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A Fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is a senior marketer who is part of your leadership team, but works part-time (typically 1 – 3 days a week) vs. a full time CMO.

On average, he / she has 15+ years of marketing experience and has a strong track record of managing teams. Although a fractional CMO is not a permanent hire, he / she operates as a business leader and is accountable for delivering results. Fractional CMOs tend to be hired on a day rate or a monthly retainer basis. They can come on board for 3-6 months or longer depending on the needs of the business.

Fractional CMOs take on all the responsibilities of a full-time CMO and are likely to focus on the startup’s critical business and marketing priorities during their engagement. A few of these responsibilities could include:

• Building a solid foundation for growth
• Improving marketing ROI and optimizing CAC for sustainable growth
• Managing and coaching the in-house marketing team or contractors / agencies
• Setting up the right marketing capabilities or infrastructure as the business scales
• Advising the founder on the marketing team structure and assisting in the hiring process
• Representing the company to investors, partners or press

Yes, it’s common to see a few synonyms emerge for the Fractional CMO model. You may have heard of the following terms which are often used interchangeably with Fractional CMO:

• Part-time CMO
• CMO as a Service (CMOaaS)
• CMO on Demand
• Outsourced CMO
• Rent a CMO

The other term that comes up frequently is Virtual CMO. This is a CMO who works 100% remotely (vs. on-site). A Virtual CMO could be hired on either a full time or part-time (fractional) basis.

As this industry is still evolving with new use cases and deployment options, it’s important that you ask questions and seek clarifications from every provider on their services.

Fractional CMOs have likely spent many years solving marketing problems, managing teams, influencing stakeholders and scaling businesses across diverse industries. You’ll benefit from this breadth and depth of experience at a fraction of the cost incurred by a large company to hire them full time.

A Fractional CMO is particularly useful during the following inflection points:

1. You’ve just received a new round of venture funding with ambitious growth targets to hit this year
2. You’ve been chasing unsustainable growth and need an experienced leader to optimize your marketing and lower CAC
3. You’re launching a new product or expanding into a new market
4. Your existing CMO or VP Marketing has left and you have a gap in leadership to fill before you onboard a full time hire
5. You’re keen to transform or future-proof your existing marketing team and you need an objective assessment on gaps today and what capabilities to invest in going forward