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In today’s patient driven, hyper-competitive healthcare landscape, a great marketing strategy is critical to success. The problem is that many small and medium sized firms don’t have the resources to invest in a full time Chief Marketing Officer or marketing leader. That can lead to lackluster strategy, inefficient execution, and stagnant results.

In recent years, Fractional CMOs have emerged as a go-to solution for this conundrum. That’s because Fractional CMOs have a well-earned reputation for their marketing expertise, their ability to get results, and their cost efficiency.

Despite their popularity, many small and medium-sized healthcare firms are still unclear about what Fractional CMOs really do–about what the day-to-day services of a Fr

What Does a Fractional CMO Do?

As a Fractional CMO, my goal is to provide companies with the strategic leadership and the marketing playbook they need to succeed. I’m there to make sure they’re getting the most out of their marketing efforts and seeing real, measurable results.

In many ways, a Fractional CMO will perform the same daily tasks as a Chief Marketing Officer but in a part-time capacity. So when a Fractional CMO contracts with an organization, they will generally be responsible for the following tasks:

• Establish the marketing direction: A Fractional CMO will determine what your business needs from a marketing standpoint, setting goals and establishing roadmaps and playbooks designed to help you reach your goals.
• Team guidance: A Fractional CMO is there to help you build your team for long term success. It’s not just about executing one successful project. Your Fractional CMO will prioritize developing your in-house marketing team or manage the execution of strategy with your current agency, setting them up to grow and succeed.
• Developing branding and positioning: Your brand is your key marketing message. Developing your branding and brand positioning ensures that your company’s messaging is consistent and resonates with your key audiences. The value of a clear message is incalculable–and will help all of your current and future marketing endeavors succeed.
• Measuring and analyzing results: A Fractional CMO can help you measure results in real time, tracking how well campaigns perform and quickly making adjustments as necessary. Fractional CMOs can also work with reporting and analytics systems to figure out what’s working, what’s not, and how to quickly pivot.

Surprising Services Offered by Fractional CMOs

The duties and role of a fractional CMO will often involve ensuring your overall marketing strategy is successfully implemented and that KPIs are accurate, relevant, and useful. But that’s not all a fractional CMO does. 

In fact, there are some critical services that Fractional CMOs are almost never asked about. And yet, these lesser known services are often crucial to your success. Some of these hidden Fractional CMO talents include:

• Advanced market research: This can include customer insights and competitor analysis. Advanced market research can help companies like yours better understand how to succeed in your market.
• Technological integration: Marketing is constantly evolving, developing and deploying new technologies to propel results. A Fractional CMO can help you establish and leverage CRM systems, email automation tools, advanced analytics platforms, and more. This can help you work smarter without having to work harder.
• Crisis management: A crisis can be unpredictable–but the quality of your PR response doesn’t have to be. A Fractional CMO can help you be prepared to steer your PR in a productive, effective direction.
• Optimizing the customer journey: Making it easier for leads to become customers or patients can help improve interactions across large campaigns and routine touchpoints alike.

Getting to Know Your New Playbook

One of the first things your Fractional CMO will do is to help you create a document called a playbook. This document is a cooperative effort, devised as a functional guidebook that outlines everything from strategies and tactics to goals and KPIs. Your playbook provides clarity and transparency for all stakeholders, so everyone knows what’s happening and why.

But marketing challenges can be unpredictable. That’s why good playbooks are not set in stone. They’re intended to be flexible, agile, and easy to scale as your business grows. In larger businesses, a playbook may be developed by a Chief Marketing Officer. When you work with a Fractional CMO, you get the same critical set of documents without the overhead of expanding your C-Suite. 

Your playbook will help ensure your company stays on brand, on mission, and on target.

Is a Fractional CMO Right for You?

Now that you know a bit more about what Fractional CMOs do, you can more thoughtfully evaluate whether this novel role would be a good fit for your business. As Traci Albers, a PatientX customer, said: “A Fractional CMO is perfect for companies that need high-level expertise but can’t justify the cost of a full-time CMO. It’s a partnership that really drives results while staying flexible.”

If your marketing efforts could benefit from experienced, innovative, and insightful leadership but a Chief Marketing Officer isn’t practical for your business, contact PatientX to schedule a consultation today!