Delivering excellent brand experiences is the chief marketing officer’s (CMO) responsibility, yet they are under tremendous pressure to promote profitable development while managing more channels than ever before. For businesses searching for quick marketing leadership, this presents both fresh potential and commercial challenges.

Many businesses are concentrating on their short-term performance in the current market, and they have established a number of growth targets and objectives that call for urgent preparation and execution. The CIO would need to be involved in the vetting of a CMO candidate if the fractional CMO is fully functional, which is engaged to manage the complete breadth of the marketing leadership role, but on a temporary basis.

According to Chris Ross, vice president, analyst at Gartner, “given the symbiotic nature of marketing and IT, there needs to be a healthy interaction between the CIO and CMO.” He adds that the usage of interim or fractional CMOs is frequently connected to a corporate transition: A new CEO, the departure of a prior CMO, mergers, acquisitions, fresh funding, or bankruptcy can motivate a corporation to seek an interim CMO function.

The CIO may or may not be actively involved if the fractional CMO is hired to concentrate on particular business components such as brand, general strategy, or other aspects with less IT participation, according to Ross. “To ensure the correct organisational fit, many businesses consult other peer-level executives in any new C-suite addition.”

According to Ross, in the most successful firms, marketing and IT collaborate closely. For this reason, the CIO-CMO connection is crucial for ensuring strategy alignment and downstream work as well as for establishing the tone and culture for IT-marketing workstyles and cooperation. According to the scope and focus of the fractional engagement, the CIO relationship with a fractional CMO “will always be crucial, but may vary from a full-time CMO,” the author observes. However, a solid relationship between the CIO and CMO is always necessary.

The pandemic, he continues, has sparked a shift in mindset and increased openness toward more fluid, adaptable methods of leading and supervising marketing teams. There has also been a rise in support for more modular, dynamic methods of hiring talent, which may include very senior levels of marketing leadership.

The CIO/CDO has a stake in how technology and business interact, says Tal Klein, CMO of Relay Network. The CIO may be quite concerned if the fractional CMO is being brought in to deal with operational problems like lead generation or lead-to-opportunity conversion velocity, depending on what marketing pillar the CIO is bringing onboard to handle, says the author.

This is due to the fact that this type of work strongly relies on technology and may have an impact on changes to the CRM, website, or even communication infrastructure of the firm.

The CIO may have less of an interest in the recruitment efforts, adds Klein, if the fractional CMO is brought in to address messaging or market positioning. In addition to the apparent infrastructure work needed to support marketing operations, Klein notes that the CIO or CDO may be responsible for a large portion of the outputs from marketing engagements, such as compliance concerns.

These could result from gathering customer information, security implications of new tools or procedures (such as launching a new website as a result of a rebranding campaign), and making sure that marketing has access to any prospect or customer data they require in order to run successful campaigns. The interaction between CIOs and CMOs, whether fractional or otherwise, is plentiful, he concludes.

Before hiring a fractional CMO, Michel Feaster, chief product officer of research at Qualtrics, advises thinking about the goals you want to achieve, the gaps you need to address, and the organisational alignment needed for success. She notes that a CIO’s position has evolved to include serving as a strategic partner and advisor to important business functions, such as marketing.

“A CIO should be included in the hiring dialogues when a business is considering hiring a fractional CMO to ensure that the appropriate technology is in place to grow individualised customer communication,” the expert advises. “To lead the company down an innovative route, a CIO needs to grasp how their technological skills can complement a CMO’s knowledge of the client experience.”

A CIO should be able to rely on fractional CMOs to concentrate on the marketing execution because they can be busy multitasking across other team tasks. No matter how fantastic the plan may be, it won’t have an impact until it is implemented in the greatest way, according to Feaster. “The two jobs compliment each other perfectly.”

Although she is observing some blurring of the lines and responsibilities between the two roles, she asserts that for firms to develop more customer-focused experiences, a solid partnership between a CIO and CMO will be essential. She adds that as a CIO transitions to a more strategic advisory role, they will need to be able to rely on a CMO who is focused on marketing strategies while they consider total digital transformation. A CIO must possess the technical know-how to select the upcoming technologies that will provide their company a competitive edge. This in turn will assist a CMO decide which marketing tactics to use to reach out to both current and potential customers in order to raise brand awareness and sales.

Platforms for consumer data, the development of marketing technology, the digital transformation of the web, or digital experiences are some areas where the two positions may work, according to Feaster. The two executives can work together to guarantee that the necessary technology and data are in place to grow tailored consumer experiences across all channels by exploiting each other’s strengths and expertise.

Before hiring a fractional CMO, it’s crucial to think about the goals you want to achieve, the gaps you need to address, and the organisational alignment needed for success, according to Feaster. By evaluating these three aspects, you can be certain that you recruit the best leader and put them up for success internally to get the results you need.