Innovative Marketing Strategies Benefit Startups & SMEs

Innovative Marketing Strategies Benefit Startups & SMEs

by | Apr 19, 2024 | Business & Marketing Strategy, Insights, Marketing Planning & Execution

Innovative Marketing Strategies Benefit Startups & SMEs

Today’s competitive landscape requires startups and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) to think beyond traditional marketing tactics. Innovative marketing strategies are the key to breaking through the noise and reaching audiences in fresh, impactful ways. Let’s explore how.

Establishing the basics: What are 5 common marketing strategies?

Before we discuss innovation, let’s visit the essential components for providing a solid foundation for startups and SMEs to build on.

  • SEO is a must-have today since optimized website content ranks higher in search engine results for relevant keywords.
  • Accessible, informative content attracts and educates your target audience.
  • Engaging with your audiences on various social media platforms cultivates a community around your brand.
  • Targeted email campaigns nurture leads and help build strong relationships.
  • Public relations (PR) helps generate positive media coverage to grow brand awareness.

What is a marketing innovation strategy?

Innovative marketing strategies ditch the “been there, done that” approach to embrace new ideas. Those strategies include using digital channels, like social media, search engines, email, and mobile apps, to reach and engage customers — and a whole lot more.

Influencer marketing with a cause

Influencer marketing involves collaborating with influential individuals or micro-influencers who have a dedicated following in the target market and leverage their credibility and reach to promote products and services. Partner with micro-influencers aligned with your brand values. Develop a campaign where a portion of the proceeds from sales generated through their promotion goes toward a social cause they care about. This strategy creates a win-win for the influencer, your brand, and the chosen cause, leading to increased brand awareness and positive associations.

Interactive content marketing

Look beyond static blog posts and infographics. Develop interactive quizzes, polls, or augmented reality (AR) experiences that allow your audience to engage with your brand in a fun, memorable way. These techniques capture attention and generate valuable user data you can use to understand customer needs and preferences on a deeper level to personalize your marketing efforts further.

Personalization and customization

Personalization and customization are not just buzzwords; they’re essential components of a cutting-edge marketing strategy. By diving deep into customer data, innovative marketers can craft messages and offers that speak directly to individual preferences, setting their brands apart in a crowded field. Customization elevates this concept by allowing customers to co-create their experiences, transforming standard transactions into memorable interactions. These strategies don’t just drive engagement; they provide critical insights, enabling brands to continuously refine their approach in an ever-evolving market landscape.

Community-driven content creation

Host challenges or contests that encourage your target audience to create content related to your brand. Think user-generated videos showcasing your product in action, recipe ideas using your ingredients, or even design contests for a new product line. This approach leverages your audience’s creativity, generates free content, and builds brand loyalty by spotlighting your customers.

Chatbots and AI

Chatbots and AI are revolutionizing the way brands interact with their customers. These technologies allow for seamless, 24/7 communication, addressing inquiries and solving problems in real-time, without the need for constant human oversight. The intelligence gleaned from these interactions is invaluable, helping brands refine their marketing strategies and personalize their offerings. These are not just tools for efficiency; they’re catalysts for a deeper, data-driven understanding of the customer journey.

Strong storytelling

Storytelling is a cornerstone of effective (and innovative) marketing strategies because it taps into the fundamentals of how humans connect and make decisions. Stories evoke emotions like joy, sadness, humor, and inspiration. You foster a deeper connection with your audience by weaving a narrative around your brand rather than simply listing features and benefits. People are more likely to remember stories than dry facts and statistics. Stories empower you to showcase your brand values and mission in action, make your brand relatable, and add a human touch.

Other approaches transforming how companies approach marketing — because they allow for more targeted, engaging, and personalized campaigns that resonate with modern consumers — include experimenting with creative content formats that move beyond text-heavy content. Think interactive videos, bite-sized infographics, and user-generated content.

How do you implement innovative marketing strategies?

The rise of the fractional CMO

Startups and SMEs need agility and strategic marketing to survive. Innovative marketing strategies are great, but implementing them requires expertise and resources. Not all companies can justify — or afford — a full-time chief marketing officer (CMO).

Enter the fractional CMO. They bring the expertise and perspective needed to propel growth without the hefty price tag of a full-time executive. It’s a cost-effective way to access senior marketing leadership — a critical asset for navigating today’s complex market — by giving startups and SMEs access to senior-level marketing leadership on a part-time or project basis.

Companies struggling to gain traction can find a powerful ally in a fractional CMO. Their fresh perspectives and innovative marketing strategies breathe new life into stagnant campaigns and can help companies reach their goals. Some companies may have temporary marketing needs, like a project or campaign launch. A fractional CMO can step in and provide the required expertise and leadership without the commitment of a full-time hire.

A fractional CMO can be a game-changer for businesses facing growth hurdles (or CEO burnout). It’s a strategic move that boosts marketing, improves overall business health, and supports CEO well-being.

If you’re ready to explore the range of innovative marketing strategies to elevate your company to the next level, download our fCMO overview.

Download Our fCMO Overview
Contact Us

Are you facing challenges of your own in generating leads and meeting your business’s growth goals?

We’d love to learn more about your challenges and how a coordinated marketing approach might help take your organization to the next level.

About &Marketing:

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.

Benefits of Hiring a Fractional Marketing Agency

Benefits of Hiring a Fractional Marketing Agency

by | Apr 1, 2024 | Business & Marketing Strategy, Fractional CMO, Insights

Benefits of Hiring a Fractional Marketing Agency

While a recent report reflects growth in most middle-market companies in 2023, many challenges remain for executives hoping to achieve continued business success in 2024 – notably hiring issues. Attracting and retaining top talent can make or break a company, along with making meaningful connections with customers, engaging them on an integrated digital and physical level in a rapidly evolving business landscape. One prevailing solution for business leaders is to rethink existing business models like the marketing function and consider hiring a fractional marketing agency. Is fractional marketing support right for your business?

What is fractional marketing?

Fractional marketing is an alternative to traditional marketing models of in-house professionals and high-ticket marketing agencies, which typically fail to deliver a high ROI. In a fast-paced digital world, it’s nearly impossible for internal marketing professionals to remain current and innovative, and for many companies, big agencies that bring a wide range of skills and experience often come with inflexibility and inflated costs that make them unaffordable and ineffective.

Also considered outsourced marketing, fractional marketing flexibly allows companies and brands to rightsize their resources while leveraging a wealth of experience and industry expertise, at a fraction of the cost of hiring and retaining full-time employees (hello healthcare, benefits, taxes, training, etc) or those bloated one-size-fits-all agencies.

Hiring a fractional marketing agency means your business has a partner who can help navigate the intricacies of the buyer’s journey, engage target audiences using the latest and tried-and-true strategies, as well as build your brand – all within a determined framework connected to growth goals. Cut waste, add value, and tap into game-changing performance with fractional marketing.

How does fractional work?

Working with a fractional marketing agency involves partnering with one or more marketing experts who provide services on a part-time or project basis, rather than full-time. This approach is tailored for businesses that need specialized marketing expertise but don’t want full-time marketing employees. Here’s how it typically works:

  1. Assessment of Needs: The fractional marketing agency first evaluates your business’s marketing needs to understand where you need the most help—whether it’s strategy, digital marketing, content creation, or other areas.
  2. Engagement Model: Depending on your needs, the agency proposes an engagement model. This could be a set number of hours per week, a project-based arrangement, or other flexible options.
  3. Integration with Your Team: The fractional marketing professionals integrate with your existing team during a discovery phase. This includes reviews of brand assets, research, interviews, and more.
  4. Strategic Planning: The agency contributes to strategic marketing planning, offering expertise in areas such as market analysis, branding, digital marketing strategies, and campaign management.
  5. Execution and Management: The fractional team oversees the execution of marketing strategies, coordinates with other team members or departments, and ensures marketing goals are being met efficiently. As your business grows or needs change, the fractional marketing agency can scale its services up or down.
  6. Reporting and Evaluation: Regular reporting on marketing KPIs and campaign performance is provided, allowing for ongoing evaluation and strategy adjustment.

Why hire a fractional CMO (fCMO)?

Topping out the expertise in a fractional marketing agency are fractional Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) who add executive level leadership to any team or organization. With a growth mindset, these highly experienced marketers – usually with 15+ years – often bring deep industry knowledge to help your company make big moves and decisions like re-brands, product launches, and investor relations.

Whereas staffing a full-time in-house CMO takes months of executive search committees and high salary offerings, a fractional CMO can offer the same (and often better) quality of work and guidance, and with added benefits like:

  • Immediate start – assimilating into your organization quickly
  • Customized support – you decide what gaps to fill, work to assign
  • No recruitment fees – forget those executive searches
  • Flexible contracts – short- and long-term opportunities abound

Plus, the fCMO can oversee the relationship between your company and the fractional marketing agency, making for a seamless working relationship.

How much does a fractional CMO cost?

According to Salary.com, the average salary of a CMO is $357,747. So how does this vary from a fractional CMO, especially one with a hefty hourly rate?

Inevitably, rates will vary based on the individual fractional CMO, whether they are a solo practitioner or placed as part of a fractional marketing agency model, as well as other factors like geography and depth of experience, especially within a certain sector or industry. Expect a fractional CMO’s hourly rate to vary greatly, from $200 – $500. Another model may include a monthly retainer, giving a company flexibility for how a bank of hours is used and identifying a fixed cost that aligns with your company’s budget.

A quick calculation will show you that a fractional CMO working 20 hours per week over a one-year period at the highest hourly rate would cost you more than a full-time CMO. However, with the highly specialized skills, efficiency, and results of this executive marketing leader, your company will quickly realize that this capable, on-boarded fractional CMO is worth their weight in gold as you see your company’s bottom line grow.

When considering the cost of a fractional CMO, consider the value they bring and their ability to showcase results quickly. While a newly hired, full-time CMO may take a year to get acclimated and show their worth, a fractional CMO is accountable for KPIs and is used to hitting the ground running, knowing their performance is paramount.

Choosing the right fractional marketing agency

At &Marketing, we have been offering fractional marketing services since 2017, strategically building our bench of experts to now include fractional CMOs. Both came about from being early adopters of a fresh way to work and elevate brands and identify a market gap. The success of our clients is what compels our continued growth and new service offerings to help them meet their goals.

Fractional marketing agencies solve top business issues like hiring and retaining employees, breaking through the clutter of the digital marketing space, and finding ways to grow and outperform the competition. Are you interested in being part of our team? Connect with us to learn more about how you can join our thriving community!

Download Our fCMO Overview

Are you facing challenges of your own in generating leads and meeting your business’s growth goals?

We’d love to learn more about your challenges and how a coordinated marketing approach might help take your organization to the next level.

About &Marketing:

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.