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Fractional CMO · Marketing Leadership
Senior Marketing Leadership Without the Full-Time Commitment.
An experienced B2B CMO embedded in your business. Strategy ownership, team management, channel execution and board reporting. Available within days, costing a fraction of a full-time hire.
40-60%
Cost vs full-time CMO
90 days
To first strategic result
Definition
What is a Fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who joins a company on a part-time or fixed-term basis, taking full ownership of marketing strategy, team leadership and revenue-tied execution rather than delivering advisory recommendations. The model gives B2B businesses access to CMO-level thinking and accountability at 2-3 days per week, typically costing 40-60% less than a full-time executive salary when employer costs, bonus and equity are included. Fractional CMOs are deployed when a company needs strategic leadership immediately but is not yet at the scale, stage or budget to justify a permanent hire.
2-3 days/wk
Typical engagement
10+ yrs
Avg CMO experience
90 days
To full strategy delivery
Diagnosis
Signs You Need a Fractional CMO
- Your founder is still approving every campaign brief and the business cannot scale marketing without them in every decision.
- You have a marketing team but no one is setting the strategy, choosing the right channels or holding the budget accountable to pipeline outcomes.
- Your CMO just left and you are 3-6 months away from being ready to hire a permanent replacement, but execution cannot stop.
- Investors or board members are asking marketing questions you cannot answer with data: pipeline contribution, CAC by channel, payback period.
- You are preparing for a funding round and need to present a credible, data-backed marketing strategy rather than a deck of activity metrics.
Ideal Fit
Who This Is For
Series A and Series B Startups
Post-product-market fit companies with 5-50 employees that have raised their first institutional round and need to professionalise marketing before the next raise. Founder-led marketing has reached its ceiling and the business needs a senior operator to build the function.
PE-Backed Portfolio Companies
Private equity-owned businesses undergoing a 100-day value creation plan or post-acquisition integration. The PE firm wants marketing to drive EBITDA improvement and needs a senior commercial marketer embedded quickly, not a 6-month hiring process.
Scale-Ups Between Marketing Leaders
Companies with 50-250 employees that have lost their marketing director or CMO and need continuity of leadership while they run a proper search. Revenue targets cannot pause during a 4-month hiring cycle.
B2B Companies Entering New Markets
Businesses expanding into the US, EU or a new vertical that need market-specific marketing leadership without hiring a full-time executive in each geography. A fractional CMO can own the market entry execution before a permanent hire makes economic sense.
Deliverables
What You Get
- Marketing Maturity Audit A written assessment of your current channels, spend, team capabilities and positioning gaps, used as the strategic baseline for everything that follows.
- 90-Day Marketing Plan A prioritised execution roadmap with channel selection, budget allocation, messaging direction and measurable milestones tied to your revenue targets.
- Positioning and Messaging Document A single-source-of-truth document covering your market position, ICP definitions, value propositions and messaging hierarchy that sales and marketing both work from.
- Budget Allocation Model A channel-by-channel budget model with expected CAC, pipeline contribution and payback period for each investment, built to present to board and investors.
- Team and Agency Management Direct leadership of your internal marketing team and any external agencies, with clear briefs, performance standards and accountability structures in place.
- Monthly Board Report A clean, investor-ready marketing report covering pipeline contribution, CAC by channel, brand performance and strategic progress against the 90-day plan.
- Hiring Brief for Permanent Successor When the time comes to hire full-time, we produce a precise role specification, interview framework and onboarding guide so the successor lands with a running start.
- Marketing Systems and Playbooks Documented processes, campaign templates and reporting dashboards that outlast the engagement and give the business a repeatable marketing operating model.
Ownership
What a Fractional CMO Owns
Marketing Strategy
Annual plans, channel selection, budget allocation and go-to-market sequencing tied to revenue targets.
Team & Agency Management
Briefing, managing and holding accountable any internal marketers, freelancers or specialist agencies.
Channel Execution Oversight
Performance marketing, content, SEO, email, events and partnerships managed to KPIs.
Board & Leadership Reporting
Weekly and monthly reporting to founders or board, translating marketing activity to revenue impact.
Our Approach
The Koldconvert Embedded Leadership Model
Most fractional CMO arrangements operate at arm's length: weekly calls, slide decks and recommendations that the internal team is left to implement without senior oversight. Koldconvert operates differently. Our fractional CMOs are embedded in your Slack, your CRM, your analytics stack and your leadership meetings, functioning as a genuine member of the executive team rather than an external voice. We sequence the work in three phases: a diagnostic sprint in month one that produces a written maturity assessment and priority roadmap; a 90-day execution phase where we take direct ownership of campaigns, agency briefs and team performance; and a scaling phase where we codify systems, document processes and prepare the handoff to permanent leadership. This sequencing ensures the business never loses momentum and that every week of the engagement produces commercial output, not just strategy documents.
Process
How Engagement Works
01
Audit
We review your current marketing, team, channels, spend and positioning to understand where value is being left on the table.
02
Strategy
We deliver a 90-day marketing plan with channel priorities, messaging direction, team requirements and success metrics.
03
Execution
We take ownership of marketing activity, managing agencies and campaigns hands-on to hit agreed milestones.
04
Scale
We build systems and processes that allow the function to scale, then transition to internal leadership or ongoing advisory.
Tech Stack
Tools & Technology
HubSpot
Salesforce
GA4
Looker Studio
Notion
Miro
LinkedIn
Slack
Typeform
Loom
HubSpot and Salesforce anchor pipeline tracking and reporting, while GA4 and Looker Studio provide the channel performance visibility needed to make fast, data-driven budget decisions. Notion and Miro support strategy documentation and cross-team alignment, and Loom keeps asynchronous communication efficient across distributed teams.
Engagement
How We Work Together
Marketing Audit Sprint
A focused 30-day diagnostic engagement covering your channels, team, spend, positioning and pipeline data. Ends with a written maturity assessment and priority roadmap. Ideal for companies that need clarity before committing to a longer arrangement.
90-Day Strategy and Execution
A fixed-scope engagement covering the full audit, strategy delivery and first 60 days of hands-on execution. Suits companies between marketing leaders or preparing for a fundraise. Delivers a strategy document, live campaigns and a board-ready pipeline report.
Ongoing Fractional Retainer
A 6-18 month embedded arrangement at 2-3 days per week. The fractional CMO owns strategy, team management, agency oversight and board reporting on a continuous basis until the business is ready to hire full-time. The most common model for Series A and B companies.
Results
What Clients Achieve
Fractional CMO Results
Marketing Leadership Outcomes
40-60%Cost vs full-time salary
90 daysTo full strategy delivery
3-5xTypical pipeline growth in yr 1
Day 1Availability vs 3-month hiring cycle
Industries
Fractional CMO for Your Industry
SaaS & B2B Software
SaaS companies need a CMO who understands pipeline velocity, trial conversion and expansion revenue, not just brand. We architect the demand generation engine and align it to the product-led or sales-led motion the business is running.
FinTech & Payments
FinTech marketing requires navigating FCA constraints while building credibility in a sector where trust is the primary purchase driver. We craft compliant messaging that differentiates on capability and builds the institutional confidence buyers need to switch providers.
Professional Services & Consulting
Professional services firms rely on reputation and relationships but need a systematic demand engine to grow beyond referrals. A fractional CMO builds the thought leadership, account-based marketing and events programme that fills the pipeline predictably.
E-commerce & Retail
Retail and e-commerce businesses at the B2B wholesale or marketplace level need a marketing leader who can balance brand building with performance efficiency. We focus budget on channels with measurable return and build the retention loop that drives lifetime value.
HealthTech & MedTech
HealthTech companies face long procurement cycles, clinical stakeholder maps and regulatory messaging constraints. A fractional CMO with sector experience shortens the learning curve and builds the multi-stakeholder content strategy needed to move complex deals.
EdTech & Learning Platforms
EdTech businesses serving institutions need a different marketing model than those selling direct to consumers. We build the procurement-aligned content strategy and partnership channel that gets you into budget cycles and preferred supplier lists.
Marketing & Creative Agencies
Agencies that are excellent at marketing for clients often neglect their own pipeline. A fractional CMO builds the new business system, case study engine and positioning that fills the agency's own funnel without the leadership team doing it themselves.
Manufacturing & Industrial
Industrial businesses are often underinvested in marketing relative to their sales teams. A fractional CMO builds the digital presence, trade content and lead generation capability that makes the sales team's job materially easier.
Logistics & Supply Chain
Logistics businesses compete on reliability and cost, making differentiation through marketing genuinely difficult. We identify the proof points that matter to procurement teams and build the content and outbound programmes that convert them into pipeline.
Legal Services
Law firms and LegalTech businesses need marketing that builds expertise credibility without overselling. A fractional CMO designs the thought leadership and referral architecture that positions the firm as the obvious choice in its practice area.
HR Technology
HR tech buyers are oversubscribed with vendor outreach and require marketing that speaks directly to the HR leader's specific pain, not generic product features. We build the persona-led content and demand generation strategy that cuts through the noise.
PropTech & Real Estate
PropTech companies need to earn trust with a traditionally conservative industry. A fractional CMO builds the case study programme, trade event presence and digital content that establishes credibility with agents, developers and institutional buyers.
InsurTech
InsurTech companies must market through both direct and intermediary channels while maintaining regulatory compliance. We design the dual-channel strategy that builds broker trust while converting direct demand efficiently.
Venture-Backed Scale-Ups
VC-backed companies between funding rounds need marketing to demonstrate traction metrics that hold up in the next data room. A fractional CMO builds the pipeline, refines the CAC model and ensures marketing KPIs tell a compelling growth story.
Private Equity Portfolio Companies
PE-backed businesses in value creation mode need a marketing leader who understands EBITDA targets and reporting cadences, not just brand metrics. We embed quickly, align to the 100-day plan and drive the commercial outcomes the sponsor needs to see.
Comparison
Koldconvert vs Hiring a Full-Time CMO
| Factor | Koldconvert Fractional CMO | Full-Time CMO Hire |
|---|---|---|
| Speed to value | Embedded and producing output within 2 weeks | 3-6 month hiring cycle before anyone starts |
| Expertise depth | 10+ years B2B experience across multiple sectors and stages | Deep in one sector, may lack cross-functional breadth |
| Cost structure | 40-60% less with no equity, bonus or employer costs | GBP 150k+ base plus equity, bonus, NI and benefits |
| Cross-functional coverage | Demand gen, content, product marketing, RevOps, brand | Varies by candidate; gaps require additional hires |
| Accountability | Contracted to pipeline and strategy outcomes with clear exit | Performance management is slower and more costly to exit |
| Tech stack | Operates natively in HubSpot, Salesforce, GA4, Looker Studio | Depends on candidate's background; often needs ramp time |
| Scalability | Scales days per week up or down as the business grows | Fixed cost regardless of business activity level |
Koldconvert Perspective
"Most B2B companies hire their first marketing leader too late and brief them too broadly. By the time a Series A or B business brings in senior marketing leadership, they have already spent 12-18 months running campaigns without a coherent strategy, which means the new leader spends their first six months dismantling rather than building. The fractional model solves this by giving companies access to senior thinking before they can afford or justify a permanent hire, so that when the full-time CMO does arrive, they walk into a functioning system with clear data rather than a blank sheet. The other mistake we see consistently is treating the fractional CMO as a consultant who submits recommendations: the only model that works is full operational accountability, where the fractional CMO owns the pipeline number, manages the team and sits in the leadership meeting."
Koldconvert Strategy Team
Buyer's Guide
Questions to Ask Any Fractional CMO
- Can you show me a pipeline or revenue number you personally owned and moved? This distinguishes execution ownership from advisory involvement. A strong answer names a specific metric, the starting point, what they changed and the outcome. A weak answer describes activities managed rather than results driven.
- How many other clients are you running simultaneously, and how do you protect our time? A fractional CMO carrying more than 2-3 clients simultaneously cannot give each one genuine strategic attention. A good answer describes a clear day-of-week allocation and a process for managing competing demands. Vague answers about flexibility are a warning sign.
- What is your approach to the first 30 days? The first month should be structured and diagnostic, not reactive. A good answer describes a specific audit methodology, stakeholder interview process and deliverable at the end of month one. A weak answer suggests they will observe and then advise, rather than produce a written output you own.
- How do you handle the transition when the engagement ends? The best fractional CMOs build toward their own replacement: documenting systems, writing the hiring brief for the permanent successor and running a handoff period. A weak answer suggests the engagement just stops, leaving the business dependent again.
- What is your experience with board and investor reporting? At Series A and beyond, marketing must speak to investors in CAC, payback period and pipeline quality, not just impressions and leads. A good answer demonstrates familiarity with investor data rooms and board pack formats. A weak answer describes marketing dashboards built only for the marketing team.
Key Terms
Glossary
- Fractional CMO
- A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who works with a company on a part-time basis, owning strategy and execution rather than providing advisory recommendations. The model delivers full CMO accountability at typically 2-3 days per week rather than five.
- Marketing Maturity Audit
- A marketing maturity audit is a structured assessment of a company's current marketing capabilities across channels, messaging, team structure and measurement. It produces a written baseline and a prioritised improvement roadmap rather than a list of activities.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
- CAC is the total cost of acquiring one new customer, including all sales and marketing spend for the period divided by the number of new customers won. Tracking CAC by channel tells you which acquisition investment is most efficient.
- Pipeline Contribution
- Pipeline contribution is the proportion of the total sales pipeline that marketing activity has directly generated or influenced. It is the primary metric used to assess marketing's commercial impact and is standard in board and investor reporting.
- Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy
- A go-to-market strategy is the plan for how a company will reach its target customers, communicate its value proposition and drive revenue across specific channels and segments. A GTM strategy defines the who, what, where and how of commercial growth.
- Demand Generation
- Demand generation is the set of marketing activities designed to create awareness of and interest in a company's product or service among target buyers, with the goal of generating qualified pipeline for the sales team. It spans paid, content, events and outbound channels.
Questions
Fractional CMO, answered
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who works with your company on a part-time basis, owning your marketing strategy and execution at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. Typical engagements run 2-4 days per week and cover strategy, team leadership, channel oversight and board reporting.
A fractional CMO owns outcomes rather than delivering recommendations. They attend leadership meetings, manage your team and agencies, set and hold budgets, and are personally accountable for pipeline and revenue targets. A consultant advises and exits, leaving implementation to you.
A fractional CMO is most valuable when you are between marketing leaders, scaling past founder-led marketing, preparing for a funding round, or need CMO-level thinking but cannot justify a full-time salary. The model is most common at Series A through Series C and in PE-backed businesses post-acquisition.
Most engagements run 6-18 months, though a 90-day sprint works well for specific projects such as a product launch or rebrand. Longer retained arrangements build the marketing function over time and typically transition to a full-time hire once the business is ready.
Yes, working alongside an existing team is the most common structure. A fractional CMO leads and develops internal marketers, removes bottlenecks, holds agencies accountable and brings external perspective without displacing anyone on the team.
Fractional CMO engagements typically cost 40-60% less than a full-time CMO salary when you include base pay, bonus, equity and employer costs. Most B2B retainer engagements start from around GBP 4,000-8,000 per month depending on days per week and scope of responsibility.
A fractional CMO is the right move when you need senior strategic direction before you know exactly what full-time roles to build. Many clients use a fractional engagement to define the function, hire the right specialists into it and then transition to a permanent leader with a precise brief and a running system.
Koldconvert delivers fractional CMO services across SaaS, FinTech, professional services, HealthTech, EdTech, legal, logistics and PE-backed businesses. The approach is adapted to each sector's buyer cycle, regulatory environment and competitive dynamics rather than applied as a generic template.
A 30-day audit produces the strategic diagnosis and priority roadmap. A 90-day engagement delivers the full strategy, team structure and first campaigns in market. Pipeline impact typically follows within the first two quarters of sustained execution.
Koldconvert fractional CMOs are embedded operators, not advisors. They hold P&L accountability, work directly in your tech stack and reporting cadence, and bring cross-functional expertise spanning demand generation, content, product marketing and RevOps rather than a single channel specialism.
Onboarding covers a structured 30-day audit of your current channels, spend, team capabilities, positioning and pipeline data. You receive a written marketing maturity assessment and 90-day priority plan before any execution begins, so the strategy is documented and owned by the business from day one.
Yes, investor due diligence scrutinises marketing strategy, pipeline quality and brand authority. A fractional CMO builds the narrative, tightens the metrics and ensures your marketing function presents credibly to Series B and beyond investors who know what good looks like.
Ready to add senior marketing leadership?
Book a strategy call. We will assess your current marketing maturity and outline what a fractional CMO engagement would look like for your business.
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