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What is a fractional CMO?A fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) is a professional cannabis marketing leader that will work with your business on a part-time, limited engagement basis in order to provide expertise and guidance in creating, executing and managing a successful marketing strategy for your company for growth.

Depending on level of engagement your company can invest in, a Fractional CMO will assist in hiring, firing, and training employees, as well as vendors and contractors, to operate within your marketing budget.
What are the benefits of hiring a fractional CMO for my cannabis business?Hiring a fractional CMO provides an experienced professional for your team that focuses solely on your cannabis brand’s marketing needs. Your fractional CMO can help you increase customer engagement and build customer loyalty as well as create targeted campaigns to drive sales and growth.

Additionally, since your fractional CMO only works with your cannabis business part-time, you can save money by not having to pay full time salary and benefits!
How can a fractional CMO help my cannabis business grow?Your fractional CMO can be instrumental in helping your cannabis business grow by developing and implementing solid and effective strategies surrounding market research, targeting your ideal customer profile, driving target audiences to products or services, accurately tracking KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for campaigns and tangible and intangible progress towards goals.

Your fractional CMO can help your business grow by developing a content strategy around relevant topics, understanding how SEO works within the cannabis industry, utilizing paid advertising channels effectively (taking into consideration compliance, and avoiding account deactivations/suspensions, and compiling effective analytics reports and crafting creative solutions to challenges encountered along the way.
What are some of the challenges of being a fractional CMO in the cannabis industry?One of the biggest challenges facing fractional CMOs in the cannabis industry is lack of data due to regulation issues surrounding cannabis businesses – this makes it difficult for them to accurately track performance metrics against which they can measure success. Additionally there is difficulty navigating all the different parts of running an effective marketing campaign while trying not break any laws regarding promotion and marketing within certain states.

There’s also more competition than ever before when it comes to targeting new customers due to increased investment into digital/social media marketing from other companies as well as changing regulations from government agencies, and community guidelines on certain social media platforms.
How do I know if a fractional CMO is right for my cannabis business?Consider your unique needs for your business – what type of experience do you need from someone filling this role? Do you need someone that’s able to make decisions to help guide and make critical decisions for your team? Do you need someone that has specifically worked with cannabis businesses before, and does your budget allow for the experience? What level of flexibility do you require from them each quarter, or month-to-month depending on projects or tasks that might suddenly come up? Understanding these prerequisite for your cannabis business will allow you to assess whether hiring a fractional CMO is right for your business or not.
How do I find a fractional CMO for my cannabis business?Finding a fractional CMO that’s a good fit for your regulated business starts with researching agencies or consultants that specialize in providing this type of service with experience working within the industry. Once you’ve identified some potential candidates it’s important to interview each one so that they understand exactly what you’re looking for.

Start by asking questions about their past experiences with creating strategies and their understanding of key marketing metrics such as customer life time value (LTV), and measuring brand loyalty. This will enable you to select the right candidate based on their expertise, credentials as well as overall fit, and most critically, their personality match with your team & company mission statement and values
What should I look for in a fractional CMO for my cannabis business?When selecting a fractional Chief Marketing Officer for your cannabis business there are several attributes that should be taken into consideration: extensive knowledge in developing & implementing successful strategies; strong analytical skills; understanding of digital technologies and obstacles in implementation of certain technologies; familiarity with customer data tracking & able to use that data efficiently, for maximum results and return on your investment.

You’ll want to find a creative problem solver, a great communicator who understands people; good leadership qualities (ability to work with your team members from different backgrounds to help reduce employee turnover); ability to collaborate & work well under pressure; deep legacy and compliance knowledge within the sector/industry; and someone with passion driven initiatives – someone who really ‘owns’ their work product/output etc, and actually cares about the impact each business has on the community and industry as a whole.