The Fractional CMO for Fishing Lodges and Hunting Outfitters

There is a trend in many industries towards hiring senior management level talent as a part time position. The term for this is "Fractional". I guess those in the positions, or those hiring for those positions, decided that "part-time" was too demeaning of a term. Regardless, one of these positions is the head of Marketing, sometimes referred to as Chief Marketing Officer, or CMO. So then the position is filled as a Fractional CMO. This is happening in other roles as well, such as a Fractional CFO, or Chief Financial Officer.

Why Use a Fractional CMO

The business rationale is the same as using part-time employees for any role, or renting equipment for periodic use. If you don't need, or can't afford the role as a full-time role, then pay less and still get access to top-level talent. People operating as Fractional CMOs are often people like myself. They have ran entire Marketing departments, from product management to advertising to promotional campaigns to website management to SEO to social media to design, often at a national or international scale. Now they have shifted to a consulting role, offering their talents and experiences, to a number of clients. Another key reason that Fractional CMO makes business sense is that great fishing lodge businesses and hunting outfitters are not the best at everything, marketing may not be baked into their DNA, their first thoughts when they wake up, and all throughout the day. But, the find people who are best at different things, the things they need, and make them part of their team.

Is a Fractional CMO Just a Consultant

The answer simply depends on the size and needs of the clients, and the requirements of the role. For a large corporation, the role will be mostly executive level planning and strategy, ensuring the Marketing Strategy and Marketing Plan integrate with the Business Strategy and Business Plan, and ensuring the work of the Marketing Department is properly aligned and properly staffed. In this setting, the F-CMO is more of a direction setting and overseeing role. They would divide their time between a number of clients, primarily working remotely, but also with occasional on-site appearances. For a small business, let's say one that doesn't even have executive job titles and doesn't have a Marketing Department (insert the name of your fishing lodge or hunting outfitter) the role is definitely that of a consultant, and much more of an active role, an active participant in the development of marketing  campaigns and content. I have been the first example, but I am now the second example, and, I can confidently say, the second is a lot more fun and personally rewarding.

Hiring a Fractional CMO (or a Consultant)

The need for Marketing help should be easy to determine based on the answers to 2 questions.

1. Do you want to grow your business?

2. Do you have 10+ years of experience in Marketing?

3. Can you afford a full time Marketing role?

For most fishing lodges and hunting outfitters the answers are "yes", "no" and "no". This is where Netnotic Marketing comes in. We want to be your Marketing Consultant. We don't care what the title is. We have 35+ years of experience helping business grow, from multi-national manufacturing companies, to tech start-ups and packaging distributors. Most importantly, you won't have to teach us about the basics of fishing and hunting. We have been doing both for just as long as well and with working for and with lodges and outfitters, we have a pretty good track record of helping create growth in your industry.

If you have any questions?

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