The things that come up most often on a first call, answered properly. If yours is not here, ask me directly and I will add it.
What is a fractional CMO, in plain termsHow many days a month, and how long does it runWhat does it costHow is this different from hiring an agencyDo you do the work, or just adviseWhat happens to the agencies and freelancers we already useWhat happens in the first monthDo you only work in YorkshireWhen are you not the right answerHow do we start
The basicsWhat you are actually buying.
What is a fractional CMO, in plain terms?
A senior marketing leader who sits in your leadership team part-time rather than full-time. I hold my own objectives alongside everyone else’s and I am in the weekly meeting, not reporting in from the outside. The longer version, including what you are actually buying, is on the fractional CMO page.
How many days a month, and how long does it run?
Three days a month is the shape most engagements take. Two is the advisory floor and five or more is an embedded seat. On length, the honest answer is that the good ones run long: the most recent embedded seat was bought as a three month contract and ran 23 months, and my longest client relationship is 15 years.
What does it cost?
From £4,500 + VAT a month for the three day seat, £3,000 for two days, £7,500 for five or more. That is a floor rather than a price list, and what an engagement actually costs comes out of the first conversation rather than a rate card. I have written the longer version, including what the wider UK market charges and where those figures come from, in how much a fractional CMO costs in the UK.
How it works in practiceThe bit most people are really asking about.
How is this different from hiring an agency?
An agency does the work. I decide which work is worth doing, and then hold your agencies to it. Those are different jobs and you may well need both. If your strategy is settled and the campaigns just need running, an agency is the better buy and I will say so.
Do you do the work, or just advise?
Both, and the balance shifts. I still do the technical search and AI visibility work myself rather than describing it, which is unusual at this level. But a seat that leaves nothing behind is an expensive way to rent an opinion, so a large part of the job is making your own people better at it.
What happens to the agencies and freelancers we already use?
They get managed properly, which is often the first thing that changes. Where it is warranted I will help you exit them. In one engagement the external SEO and paid agencies were exited and the work rebuilt in house, and that was a large part of what produced the result.
What happens in the first month?
I start from the commercial question rather than the marketing one, so the first job is usually working out where the business makes and loses money, and whether that can even be seen. On one engagement the first real change was mandatory lead source capture, so the board could finally tell where sales came from. Not a campaign.
Fit, and getting startedIncluding when the answer is no.
Do you only work in Yorkshire?
No. I am based in Yorkshire and a good deal of the work is here, in Leeds and across the North. I also sit in leadership teams at national groups run from London and elsewhere in the UK, and I work with businesses internationally. The seat is a mix of in-person and remote wherever it is, and where you are matters a good deal less than whether the problem is the right shape.
When are you not the right answer?
Two cases, and I would rather say them on a fifteen minute call than after an invoice. If the strategy is settled and you need delivery, buy delivery. And if the bottleneck is not marketing at all, which happens more often than you would think, a fractional CMO is an expensive way to find that out. There is a case study on the fractional CMO page where exactly that happened and the work became operational instead.
How do we start?
Fifteen minutes in my diary, with me rather than an account manager. Bring the commercial problem rather than a brief. If a fractional CMO is not the right answer for where you are, I will tell you, and tell you what I think is.
Still not sure?
That is what the fifteen minutes is for. Bring the commercial problem rather than a brief, and if a fractional CMO is not the right answer I will tell you.