The title confuses people, so here is the plain version. A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who works for you part-time and is accountable for results, not for hours.
The four jobs
Set the strategy and the budget. Lead whoever produces the work, inside or outside the business. Set the numbers everyone is judged against. Report to the owner in language the owner can act on. Anything outside those four is somebody else’s job.
What it is not
It is not a consultant who writes a plan and leaves. A consultant is paid for the document; a fractional CMO is paid for what happens after it. It is also not a cheaper marketing manager. The value is judgement about where money goes, not capacity to execute.
A realistic first ninety days
The first month is reading: numbers, funnel, team, spend, and the last two years of what has been tried. The second month is the plan and the first work in production. The third is rhythm, which means weekly production and a monthly report that says what changed and why.
If nothing has shipped by week six, the engagement is not working. That is a fair thing to agree up front.
What it costs against a full-time hire
A full-time chief marketing officer in the Twin Cities costs a senior salary plus benefits and takes months to hire. A fractional engagement starts within a week or two and costs a fraction of that, because you are buying two days a week of judgement rather than five of availability.
Signs you are ready for one
You are spending real money on marketing with nobody senior deciding where it goes. You have people producing work but no one setting priorities. Or you are about to hire a marketing manager and cannot write the job description with confidence.
Signs you are not
If your total marketing spend is small and one capable person handles everything, buy a written plan instead. A marketing plan costs less and gets you most of the value, and you can always add leadership later.
Either way, start with a call with our team. It shows you how the thinking works before you commit to anything. The fractional CMO page covers how an engagement runs week by week.
