Strategy
Fractional CMO & Marketing Consulting
Senior marketing leadership, part-time. I set the strategy, build the plan, and direct the execution — without the cost of a full-time executive hire.
What is a fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who works with your business part-time — typically a set number of days or hours each month — setting strategy, building the marketing plan, and directing execution. You get senior-level judgment without the salary, equity, and benefits of a full-time Chief Marketing Officer.
The model suits a specific stage: too big to run marketing off the side of the owner's desk, not yet big enough to justify a six-figure executive hire.
Who you'd be working with
Real photograph required
Not stock. This is the face a prospect is deciding whether to trust.
Blocked — needs your career history
This section is the page
Buyers of fractional leadership are buying an individual, so the bio does more work here than anywhere else on the site. It is deliberately blank rather than filled with plausible-sounding experience — that is how invented credentials ship by accident.
- Name, title, and a LinkedIn URL
- Career history — named companies and roles
- Two or three outcomes with numbers you can defend
- How you want the CommonHealth operating experience framed
- Certifications, education, board roles
The strongest fact available is that you operate a licensed behavioral health provider rather than only marketing for one. Almost nobody competing for this work can say it.
You're considering handing marketing decisions to an outsider. You should know exactly who that is before we talk — not after.
Fractional CMO vs. consultant vs. agency vs. hiring
These four get compared constantly and they solve genuinely different problems.
| Consultant | Fractional CMO | Full-service agency | Full-time CMO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A plan | Leadership | Execution | Both, full-time |
| Does the work? | No — advises | Directs it | Does it | Directs it |
| Commitment | Project | Ongoing, part-time | Ongoing | Permanent hire |
| Typical cost | $X project | $X/mo | $X/mo | $150k–$300k+ all-in |
| Ramp time | Weeks | Weeks | Weeks | 2–3 months |
| Best when | You need a decision made | You have a team but nobody leading it | You have direction but no capacity | Marketing is your core competitive advantage |
The short version: if you have people doing marketing but nobody setting direction, you need a fractional CMO. If you have direction but no capacity, you need an agency. If you have neither, you need both — and MASHfolio can do both, which is unusual and occasionally the right answer.
What I actually do
- Set the strategy.
- Where growth comes from over the next twelve months, which channels matter, and which ones you should stop spending on. Written down, with the reasoning visible so you can disagree with it.
- Allocate the budget.
- What to spend, where, and what return to expect. Most businesses I start with are spread across too many channels to move any of them.
- Lead the team.
- Directing your internal marketing staff, or the freelancers and agencies you already use. Someone has to own whether the work is good enough. Right now that's probably you, between everything else you do.
- Manage vendors.
- Briefing, evaluating, and when necessary replacing agencies. Knowing what good looks like is most of this job, and it's the part that's hardest to hire for.
- Define measurement.
- What gets tracked, what actually indicates progress, and honest reporting against it — including when something isn't working.
- Help you hire.
- When you're ready for full-time marketing staff, defining the role and assessing candidates. A good engagement often ends with you hiring your own marketing leader. I'd rather that than keep billing you.
Healthcare and behavioral health
Most of my consulting work is in healthcare, behavioral health, and addiction treatment — sectors where strategy is shaped as much by regulation as by opportunity.
A generalist consultant will recommend a campaign that can't legally run. They won't know that addiction treatment advertising requires LegitScript certification before Google serves a single ad, that analytics on patient intake pages can create HIPAA exposure, or that referral arrangements that are routine in other industries are federally prohibited here.
I work inside those constraints because I operate inside them.
When this makes sense — and when it doesn't
It makes sense when: you have people doing marketing but nobody setting direction; you're spending real money without knowing what's working; you've outgrown running marketing personally; you're about to hire a marketing leader and want the strategy right first; or you're entering a new market and want someone who's done it before.
It doesn't when: you're pre-revenue and still finding product-market fit — you need customers, not a marketing strategy. Or when your marketing spend is small enough that my fee would dominate it. In that case buy execution instead; SEO or Google Ads will do more for you than I will.
I'll tell you that on the call. Talking someone out of a retainer they don't need costs me one engagement and earns a referral I didn't have to pay for.
How an engagement works
First 30 days
Assessment
I audit what you're doing, what it's producing, what your competitors are doing, and where your leads actually come from. Mostly this is asking uncomfortable questions and reading your numbers properly.
Phase 1Days 30–60
The plan
A written marketing strategy: goals, channels, budget allocation, what to stop, what to start, and the metrics I'll be judged on.
Phase 2Days 60–90
Execution begins
I direct the work against the plan — your team, your vendors, or mine.
Phase 3Ongoing
Leadership
Regular working sessions, active management of the marketing function, monthly reporting, quarterly strategy reviews.
Phase 4
Engagements run six months minimum. Hours per month and meeting cadence are to confirm.
What it costs
| Engagement | Range |
|---|---|
| Marketing strategy project | $X one-time |
| Fractional CMO retainer | from $2,500/mo |
| Advisory (lighter touch) | $X/mo |
For comparison, a full-time CMO costs $150,000–$300,000 in salary before benefits, payroll tax, and tooling.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a fractional CMO?
- An experienced marketing executive who works with your business part-time — usually a set number of days or hours monthly — setting strategy, building the plan, and directing execution. You get senior judgment without a full-time executive salary, benefits, or equity.
- How much does a fractional CMO cost?
- Typically $X to $X per month depending on hours and scope, against $150,000–$300,000 plus benefits for a full-time CMO. The model exists because most businesses need executive marketing judgment far more often than they need it forty hours a week.
- What's the difference between a fractional CMO and a marketing consultant?
- A consultant delivers a plan and leaves. A fractional CMO stays and runs it — directing the team, managing vendors, owning the numbers. Consultants are for decisions; fractional CMOs are for ongoing leadership.
- Fractional CMO or agency — which do I need?
- An agency executes. A fractional CMO decides what should be executed and holds the agency accountable. If you have direction but no capacity, hire an agency. If you have activity but no direction, hire a fractional CMO. At a certain scale you want both.
- How many hours does a fractional CMO work?
- Usually X to X hours per month, structured as regular working sessions plus availability between them. A business in a turnaround needs more time than one maintaining a plan that's already working.
- What is an outsourced CMO?
- The same role, described differently. Outsourced, fractional, part-time, virtual, and interim CMO all mean an external marketing executive working with you short of full-time. "Interim" usually implies covering a vacancy until a permanent hire is made.
- How long is a typical engagement?
- Six months minimum, because meaningful marketing change doesn't happen faster than that. Many run a year or more. Some end deliberately when the business is ready to hire full-time, which I treat as a success rather than a loss.
- Do you also execute the marketing?
- I can. Some clients want leadership only and keep their own team and vendors. Others want me to set the strategy and have MASHfolio run the work. Both are fine — I'll be explicit about which hat I'm wearing so accountability stays clear.
- Do I need a fractional CMO, or just better execution?
- If you know what to do and it isn't getting done, that's an execution problem — buy execution. If you're doing plenty and can't tell what's working, that's a strategy problem. Most businesses who ask me this need execution, and I say so.
Let's have the conversation
Tell me where marketing is stuck and I'll tell you honestly whether this is the right answer — or whether you'd be better off buying execution instead.