Interim CMOs for B2B SaaS Startups & Scaleups
Contract B2B CMOs get the marketing job done right and flexibly
Did you and your previous CMO part company? Does your current marketing team need guidance with strategy and important decisions? You don’t have to wait until you find the perfect full-time hire to make marketing progress. A fractional CMO or contract-based marketing executive for your B2B SaaS startup is a great way to benefit from veteran marketing expertise–at a fraction of the cost. You also have the opportunity to assess their working style, personality, and results without the commitment of formal employment. This gives you maximum flexibility even while supporting your sales goals and achieving your aggressive marketing plans.
Interim CMOs are the bridge that keep B2B SaaS startups and scaleups growing.
B2B SaaS companies need marketing to deliver planning, forecasting, budgeting, and executing the campaigns that drive awareness, engagement, leads, pipeline, and eventually marketing-sourced revenue. That’s a lot. Entire books are written on the art and science of each of these topics. Initiatives can include new product launches, analyst relations, influencer outreach, GTM (go-to-market) innovation that add new sources, channels, and vehicles to educate and motivate the buying teams in your target market. All this requires thoughtful prioritization and precise orchestration of the marketing team, adjacent teams, agencies, channel partners, the exec team, and others.
Waiting for someday to fill your marketing leadership void is not an option.
Interim CMO Do’s and Don’ts.
Don’t do this
We recommend you not wait for perfection, and not wait for someday. We also recommend you avoid a rash decision–haphazardly hiring the wrong person as a full time employee just to check it off your list.
Do this instead
Evaluate your own goals and what you need from marketing. Think through the profile of the marketing leader you need now and in the near-term.
Interim CMOs for B2B SaaS startups and scaleups can help you in several ways even while you wait to bring on a full time Head of Marketing:
- Create, run, or rescue key projects like website overhauls, product launches, and channel launches
- Build and run demand gen campaigns, brand-building campaigns, new GTM (go-to-market) strategies, and modernize buyer journeys
- Recommend and implement key marketing technology software to help you achieve your growth and reporting goals
- Build exec-facing budgets, plans, forecasts, reporting, and analysis
- Identify key marketing staffing needs and assist in recruiting and training
Conclusion
Time is irreplaceable. Don’t risk frustrating your sales team because of your lack of marketing leadership. Junior marketing team members need guidance that comes from experience. Bringing on an interim CMO or part-time marketing leader is a great way to continue achieving your marketing goals while balancing exec-level compensation expenses. And if mutually agreeable, it’s also a terrific way to experience the work style and team chemistry of your interim CMO before making them a full-time member of your team. Equistrat provides veteran B2B SaaS marketing execs on a flexible contract basis with retainer and project models to meet your unique needs: all the benefits of great marketing, none of the risks.
We can help you. Let’s talk.
Whether you need to bring on your first CMO, find an interim CMO, or if you temporarily need help with a big campaign or launch, contact us today.