smallbusiness, if you're a startup
especially, but even if you're alarger business, I believe a
fractional CMO whether it's meor some of the other qualified
fractional CMOs that are outthere is the best choice, and
I'll tell you why Because afractional CMO acts as your
in-house CMO without thefull-time cost.
(15:50):
No need to pay any benefits.
No need to worry if you need torestructure or pivot right
benefits no need to worry if youneed to restructure or pivot
right.
There's no contractualliabilities or commitments
outside of that time span thatyou commit to when working with
your fractional CMO.
Fractional CMOs bring thestrategic expertise of a
seasoned executive assumingyou're working with someone who
(16:11):
is experienced while helpingexecute and train your team.
Therefore, every dollar spentgoes towards real business
impact, not just services orprojects that keep agencies or
consultants profitable.
You get agility, transparencyand long-term marketing success
without wasting budget.
(16:34):
So I began this podcastrecording talking about spending
on marketing without clearresults.
If that's you and you're tiredof doing that, it's time to
rethink your approach.
A fractional CMO gives you thebest of both worlds agency level
execution with an executive'sstrategic insight.
So if you're serious aboutmaximizing your marketing ROI, I
(16:57):
encourage you to reach out to afractional CMO.
If you want to reach out to me,just go to neilschafercom slash
CMO.
You can fill in the contactform.
I'll then be sending you a caton the invite and we can have an
open discussion.
So reach out.
I would love to help you scalesmarter and grow your business
(17:18):
with marketing that actuallyworks.
I hope you enjoyed this episodeof your Digital Marketing Coach
Podcast.
As always, I want to remind youif you got any value out of
this or other episodes.
I would so much appreciategoing to your favorite podcast
app, wherever you're listeningto this, giving it a five-star
(17:38):
rating and, where possible,write a quick one or
two-sentence review and send mea screenshot, because I would
love to thank you.
And well, those that know meknow that I have various ways of
thanking those that support me,because you know what, without
your support, I'm nothing.
Without your downloads, I'mnothing.
Without you sharing theseepisodes on social media, I
can't grow, and if I can't grow,I can't serve you in helping
(17:59):
you grow.
So it all comes around right.
So I'll leave you with thosefinal thoughts.
This is your digital marketingcoach, neal Schaefer, signing
off.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
You've been listening to your digital marketing coach
.
Questions, comments, requests,links go to
podcastneilschafercom.
Get the show notes to this and200 plus podcast episodes at
neilschafercom to tap into the400 plus blog posts that Neil
has published to support yourbusiness.
(18:30):
While you're there, check outNeil's digital first group
coaching membership community ifyou or your business needs a
little helping hand.
See you next time on yourDigital Marketing Coach.
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