Fractional CMO FAQs

A fractional chief marketing officer is someone who supports your marketing strategy on a fractional part-time basis. Therefore, they provide strategic marketing leadership at a part-time cost of a full-time CMO. They're a long-term (or interim) strategic leader who acts as a member of your executive team. Their commitment time is completely up to you, which makes them an ideal solution for a business seeking marketing leadership but isn't ready for the full-time commitment.

A fractional CMO works as a senior marketing leader. They can integrate into your senior leadership team however you decide, but they'll often start by aligning marketing with the wider goals of your business. They guide marketing strategy, manage budgets, and oversee marketing campaigns, ensuring any marketing efforts deliver measurable ROI. All decisions are backed up by a marketing audit and comprehensive marketing plan, so naturally the fractional CMO provides both clarity and structure.

A fractional CMO is for any business, in any industry, at any stage. A fractional CMO is a strong choice for growing SMEs, startups, and mid-sized companies that need senior-level marketing leadership but don’t yet require or can’t justify a full-time CMO. Larger firms also hire fractional chief marketing officers during transitions or to lead specific strategic initiatives.

One of the main benefits of a fractional CMO is that they can be integrated into your team however you decide. A fractional CMO could either build your marketing strategy and execute it, work on the execution with your internal marketing team, or just support and oversee your current marketing efforts. The approach is completely flexible and fully dependent on what your business requires. Your marketing leader can work with you during an interim period, or on an ongoing basis.

A fractional CMO is ideal when if you're in the start up or scale-up phase, where you need marketing strategy, but not necessarily a full team. Your main focus will be on growth rather than overheads. If you've received funding, a fractional CMO also works well for using your gained capital effectively and getting started efficiently with marketing leadership. A fractional marketing director will also be ideal if you're expanding into new markets or have gone through recent acquisitions. With our expertise, we make the process simple.

A marketing agency will usually only offer account manager level expertise and will focus solely on execution and brand awareness. Their goals will only be project based, and their costs are usually very high. Meanwhile, a marketing consultant typically works on problem-solving rather than the bigger picture. Although they're usually a fixed term commitment, their hours will be full-time, leading to high costs. But because of their fixed term commitment, they'll usually focus on short-term projects. They provide answers to solutions without any deep dive involvement. With a Fractional CMO, the focus is around long-term strategy. They'll lead, plan, and execute marketing, all while measuring the effectiveness of marketing efforts and setting the overall strategy.

A fractional CMO is completely flexible to your requirements. They can be an interim CMO, or with you for the long term. Hiring a full-time CMO usually comes with significant costs, including recruitment, salary, national insurance and pension schemes. A fractional senior marketing leader eliminates those costs, with their prices at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire.

The golden question. You'll be glad to know, we're not one of the fractional CMO agencies that charge £200+ an hour. Our prices are extremely competitive in comparison to other fractional CMO agencies, with prices starting at £550 per day. 

The benefits of a fractional CMO include access to seasoned marketing leadership, fresh perspective, and cost efficiency.  A fractional CMO can provide the marketing expertise needed to accelerate growth, unify your internal marketing team, and enhance performance. Many businesses benefit from fractional CMO services because the fractional CMO can help identify gaps, refine messaging, and build brand awareness across every channel. An additional benefit is having marketing leadership without the commitment of a full-time hire. We understand that circumstances can change at any time. Our fractional CMOs are completely flexible to your requirements and work on a part-time basis. Therefore, you're not committed to any high costs, and you're completely in control.

While both offer fractional talent, an interim CMO usually steps in temporarily to fill a gap, while a Fractional CMO provides ongoing strategic direction and long-term marketing stability. The fractional CMO works closely with leadership to shape growth, whereas an interim often only handles transitional needs.

Absolutely. We have plenty of fractional CMOs with digital marketing experience across a wide range of industries. They span sectors such as technology, manufacturing, professional services, retail, finance and education allowing them to quickly understand your market.

Our clients tend to opt for working with our fractional marketers for 1-3 days per week. However, the amount of hours or days a fractional CMO works is entirely your decision and is totally dependent on whether you already have a marketing team and what you're looking to achieve. We're always happy to give our recommendations based on an initial consultation. You're also free to scale up or scale down at any time.