By Daniel Craig, Founder, Reknown Marketing
In the fast-paced worlds of hospitality and tech, it’s a common dilemma.
A company recognizes the need for a high-level, strategic approach to marketing, but it lacks the resources to employ a full-time head of marketing. So responsibility is assigned to a junior marketing employee, the head of sales, or another executive who doesn’t have the time or expertise to give marketing the attention it needs.
As a result, marketing goes adrift. There is a lack of strategic direction and cohesion in brand communications. It takes forever to get things approved and distributed. Meanwhile, content grows stale, and the few leads that trickle in are mostly junk.
Marketing serves an essential function for businesses, building awareness and trust, generating sales leads, and fuelling growth. A company can run on autopilot only for so long before its market positioning falters, sales suffer, and competitors pull ahead.
The Solution: A Fractional Head of Marketing
For an increasing number of companies, the solution is to hire a fractional head of marketing. It may be a bootstrapped hospitality tech start-up, a franchise hotel with limited marketing needs, or a travel organization that needs temporary help writing a marketing plan.
A fractional head of marketing, also called a fractional CMO (chief marketing officer) or VP of marketing, is an executive who leads a company’s marketing function on a part-time or interim basis. The company benefits from the skills and experience of senior-level marketer at a fraction of the cost of a full-time CMO.
Fractional hiring is not entirely new, of course. For decades, companies have outsourced everything from human resources to tech support when there isn’t enough work to justify a full-time position. In marketing, companies routinely outsource website admin, social media, content creation, and PR to agencies and freelancers.
What is new is outsourcing responsibilities at the executive level, whether a fractional chief financial officer (CFO), chief revenue officer (CRO), CMO, or even a fractional CEO. The trend has been propelled by the gig economy, advances in technology, and the shift to remote and hybrid working.
Successful executives are leaving full-time positions to work independently, lending their expertise to multiple brands. This provides companies with access to top-level talent they couldn’t otherwise afford or attract.
The fractional hiring trend is especially pertinent to the hospitality industry. “As businesses strive to fill critical roles in the post-pandemic world, it has become increasingly evident that traditional hiring approaches are insufficient to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals,” reports the HSMAI. “The rise of gig labor is not a mere trend but a transformative force in the modern workforce landscape. For companies, it offers flexibility, specialized skills, and cost-effectiveness.”
Fractional VP of Marketing Services
The services provided by a fractional CMO will vary according to the company’s needs, the contractor’s availability, and the scope of the commitment. The individual may be paid hourly, daily, or on retainer.
Roles can be divided into two main areas:
1) A Short-term Consultative Role
Sometimes a company needs temporary help to solve a specific problem. In this scenario, an individual may be brought in for a defined period such as a few months.
Examples of short-term fractional services include:
- Auditing the company’s positioning and marketing activities
- Developing a strategic marketing plan
- Overseeing special projects such as a website revamp, rebrand, or content strategy
- Filling in until the company is ready to take on a full-time CMO
- Mentoring a junior-level employee to take over the leadership role
- Assisting with recruitment and onboarding of a VP of marketing or other positions
2) A Long-term Leadership Role
Most companies need more than a quick fix. In this case, a fractional CMO may be brought in on a part-time basis for up to a year or even indefinitely.
Unlike a traditional consulting role, the individual will be more hands-on, acting as an integral part of the team. Examples of longer-term fractional services include:
- Overseeing implementation of the marketing plan
- Providing support and direction to the marketing team
- Fuelling growth through lead generation and nurturing
- Aligning marketing activities and content with organizational goals
- Applying tools and resources to increase efficiency (including effective use of AI)
- Recruiting marketing staff and contractors
- Tracking performance and providing progress reports to the leadership team
Full-time or Fractional: Which Is Better?
Having held multiple positions as both a full-time and a fractional VP of marketing, there’s no doubt in my mind that, over the longer term, most company’s need a full-time head of marketing.
But that’s not always feasible for smaller companies and those in transition. In this case, a fractional CMO can help grow the brand to the point where it’s ready for a full-time, permanent head of marketing.
Benefits of a Fractional VP of Marketing
Here are just a few of the advantages of a fractional head of marketing:
- Expert insights. A seasoned executive can hit the ground running, providing expert guidance and candid feedback to help the company save time and avoid costly mistakes.
- Cost efficiency. The company benefits from the knowledge and experience of a seasoned marketing veteran at a fraction of the cost of a full-time CMO.
- Flexibility. Rather than commit to a full-time position, the company can work with the contractor on a month-to-month basis for as little as a few hours per week, scaling up or down as its needs evolve.
- Leadership. The marketing team receives the guidance, support and mentorship it needs to thrive.
- Focus. Fractional VPs won’t get caught up in office politics or waste time in long meetings. All their time is dedicated to getting the job done.
- Accountability. The leadership team can focus on their own departments with the confidence that marketing is in capable hands.
What to Look for in a Fractional CMO
Not every marketing executive who is available for fractional work will be right fit. For hospitality and travel tech companies, here are some of the key qualities to look for.
- Leadership skills. A high-level, strategic thinker who instils confidence in colleagues and inspires the marketing team to achieve peak performance.
- Diversity in skills. Extensive experience not only in marketing but also in hospitality, technology and, as a bonus, sales.
- A brand gatekeeper. A creative mind with exceptional communication skills who is results-oriented and has a sharp eye for detail.
- Efficiency. An individual who is highly organized and productive, able to accomplish a large amount of work in a short period of time.
- Motivation to deliver results. Someone who will quickly whip the marketing department into shape and make meaningful strides in performance improvement.
With the growing availability of fractional marketing executives, companies no longer have an excuse for allowing marketing to go adrift. With the right individual in place, they can achieve their marketing objectives without compromising or overspending.