A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who works with a company part time instead of joining as a full-time executive.
A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who works with your company on a part-time or retainer basis. Instead of paying $250K to $400K per year for a full-time CMO, you get the same strategic leadership for $5K to $15K per month.
The model works because most growing businesses need executive-level marketing thinking but do not have enough work to justify a full-time hire. A fractional CMO typically works 10 to 20 hours per week, setting strategy, managing agencies, and building marketing infrastructure.
Good fractional CMOs bring pattern recognition from working across multiple companies and industries. They have seen what works, what fails, and where companies waste money. That experience accelerates decision-making.
The arrangement usually lasts 6 to 18 months. The goal is to build the strategy, systems, and team so the company can eventually hire a full-time CMO or promote from within.
Attainment offers fractional CMO advisory for B2B SaaS and services founders from $2M+ ARR. The engagement is advisory-only: strategy, positioning, and judgment on what your team or agencies should be doing, not full execution.
Companies between $3M and $30M in revenue often have a marketing gap. They have outgrown their marketing manager but cannot justify a C-suite salary. A fractional CMO fills that gap with senior leadership at 20-30% of the cost.
Hiring a fractional CMO to execute tactics instead of set strategy
Expecting results in 30 days when most strategies take 90 to 180 days to show impact
Confusing a freelance marketer with a fractional CMO. Strategy and execution are different skills.
A go-to-market strategy explains who a product is for, why they should buy it, how it will be priced, and how the company will reach and sell to them.
Demand generation helps the right people learn about a business and become interested in buying. It can include useful content, search, paid media, and events.
Full-funnel marketing supports buyers from first awareness through consideration, purchase, and retention instead of focusing on only one stage.
Revenue per employee divides annual revenue by the number of full-time employees. It is a rough efficiency measure that only makes sense beside similar businesses.
Fractional CMOs typically charge $5,000 to $15,000 per month on retainer, or $200 to $500 per hour. This is 20-30% of what a full-time CMO costs when you factor in salary, benefits, and equity.
When revenue is between $3M and $30M, marketing feels scattered or underperforming, and the founder is spending too much time on marketing decisions. If you need strategy more than execution, a fractional CMO fits.
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