The Research
Growth doesn’t stall because of weak strategies—it stalls because leaders aren’t on the same page. A McKinsey study of B2B companies found that the closer CEOs and CMOs were aligned on the company’s growth strategy, the stronger the business performed. And, more specifically, CEOs who put marketing at the core of the growth strategy were twice as likely to experience greater than 5 percent annual growth than peers who didn’t.
But securing marketing’s position as a core growth driver isn’t easy. Even the most capable and experienced full-time CMOs get siloed into a performance marketing role, leaving them with insufficient opportunity or influence to build the cross-functional buy-in and alignment critical successful marketing-led growth.
And, if full-time CMOs on the inside can’t make this happen, it is clear how part-time executives, on the outside by design, are destined to fail.
A New Part-Time Model
Obviously, we can’t abandon the part-time marketing model altogether. There are too many companies that can’t justify full-time executive hires but still need the guidance of specialized leadership to spearhead value creation. In fact, the demand for experienced leaders will likely intensify as PE firms face longer holding periods and mounting exit pressure. Let’s be clear — the fractional executive model works well for specific functions like CFO and CHRO. Unfortunately, it simply doesn’t hold up marketing.
To ensure these executives are delivering the lasting impact to growth that the business is seeking, we maintain the flexibility of the part-time model while adding the ownership and accountability of a full-time hire. Here’s what needs to change:
From Fractional to Full: Fractional CMOs and most PE operating partners manage a multitude of companies at once, leaving them with little bandwidth to do a deep-dive and become hands-on with any one business. But CMOs are most effective at driving growth when marketing is fully integrated with the core strategy. Achieving this level of integration requires ongoing, daily involvement at all levels of the organization and active participation in planning and prioritization discussions.
From Advisory to Accountability: The traditional fractional model is open-ended. Part-time, fractional executives are assigned to companies indefinitely with no well-defined finish line or off-boarding plan. While there is value in ongoing support, the lack of a definitive engagement period makes it difficult to hold fractional executives accountable to real results. A more effective approach is to use time-bound sprints with clear objectives and deliverables, forcing fractional executives to focus on efficiency and meaningful progress.
From Isolated to Cross-Functional: To successfully impact business outcomes, CMOs MUST operate beyond the marketing function. They need the necessary influence, authority, and relationships among their cross-functional peers to ensure the entire organization is aligned on a singular growth vision with marketing at its core.
The Future of Fractional
To address the short-comings in the traditional fractional CMO model, Mosaic is making a deliberate move away from the “we can help with anything you need” approach. Instead, we’re structuring highly focused, 3–6 month sprints that have defined goals, clear success criteria, and measurable performance outcomes. And, rather than accepting our default position as outsiders, we will actively work to immerse ourselves into the business—working side-by-side the other executives, as an extension of the internal leadership team, to accelerate value creation and drive meaningful results from the inside. Think of it less as a fractional role, and more as an in-residence model.
Over the next several weeks, we will continue to explore this concept of a “CMO-in-residence.” In the meantime, we would love to hear more about how others are solving for the delicate balance between affordability and flexibility vs. impact and accountability in fractional roles.
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