Fractional CMO in the Twin Cities, Without the $200k Salary
Kreativ HQ provides fractional chief marketing officer (CMO) services for Twin Cities businesses that need senior marketing leadership without a full-time salary. Your fractional CMO sets strategy and budget, leads your team and vendors, and answers to you for what the spend returns.
A Senior Marketing Leader, for a Fraction of the Cost
A Fractional CMO is an experienced senior-level marketing executive who provides strategic leadership and oversight on a part-time or contract basis.
Instead of working 40 hours a week as a permanent employee, a fractional CMO typically spends a fraction of their time (such as 10 to 20 hours a week) managing a company’s marketing strategy, budget, and team.
What Does a Fractional CMO Do?
Builds the Marketing Strategy and Budget
A Fractional CMO builds comprehensive marketing plans aligned with business growth goals, and optimizes spending across channels for maximum return on investment.
Leads Your Team and Agencies
Fractional CMOs manage, mentor, and “upskill” available in-house marketing staff or agencies.
Sets KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and Reports to Leadership
Fractional CMOs establish KPIs, analytics, and reporting dashboards to track the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
Meet Eileen Considine, Our Fractional CMO
Fractional CMO and VP of Digital Marketing & Strategy, Kreativ HQ
Eileen Considine is Kreativ HQ’s Fractional CMO and VP of Digital Marketing & Strategy. She brings more than 20 years of marketing leadership across retail, e-commerce, hospitality, travel, financial services and real estate, including enterprise roles at Samsung Electronics America, Sears, Conn’s and Amadeus.
She helps owner-led businesses set growth priorities, turn business goals into a plan for their website and marketing channels, and measure which efforts bring in qualified demand.
Fractional CMO Services
Ongoing Monthly Leadership
Provides a part-time or contract senior marketing executive to lead your marketing strategy and department without the cost of a full-time hire.
Interim CMO
An Interim CMO is a temporary executive who leads a company’s marketing department during a transition, vacancy, or crisis.
Strategy Sprint
A Fractional CMO strategy sprint is a focused, 2-to-4-week intensive project designed to audit current marketing efforts and deliver a concrete growth roadmap.
Fractional CMO vs. Full-Time CMO
A Fractional CMO provides part-time executive leadership, while a full-time CMO serves as a permanent, dedicated corporate officer.
Side by side. Whether your company goes fractional or full-time depends largely on your current monthly revenue or marketing budget, and whether you have an existing marketing team.
| Fractional CMO | Full-time CMO | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Part-time executive leadership | A permanent, dedicated corporate officer |
| What it costs | A part-time monthly retainer, lower cash commitments, no equity or benefits | A full executive salary, high fixed overhead, and a benefits and equity package |
| The risks | Limited hours available weekly, less internal operational control, potential context gaps | High financial risk if a bad hire, difficulty downscaling later, a long recruitment cycle |
When to Hire a Fractional CMO
Signs Your Business Is Ready
If your marketing efforts feel chaotic, lack strategic direction, and fail to drive measurable revenue growth despite your current efforts, you may be ready for a Fractional CMO.
Key indicators include: if you are spending money with no clear strategy, sales have plateaued, you fear your execution lacks direction or data and success metrics, or your CEO/founder is spending too much time managing marketing instead of running the core business.
What to Look For
When hiring a fractional CMO, look for strategic ownership and revenue accountability rather than just tactical execution. Look for a focus on revenue, pipeline, and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). Avoid candidates who measure success purely by traffic or impressions, and ensure they tie marketing metrics directly to sales outcomes.
Questions to Ask Before You Hire
Strategy and Fit: What specific goals will they target? Have they scaled a company of our exact size? Which industry verticals do you know best?
Execution and Availability: How many hours per week will they commit? Do they work alone or bring a team? How do they hand off work to your staff?
Metrics and Accountability: What key performance indicators do they track? When do they expect your first major win? How do they handle underperforming marketing channels?
Cost and Terms: What is their monthly retainer fee? Are there extra fees for agency management? What is the minimum contract length required?
How we answer the first one. Every marketing dollar should have a purpose. We do not guess. We work with you to pinpoint your biggest growth opportunities and define clear, measurable targets. With a Fractional CMO at your side, the discussion goes beyond which marketing actions are needed: we map out the milestones, connect actions to revenue forecasts and set goals like lowering customer acquisition cost or launching your next product, so you always know what success looks like.
How a Kreativ HQ Fractional CMO Engagement Starts
So you can tell in month three whether it is working, rather than in month nine.
Fractional CMO by Industry
Pick your industry to see what the role delivers.
Professional Services
A Fractional CMO for professional services provides thought leadership, founder-personal branding, and referral systems. Key deliverables include high-ticket client acquisition, and a high-margin pipeline.
Home Services
A Fractional CMO for home services provides part-time, executive-level marketing strategy and vendor accountability to service and contractor businesses that have outgrown basic marketing agencies but do not yet need a full-time executive. Deliverables include strategic leadership, vendor accountability, and revenue-focused systems.
Manufacturing and B2B
A Fractional CMO for manufacturing and business-to-business (B2B) delivers distributor channel marketing, and account-based marketing (ABM). Deliverables include qualified pipeline growth, and long sales-cycle optimization.
Google reviews
What Clients Say
Kreativ HQ are a talented group of seasoned professionals that go the extra mile for every client, no matter the size.
They did an excellent job of walking us through our startup branding process and developing our marketing materials and website.
Working with Kreativ HQ was effortless and simple. They helped design, build, and launch my website and made logos and advertisements to boost sales.
Frequently Asked Questions
Straight answers to what people ask before they call.
How Much Does a Fractional CMO Cost?
A fractional CMO is paid as a part-time monthly retainer, so the cost depends on how many hours and how much hands-on work the engagement includes. There is no salary, benefits or equity package, which is why it costs less than a full-time CMO, typically a $200k+ annual hire.
Where can I find a fractional CMO?
You can find a fractional CMO through dedicated executive search platforms, specialized fractional agencies, or curated talent marketplaces.
Is a fractional CMO worth it for a small business?
A Fractional CMO is worth it for a small business if you need high-level strategy without the burden of a full-time executive salary. It bridges the gap between a junior coordinator and a $200k+ annual hire.
Get Somebody Senior to Own It
Tell us who runs marketing today and what is not joining up. You will get an honest view on whether this role is the answer.
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