Originally published on MSP Today. Copyright remains with the original publisher.
In the Managed Services and IT space, growth isn’t just about infrastructure and uptime. It’s about positioning, relevance and revenue. Yet too often, marketing in MSP firms is viewed as a peripheral department - something that exists to make PowerPoints, websites and brochures “look pretty” or keep the events and social media calendar full. At best, it’s seen as a cost center, one that your CFO instantly dissects during economic downturns. At worst, it’s considered an unnecessary function. But this mindset can actively cost you money.
From Tactical Executor to Strategic Architect
Too many MSPs have defaulted to hiring marketing technicians, what I refer to as tactical executors, or outsourcing to agencies with a limited understanding of B2B tech sales. These teams often lack the experience to translate your business strategy into an effective go-to-market plan. They focus on aesthetics, not outcomes. This only perpetuates the marketing-expense mindset, reducing the overall effectiveness and value of marketing to your organization. Cycles of marketing budget slashing will often occur until teams are too handcuffed to accomplish much of anything. Quarterly financial reporting conversations will then end with the same challenge: how can we increase revenue?
A seasoned fractional CMO (fCMO) turns that progression on its head. A proper fCMO is a business strategist with IT services industry experience who can create demand through market positioning based on your competitive advantage and turn that demand into revenue. But rather than bringing such a high-quality leader on full-time (with compensation and benefits to match), you’re tapping into the fCMO on a part-time basis.
The Revenue Multiplier
Let’s be clear: an fCMO isn’t – and shouldn’t be - a marketing department in a box. You still need the departmental structure, budgetary resources and technology stack to deliver on your revenue goals. The true fCMO is merely the champion to identify and unlock new revenue streams, including:
- Market segmentation, retention and expansion and ideal customer profiling to focus your sales team on the highest-value new and upsell opportunities. If you’ve been serving a segment of customers that you suspect are draining resources, for example, your fCMO should be responsible for bringing this to light. S/he should help shift focus to your most profitable, and potentially profitable, segments throughout the organization.
- Brand positioning and messaging that actually resonates with decision-makers in competitive IT environments. MSPs tend to share the same message and differentiate themselves geographically. An experienced fCMO uncovers your Unique Value Proposition (UVP) to position you differently in the market to meet and exceed the needs of your target prospects.
- Strategic campaign development that drives pipeline, not just impressions. Certainly, this may be easier said than done. Data limitations, transactional sales approaches and overburdened personnel may constrain the impact marketing can have on revenue. But a strong fCMO should help provide visibility and ways to incrementally break down these barriers over time so that you pinpoint the right campaigns -> that hit the right marketing channels -> with the right messaging -> to the right audience -> at the right time -> to produce qualified, actionable leads.
- Channel marketing alignment to help MSPs stand out in vendor ecosystems and partner programs that go beyond the merry-go-round of QBRs, sales enablement webinars, SPIFFS and other incentives. An fCMO partnership should help you take channel marketing alignment to channel marketing integration to entrench (and amplify) your efforts throughout the vendor and partner sphere.
It’s not uncommon for a well-placed fCMO to generate ROI many times their cost, often exceeding the impact of a full-time CMO at a fraction of the investment.
A Seat at the Leadership Table
One of the greatest missteps MSPs make is viewing marketing as an isolated function rather than a core element of your business strategy. The fCMO changes that dynamic by making marketing leadership tenable for firms that can’t afford the total compensation package for full-time CMO candidates.
fCMOs sit at the leadership table, challenging assumptions, bringing market intelligence into executive discussions, and aligning the sales, product and service delivery functions under a unified growth vision. They're not reporting on social media clicks - they're reporting on how marketing is shortening sales cycles, increasing conversion rates and positioning the firm for sustainable growth.
Scalable, Agile and Outcome-Focused
A fCMO delivers high-level leadership without the long-term risk of hiring a salaried CMO, which includes potential underutilization if their role isn’t well defined. fCMOs bring in bandwidth to take on AI and other initiatives, industry insights and often a vetted network of specialized contractors to execute rapidly. That means less trial and error, and more traction, faster.
This flexibility also allows for strategic agility. As your company evolves, the fCMO evolves with it to scale up during periods of aggressive growth or dial in hyper-focused plans when it's time to sharpen market positioning.
Rethinking the Cost Center Narrative
If you're still thinking of marketing as overhead, ask yourself: What’s the cost of a stagnant pipeline? Of missed opportunities in a shifting market? Of being outflanked by more visible competitors?
A proper fractional CMO isn’t there to make brochures - they’re there to make impact. Strategic, measurable, revenue-generating impact.
Final Thought
In a market where MSPs and IT services firms are increasingly commoditized, differentiation is a lifeline, not a luxury. The right fCMO doesn’t just help you tell a better story; they help you build a better business.
If your current marketing function isn’t in the room where growth decisions are made, you’re not just under-leveraged. You’re at risk.
Isn’t it time to make marketing more strategic in your firm? Schedule time with Towers Fractional Marketing to get started now.
