Why Companies Are Outsourcing Their CMO Roles

In the past, many companies felt like they needed to have their CMO in the office where they can run something past them when needed.

But all of that changed with COVID. Many companies realized that this was an unnecessary luxury and by outsourcing their CMO they would get better bang for their buck.

Not only do you take the fixed overhead away, the business benefits from a part-time CMO who may be complemented by more cost-effective mid-level or junior marketers that are hungry to rise in the ranks of their marketing careers.

Better still, many CMO’s are skilled across certain areas of marketing, but rarely are they qualified to make big decisions across all areas of the marketing mix.

There are many reasons why companies have chosen the ‘outsourced CMO’ model to help their business continue to grow and expand, even in the current environment.

1. Cost: A in-house CMO’s average salary in Australia is $176,062 according to Payscale, and the range is equally impressive with the lower end CMO on salaries of approximately $110,000 and on the high end $288,000 and all of that is without bonuses and expenses. A typical outsourced CMO goes for between $3,000 and $10,000 per month.

2. Skill level: The age of an average CMO is well and truly in their 40’s to 60’s. This is a huge issue given that the world has changed so much since they entered the workforce. Recently, we interviewed 21 CMO’s for a position, and 100 percent of the candidates said that their weak point was digital marketing. If you are in marketing today, you cannot afford to be weak in digital marketing.

3. Strengths: CMO’s tend to be strong in one area of marketing or perhaps a couple, but rarely across the entire marketing mix.

4. Marketing strategy: Why pay a CMO to write a marketing strategy over one month when you can get technology to give you more accurate data-based marketing tactics that will ensure that your company meets its sales goals? Robotic Marketer writes a marketing strategy in just 11 minutes, faster and smarter than any CMO. The cost? $4950.

5. Reinvention of the marketing department: Companies are seeing a shift in what a marketing department looks like. Firstly, they are rarely under one roof. Working from home is here to stay and actually helps marketers become nimble and accountable for their time and efforts. Secondly, the skills required in a marketing department has been disrupted. While you still need creativity, most other roles are replaced by technology and/or an outsourced marketing agency option.

Every company still wants someone in the C-Suite that is responsible for the company’s marketing of products and services, but the reality is that role does not need to be full-time. In fact, CMO’s are renowned for doing better work under pressure and with less distraction.

Marketing departments still need a CMO to manage the marketing strategy. It is true that you can get the strategy through the Robotic Marketer marketing strategy technology platform, but the responsible party and director of all marketing efforts needs to be someone who ‘has been there, done that’.

In addition, bringing the marketing tactics together and aligning them to business goals is essential. A CMO will be well-versed across all marketing channels, planning and development, along with the execution and analytics behind deliverables.

While a CMO is here to stay, an outsourced CMO is there to play!