Why your fintech may need a fractional CMO
Hard truth:
Many finance businesses have struggled to effectively communicate their value since, well, forever.
Most tech businesses find it even harder.
When those worlds collide, the problem is magnified.
If you are a start-up or scale-up fintech, it can be hard to get the expert and experienced help you need to define and implement your marketing and growth strategy. Hiring a full-time CMO is expensive and takes real commitment.
Working with a fractional CMO, however, can give you competitive advantage and turbo-charge your growth. Particularly if it’s someone who has worked in fintech before.
What does a fractional CMO do in a fintech business?
Depending on your circumstances and business stage, a fractional CMO can work with you in a number of ways:
- A fractional CMO can create, implement and manage your fintech marketing strategy
This will probably require an engagement totalling a number of days a week over a period of a few months - A fractional CMO can help you build a winning fintech marketing team
Defining the required roles, writing job descriptions, sourcing and recruiting and onboarding marketing team members is a skilled job in its own right. Getting it wrong is expensive. - A fractional CMO can help your fintech create robust marketing processes to deliver repeatable success
Process is often the part of marketing which is left undone (creative people often don’t like process!). But to build measurable and repeatable marketing, you need processes. An experienced CMO can help.
What are the benefits of a fractional CMO for a fintech?
If you’re a large, well established fintech heading for Unicorn status, congratulations!
For the rest of us, the struggle is very real. A combination of a difficult funding landscape, increased costs and inflation mean reduced runways.
Generating sustainable revenue is as important as ever – perhaps more than ever. But CMO salaries are high so how can you compete?
A fractional CMO will give you access to 20+ years accrued knowledge and experience but at a fraction of the cost of employment.
How much does a fintech fractional CMO cost?
Day rates might look expensive, but you’re only paying that for a limited number of days a month.
And you’re not paying NI, pensions, holiday pay, sick pay…
With rates starting at a little over £800 per day, fractional CMO rates can be quite affordable for many fintech start-ups and scale-ups.
If you have an incumbent marketing team, you might want to consider a retainer arrangement. Here, your fractional CMO is “on call” – available for structured time each month as well as informal and unstructured time.
Existing marketers find this particularly helpful – having a senior marketing coach and expert on hand whenever they need it.
We arrange a fee and a ‘fair use’ policy up front and then review quarterly to see whether the engagement should be increased or decreased.
Does a fractional CMO need to be a fintech specialist?
Do they need to be? No.
Is it helpful if they are? For sure.
For one thing, if your fractional CMO is a fintech specialist, they will already have:
- a good understanding of the market and competitive landscape
- a good grasp of the regulatory requirements
- a helpful ‘black book’ of contacts!
However, I’m a firm believer that CMOs (whether permanent or fractional) benefit from having wider experience as well.
Best scenario: your fractional CMO is a fintech specialist, but not exclusivist.
Does hiring a fractional mean you are outsourcing the fintech CMO role?
Fractional CMOs are typically not employees. While this has significant cost benefits (no employment taxes, pension, holiday or sick pay), some fintech founders are concerned that this means ‘outsourcing’ their marketing strategy. Not so.
As a fractional CMO, I act as your CMO. I am there to represent the best interests of the company, to work closely with you to deliver the strategy and to deliver on the strategy.
I’m just not there 5 days a week.
What’s in a name? Fractional, portfolio, interim, part-time, consultant?
In the fractional community, we get tied-up in knots about this sometimes. However, here’s my version of the difference:
- A fractional CMO and a portfolio CMO are the same thing – your fintech will benefit from a CMO who is highly experienced and used to working with multiple clients at the same time
- An interim CMO is someone works with you for a limited period of time, usually to cover the role of the full-time CMO when they are on extended leave. They can also be used to cover a period when a fintech business is seeking a strategic change and isn’t yet ready to recruit a full time CMO
- A part-time CMO is similar to a fractional/portfolio CMO but doesn’t have multiple clients, they simply don’t work full time. They are usually treated as standard employees
- A fintech marketing consultant is hired to do project work – perhaps a proposition review or to launch a new product for example. Most fractional CMOs will consider consultancy projects (I certainly will!).
One more thing on names: Your fractional CMO doesn’t need to be a “CMO” – ie you don’t need to have a C-Suite to hire one. You can also think of us as a fractional marketing director, a fractional head of marketing or (for the right person), a fractional head of growth.
Contract types
Different fractional CMOs will have different ways of working with your fintech.
Typically, I work one (or more) of a few ways:
- Per day charges – a pre-arranged number of days per month at a standard rate
- Retainer basis – think of this as your fintech CMO on demand service – for a monthly retainer, I’m available for calls, meetings and discussions
- Consultancy contract – I’m happy to work with your fintech business on a defined marketing project
About me
I’m Richard Leader, I’ve been a senior marketing bod for over 20 years – and a fractional (or portfolio) marketing director and CMO for around 4 years.
Some of my clients – fintech and others – are listed below.
Other resources you may find useful:
