Consulting · Executive Tier

Fractional CMO

Senior marketing leadership from CICOR Marketing, without the full-time hire.

Certified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business

Certified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business

Fractional CMO

When the business has outgrown its marketing

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A fractional CMO from CICOR Marketing gives a growing company a senior marketing leader for part of each month instead of a full-time executive salary. A senior CICOR Marketing leader takes the role. He sets the strategy, manages your team and vendors, plans the budget, and reports to leadership every month, backed by the CICOR Marketing team for the work the plan calls for. The engagement runs on a monthly hour allocation, with the level of authority agreed up front, for companies with roughly $2 million to $50 million in revenue.

Here is the pattern we see most often. The company has grown, but the founder still makes every marketing decision between other jobs. Three vendors do three things and none of them talk to each other. Nobody owns the number.

A fractional CMO puts one experienced person in charge of the whole function. You get the strategy, the accountability, and the judgment of someone who has watched the same patterns repeat for decades, without the cost of the hire.

At CICOR Marketing, that person is a senior leader on our team. He founded the agency and has worked in marketing and IT since 1997. He already serves as fractional CMO for several clients.

Who It Fits

Who this is for, and who it is not

This engagement fits companies between roughly $2 million and $50 million in revenue. It fits a business with a team or a set of vendors that needs direction, an organization getting ready for growth or investment, and a founder who is ready to hand off marketing strategy and keep the final say.

It is not the right fit for a business that needs its first website or campaign more than it needs a leader. If that is you, Marketing Consulting, Strategy and Audits is the better start, and we will say so. It is also not a fit for a company that wants a CMO in name only.

Services

What is included

PLANNING

Strategy, annual plan, and quarterly priorities

Your fractional CMO writes the marketing strategy, the annual plan, and the priorities for each quarter. When you add a service, a product, or a market, he builds the launch plan too.

LEADERSHIP

Leadership of your team and your vendors

He leads your internal marketing staff and manages the outside agencies, freelancers, and vendors. That includes setting their scope, reviewing their work, and deciding who stays.

FOUNDATION

Budget planning and accountability

He plans the budget, decides where each dollar goes, and answers for what it produced. You see the plan before the spend, and the result after it.

REPORTING

Executive reporting

Your fractional CMO sits with your leadership team and reports every month in plain language. You learn what was done, what it cost, what it brought in, and what changes next.

EXECUTION

Marketing infrastructure

He sets up or fixes the systems that let marketing scale: the CRM, analytics, lead tracking, and the handoff between marketing and sales.

NEXT STEP

Not Sure Which Piece You Need?

Tell us what is not working. CICOR Marketing recommends the right scope, with a plan before any spend.

What To Know

Three levels of authority, chosen up front

Every engagement states how much authority your fractional CMO has, whether you want an advisor or someone running marketing day to day.

1. Advisory. Your fractional CMO recommends. You approve and your team carries it out.

2. Management. Your fractional CMO directs your marketing staff, contractors, and vendors within the agreed scope. You keep the final decisions and the spending authority.

3. Delegated. Your fractional CMO makes defined marketing decisions and approves spending up to a limit you set, per item and per month.

At every level, CICOR Marketing does not sign contracts, take on debt, or hire or dismiss employees in your name without your written authorization. You can change the level later as the business changes.

How We Work

How it works

The engagement begins with a 30-day assessment and plan. Then it runs on a monthly rhythm.

1. Days one through 30. Your fractional CMO reviews the business, the team, the vendors, the budget, and the numbers, then delivers the plan.

2. Every week. A check-in with your team on what is moving and what is stuck.

3. Every month. A leadership meeting and a written report.

4. Every quarter. A review of the plan against the results, and the next quarter’s priorities.

The monthly hour allocation, typically 20 to 50 hours, covers leadership time, meetings, and the execution the plan requires. When a month calls for more, you add hours in blocks of five, 10, or 20, subject to availability.

Every Fractional CMO engagement is delivered as Full Service, the CICOR Marketing partnership that puts leadership and execution under one agreement and one report. A strategy needs time to take hold, be measured, and improve. Full Service also lets your fractional CMO switch on the services the plan needs without a new contract each time.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

A fractional CMO leads a company’s marketing function part time, doing the job a full-time chief marketing officer would do for a fraction of the cost. That means setting the strategy and budget, leading the internal team and outside vendors, reporting results to leadership, and planning launches. At CICOR Marketing, a senior leader holds the role under a monthly hour allocation with an authority level the client sets.

A fractional CMO from CICOR Marketing is quoted as a monthly fee, sized by the hour allocation (typically 20 to 50 hours a month), the scope of the marketing function, and the authority level. It is delivered as Full Service, which typically runs $5,000 to $20,000 a month, sized to the engagement. You get the hours, the level, and the fee in writing after a short scoping call.

A fractional CMO fits companies with roughly $2 million to $50 million in revenue that have outgrown founder-led marketing. Signs it is time: a team or vendors with no one directing them, a budget set by habit, and no single owner of the marketing number. Below that size, a marketing audit and plan usually does more good than a part-time executive.

Ready When You Are

One person owns the number, and it is not you anymore

The moment marketing has a leader, the founder gets their week back and the vendors get direction. Tell us what you want to hand off. We will say whether the role fits before anyone talks about a fee.