Fractional CMO Services - Command
You need someone who
owns your marketing numbers,
not just your deliverables.
A fractional CMO provides senior marketing leadership at 10 to 20 hours per month. Strategy, vendor management, and accountability for revenue results, without the $200,000-plus salary. Engagements start at $3,500 per month.
The Problem
Activity without direction is just expensive noise.
At some point in the growth of most businesses, the founder-does-marketing phase stops working. The business has grown past the point where one person can run operations, manage a team, handle sales, and think strategically about marketing. Something gets dropped. Usually it is marketing strategy.
Your team is executing but nothing is clearly connected to growth
You are spending on marketing but cannot tell what is actually working
Every vendor is optimizing for their channel and nobody is looking at the whole picture
You need senior marketing judgment but cannot justify a full-time CMO hire
Decisions get second-guessed, campaigns stall, and momentum dies
Our Approach
The difference between a fractional CMO and an agency is accountability.
An agency is accountable for deliverables. A fractional CMO is accountable for revenue. We function as a working member of your leadership team, with real ownership of the marketing function and real accountability for whether it produces business results.
We have run marketing for businesses we owned. That means we understand the difference between marketing that looks good and marketing that drives revenue. We are in the work with you, making calls, holding vendors accountable, and aligning your team around a plan that moves the needle.
The Cost Case
The math on fractional CMO is
straightforward when you see the full picture.
Option 1
Full-Time CMO Hire
Base salary $180,000 to $250,000. Plus benefits at 20 to 30 percent of salary, payroll taxes, equity, recruiting fees (typically 20 to 25 percent of first-year salary), and an onboarding period of three to six months before the hire is fully productive.
All-in year-one cost: $280,000 to $380,000
Full-time headcount on your org chart
3 to 6 month ramp before fully productive
Option 2
Traditional Marketing Agency
Monthly retainer $4,000 to $15,000 depending on scope. The agency executes. Strategy and business accountability remain with you, which means you are spending on execution without the leadership function that makes execution produce results.
Monthly cost: $4,000 to $15,000
No accountability for revenue outcomes
You still own the strategy decisions
Option 3
louislynn Fractional CMO
Senior marketing leadership, strategy ownership, vendor management, and accountability for revenue results. No benefits, no equity, no recruiting cost, no ramp-up period.
Monthly retainer: $3,500 to $8,500
10 to 20 hours per month of working time
Accountable for revenue results, not just deliverables
Engagement Options
Choose the right scope for where your business is right now.
Every Command engagement starts with an audit. From there, we match the depth and duration to what your business actually needs.
Quick hit
30-Day Sprint
Ideal for a specific problem: a product launch, a stalled campaign, or a team that needs immediate direction.
Marketing audit and diagnosis
30-day execution roadmap
4 weekly leadership sessions
Clear handoff document at close
Most common
60-Day Alignment
Enough time to audit, strategize, begin execution, and see early results. The right starting point for most businesses.
Everything in the 30-day sprint
Full channel strategy and prioritization
Vendor and agency oversight
Team alignment and role clarity
Month-two execution and iteration
Full transformation
90-Day Command
Three months of embedded strategic leadership, designed to fix the marketing function, not just one problem.
Everything in the 60-day alignment
Hiring strategy and brief development
Board or investor reporting
Full marketing infrastructure buildout
Who It's For
Command is for businesses that are ready to get serious about growth.
✓ Founders who are doing marketing themselves and know it's not their highest use of time
✓ Companies with a marketing team that's executing without a clear strategy
✓ Businesses spending on multiple agencies with no one owning the full picture
✓ Organizations preparing for a growth push, a new market, or a funding round
✓ Companies that need senior marketing judgment without the full-time salary
✓ Businesses that have tried agencies and want someone accountable for results, not just deliverables
Common Questions
-
A fractional CMO is accountable for outcomes, not just recommendations.
A consultant typically delivers advice, audits, or strategy and then steps back. A fractional CMO owns the function. That means setting direction, prioritizing what actually matters, aligning sales and marketing, managing execution, and being responsible for results.
If nothing changes after the engagement, that’s a consultant problem. If growth stalls, that’s a fractional CMO problem.
-
Most engagements run 6 to 12 months.
Anything shorter usually isn’t enough time to fix what’s actually broken. Most companies don’t have a “tactics” problem—they have a clarity, prioritization, and execution problem. That takes time to unwind and rebuild properly.
That said, you should see early traction in the first 60–90 days. If you don’t, something’s off.
-
Good. That’s usually where this works best.
A fractional CMO gives that person direction, prioritization, and accountability. Most internal hires are stuck reacting to requests or guessing what matters. This fixes that.
Think of it as turning a capable executor into a focused operator.
-
Not impressions. Not clicks.
Success is measured in:
Qualified pipeline
Cost to acquire a customer
Revenue contribution from marketing
Sales cycle efficiency
If it doesn’t tie back to revenue, it’s a distraction.
-
Yes, and in most cases, that’s the point.
Agencies are often doing work without strong direction or clear success criteria. A fractional CMO sets that direction, defines what “good” looks like, and holds them accountable.
If the agency is solid, performance improves.
If not, it becomes obvious quickly. -
More than you want, less than you’re doing now.
You’ll be involved in key decisions, positioning, and direction. But the goal is to remove you from day-to-day marketing chaos, not pull you deeper into it.
-
Both—but selectively.
We don’t become your marketing department. We focus on what actually moves the needle and either execute directly or direct your existing team and partners.
If everything is a priority, nothing is.
-
This is where most people waste time.
Good fit:
$750K–$15M revenue
Proven offer but inconsistent growth
Some marketing already happening, just not working as it should
Willing to make decisions and act
Bad fit:
Pre-revenue or still figuring out what they sell
Looking for a “quick win” without fixing fundamentals
Not willing to change direction when data says to
Stop second-guessing your marketing. Get a direction.
Book a free strategy call. We'll talk through where your marketing is today, where the gaps are, and whether Command is the right fit.