Interim CMOs

“CMO” is short for “Chief Marketing Officer.” It’s a C-level executive responsible for providing leadership and direction to your marketing team or department. An Interim CMO is an experienced marketing leader who fulfills the role of CMO for your company while the role of “permanent CMO” is vacant — either because an outgoing CMO is leaving the company, or because your organization is still looking for its first permanent CMO but wants someone in the role as soon as possible. 

Wondering if you need an Interim CMO for your company? It may be the right choice for you if you’re growing fast and need experienced C-level leadership in the marketing department to keep it from spinning off the rails from growing pains — but you haven’t identified the perfect candidate for a long-term CMO. You just need someone in that seat to get the ball rolling while you search for your permanent CMO. 

If you don’t plan to or are not ready to hire a full-time CMO but need the temporary or part-time services of a CMO, a Fractional CMO — basically a CMO who spends a fraction of their workweek helping multiple companies on temporary contracts — may be the way to go instead.

An Interim CMO will sign on to work for the client company, either part-time or full-time, for a set contractual period — usually 3-6 months. For that period of time, the Interim CMO steps into the position of chief marketing officer and performs all the functions of that job — crafting and refining strategies, assembling a team, and providing leadership to the team to execute that marketing strategy.

There are two circumstances under which you should bring in an Interim CMO. You’re likely going to bring in a Digital Authority Partners’ Interim CMO when your current full-time CMO gives notice of intent to resign. You need someone to fill the role, but the recruitment process for a C-level executive can take months — time you can’t afford to leave your marketing department headless. An Interim CMO can step into the gap, making sure your marketing machine is running smoothly while you look for your next permanent CMO.

The other circumstance is if your company has no CMO but is experiencing explosive growth. You may realize that it is time to add a CMO to the team. But again, it can take months to recruit a C-level executive. You need someone in that position immediately to take advantage of that explosive growth before the moment passes or fizzles.

An Interim CMO should obviously be experienced, with a track record of success as a marketing executive at the C-level. Additionally, an Interim CMO should be flexible and adaptable, as they may need to step into an already-existing marketing strategy with a pre-existing marketing team, hit the ground running, and make it work.