Why Hire an Interim CMO? Benefits + Tips to Find the Right Fit
Discover what an interim CMO can do for your company, the benefits of hiring one, and how to find the right candidate that suits your business needs.
December 16th, 2024
An interim CMO temporarily fills the CMO role full-time or part-time, typically during leadership transitions or crises. With expertise in stabilizing teams and driving urgent marketing initiatives, they keep marketing on track while a permanent CMO is being considered.
However, finding the right talent to fit your company culture and drive real results is the hardest part.
Fortunately, we have a solution for you that makes it much easier: Hire a fractional CMO through Go Fractional as your interim CMO.
But before we get into that, let's examine when you should hire an interim CMO, how to hire someone qualified, key challenges you may encounter, and more.
Further Reading:
Explore how a fractional CMO can transform your business and how to hire the right talent.Find out how to hire a CMO using eight steps, and get strategies to empower your CMO for success.
When Should You Consider Hiring an Interim CMO?
These are the situations when hiring an interim CMO may be right for your company:
- The current CMO leaves unexpectedly, is fired, or your organization is in transition.
- You need expertise for specific initiatives, like a new product launch, merger, or rebranding.
- You want to "try" a CMO to see if they would make a difference.
- Your team is overwhelmed and needs immediate interim leadership.
- You need immediate strategic direction and a fresh perspective with a marketing leader who can hit the ground running with minimal onboarding.
- You prefer flexible commitment to avoid the huge costs of a full time CMO while gaining access to top talent.
On that last point, flexibility should be a key factor when filling your interim role, which is why we recommend hiring a fractional CMO for the job.
What Is the Difference Between an Interim CMO and a Fractional CMO?
As mentioned, an interim CMO is typically a short-term hire to fill the position during a transition period.
Meanwhile, a fractional CMO is a part-time hire who can work with your company for the short or long term. They carry out the duties of a full time CMO and may work part-time for multiple companies.
Essentially, they offer more flexibility, because you could decide on the exact number of hours/week you'd want to hire someone for.
These marketing experts typically have decades of experience working in similar industries and on similar projects as yours, so they can transform your marketing strategy and operations quickly. Moreover, they will bring an outsider's fresh perspective to your business.
In fact, when you hire a fractional CMO to fill your interim position, it's more cost-effective than hiring a full-time interim chief marketing officer.
We'll tell you how.
How Much Does an Interim CMO Cost (Compared to a Fractional CMO)?
- Interim CMOs are paid, on average, $205,146 yearly. Some companies also pay bonuses and commissions, which could amount to another $150,600 on average.
- Fractional CMOs are typically paid a monthly retainer between $10,000 and $20,000, totaling an annual compensation of $120,000 to $240,000 from one organization. They don't need to be given bonuses, private equity, or additional perks.
- Advisor
- Team Building
- Leadership
- Product Strategy
Fractional Chief Product and Marketing Officer || 3X founder (1 exit) || Expert in AI automation, climate, education, and gaming
So, going fractional with hiring your interim chief marketing officer could save you a chunk of money. But of course, the results you get depend on whether you hire someone who's truly qualified to meet your business's unique needs.
How to Hire an Experienced Interim CMO That Is Actually Qualified for the Job
Typically, hiring an interim CMO involves these steps:
- Defining clear objectives for the interim role.
- Sourcing qualified talent using executive search firms, interim CMO service providers, or professional platforms like Linkedin.
- Screening candidates to identify those with relevant high-impact experience.
- Conducting in-depth interviews with key stakeholders to assess both technical expertise and cultural fit.
- Gauging their performance through a short trial period, if possible, before fully committing.
But remember, even if you've found an interim chief marketing officer, a few significant challenges may arise during their engagement.
What Are the Common Challenges You May Face When Hiring Interim CMOs?
Hiring someone for an executive position is never easy, and there are specific challenges that come with hiring for an interim position.
It's a long, expensive process and still may end with a disappointing result.
However, you could also choose to circumvent these challenges by using a service like Go Fractional.
Let us explain:
- The typical hiring process for a qualified interim CMO can take months and usually involves significant time commitment from your leadership team.
- Some interim CMOs may struggle to build trust quickly and adapt to your company's existing culture, which can make it difficult to get executive buy-in for strategic initiatives.
- The most experienced interim CMOs demand high compensation, due to their specialized skills and the temporary nature of their role.
- Even after a long hiring process, you may not find the right candidate and settle for someone who doesn't quite live up to your expectations. You might have issues with continuity in leadership and strategy, potentially disrupting your existing marketing department.
Let us explain a bit more about how it works.
Hire a Fractional CMO through Go Fractional
Go Fractional gives you access to pre-vetted CMO candidates with years of experience working with companies and projects like yours. These leaders have proven experience running marketing teams and tackling marketing challenges exactly like yours.
When you hire an experienced fractional CMO through us, our Head of Talent will get on a call with you to review your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics, so we can find you a perfect match.
And let me repeat, our success rate in finding a match is 98%. If we don't find you the perfect fit, we keep looking, at no expense to you.
They excel at managing both day-to-day operations and long-term strategy and will ensure a smooth handover when you find your full time CMO. (Who knows? You might even prefer to stick with your fractional hire rather than go back to a full-time commitment.)
Contact Go Fractional for more information or to explore your options further.
- Fractional CMO
- Public Relations
- Executive Communications
- Corporate communications
Strategic Communications Advisor, Fractional CCO & Crisis Expert
What Does an Interim CMO Do? (Important Responsibilities)
Your interim CMO may take over one or more of these responsibilities:
- Spearhead your strategic planning and marketing initiative execution to achieve the organizational goals.
- Conduct market research and use insights and other data to understand industry trends and customer needs.
- Develop or refine your digital marketing strategy to boost ROI and reduce marketing spend.
- Shape and fine-tune your brand identity, maintaining consistency across channels to build a strong, cohesive customer experience.
- Optimize cross-channel marketing campaigns, including digital marketing campaigns, for online visibility and engagement growth.
- Use marketing automation or digital transformation tools to improve process efficiency and boost the ROI of your marketing plan.
- Manage vendor and agency relationships to ensure they meet your standards and marketing goals.
- Develop pricing strategies that maintain profitability while staying competitive in the market.
- Review campaign data and prepare reports to evaluate performance and guide future marketing decisions.
- Lead and support the marketing team, fostering a culture of ongoing improvement and learning.
- Manage budgeting and forecasting to meet financial targets and properly allocate resources.
- Oversee public relations and crisis management to safeguard the company's reputation.
To explore their responsibilities in detail, go here.
- Advisor
- Fractional CMO
- Branding
- Team Building
Driving Growth & Scale in Consumer Businesses
FAQs About Hiring Interim CMOs
You may still have questions about bringing interim marketing talent on board. Let's tackle them.
1. What Skills and Experience Should You Look For in An Interim CMO?
When hiring an interim chief marketing officer, you should look for these skills and experience that align with the temporary, high-impact nature of the role:
- Senior-level marketing leadership: Extensive experience as a CMO, VP of Marketing, interim marketing director, or in another senior marketing role, ideally across multiple companies or industries.
- High-impact, short-term engagements: Previous fractional, consulting, or interim marketing roles where they delivered rapid growth, showcasing their ability to hit the ground running.
- Track record of managing transitions: Proven success in handling organizational changes, such as leadership transitions, restructures, or rapid scaling efforts.
- Industry-specific expertise: Familiarity with your industry's unique challenges, customer behaviors, and regulatory requirements.
- Expertise in cross-channel campaigns: Prior experience integrating digital marketing with offline efforts.
- Crisis management and rapid problem solving: Past roles where they successfully navigated crises, such as PR issues or market disruptions, showing resilience and composure under pressure.
- Data-driven marketing strategy: Proficiency in strategy planning based on data and KPIs, with a track record of improving ROI, conversion rates, or customer acquisition costs.
- Cross-functional collaboration: Experience working with other executives, demonstrating the ability to align marketing objectives with broader organizational goals.
Such experiences indicate that the interim CMO can deliver immediate impact while smoothly integrating into your company's existing structure.
This is an area where an agency like Go Fractional can add tremendous value. As we mentioned earlier, we screen all candidates rigorously to ensure they meet your criteria and have demonstrated strong results in the past.
2. What Metrics and KPIs Should an Interim CMO be Expected to Deliver?
In the first six months, you can evaluate the interim chief marketing officer based on these metrics that show both immediate impact and foundational growth:
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
- Number of new leads generated through campaigns
- Lead-to-customer conversions
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
- Minimizing disruptions to daily marketing operations
Given a year's timeframe, you need to consider these metrics as well:
- Completion of key projects on time and within budget
- YoY revenue and profit margin growth attributed to marketing
- Customer retention rate
- Brand awareness metrics (increases in website traffic, social media engagement, etc.)
- Marketing-driven qualified lead volumes (SQLs) and revenue contribution
- Brand equity and sentiment
- Clear communication channels, positive relationships with investors, clients, and suppliers, and overall stakeholder satisfaction
Ready to explore interim CMO services for your business?
Hire a Fractional CMO as Your Interim CMO to Propel Your Business Forward
A fractional chief marketing officer may be your ideal solution for effectively tackling all the above challenges, seamlessly managing the interim responsibilities, and meeting your business objectives.
They are also more cost-effective than hiring a full-time or permanent CMO.
Connect with Go Fractional now to explore your options.
