Comparison Guide

Fractional CMO vs
Marketing Agency

Complete comparison to help you decide: strategic leadership vs tactical execution, and why many companies use both.

Leadership

vs Execution

Internal

vs External

Both?

Yes, Often

TL;DR

The Core Difference

Fractional CMO

Strategic Leader who owns your entire marketing function. Sets direction, builds teams, manages budgets, and is accountable for results.

✓ Embedded in your company
✓ Owns marketing strategy
✓ Builds and leads teams
✓ Accountable for revenue

Marketing Agency

Execution Partner that delivers specialized tactics (ads, SEO, content) based on your strategy. Vendor relationship, not leadership.

✓ External service provider
✓ Executes specific tactics
✓ Specialized capabilities
✓ Scalable resources

Best Setup for Most Companies: Fractional CMO (strategy) + Agency (execution)

Detailed Comparison

Side-by-Side Breakdown

Category	Fractional CMO	Marketing Agency
Role	Strategic leader & executive	Tactical execution partner
Relationship	Embedded team member, internal	External vendor
Primary Focus	Strategy, leadership, team building	Campaign execution, deliverables
Accountability	Owns marketing results & revenue	Delivers on SOW & KPIs
Team Management	Hires, manages, develops your team	Manages their own team only
Strategic Input	Sets the entire marketing strategy	Provides channel-specific recommendations
Budget Ownership	Manages entire marketing budget	Manages their specific project budget
Scope	Full marketing function	Specific channels or tactics
Cost	£70k-£140k/year (2 days/week)	£5k-£20k/month (£60k-£240k/year)
Commitment	3-12 months, renewable	3-12 months, project-based
Time Investment	1-3 days/week with you	Variable, works on multiple clients
Best For	Strategic direction, leadership gaps	Scaling specific channels, execution

Decision Framework

When to Choose Each

Choose a Fractional CMO When:

✓
You need strategic direction. You're spending on marketing but lack a cohesive strategy or clear positioning.
✓
Founder-led marketing has hit a wall. CEO is overwhelmed and needs to delegate marketing leadership.
✓
You have a team with no leader. 2-5 marketers executing without strategic oversight or prioritization.
✓
Agencies aren't delivering results. You've hired agencies but they work in silos without strategic alignment.
✓
Preparing for growth or fundraising. Need professional marketing function to scale or impress investors.
✓
Building marketing from scratch. No marketing function exists; need someone to build it end-to-end.

Choose a Marketing Agency When:

✓
You have clear strategy. You know what to do, just need skilled people to execute it at scale.
✓
Need specialized skills. Require expertise you don't have in-house (e.g., advanced SEO, paid ads, video production).
✓
Scaling a single channel. Want to 10x your SEO, paid ads, or content without hiring full-time.
✓
Project-based work. Rebrand, website redesign, or campaign launch with defined start/end.
✓
Resource constraints. Strong internal leadership but need extra hands for execution.
✓
Speed to market. Need campaigns live quickly with proven playbooks and turnkey execution.

Best Practice

Can You Use Both Together?

Yes—and this is often the ideal setup.

The Fractional CMO + Agency Model

Many successful companies use a fractional CMO for strategy and leadership plus specialized agencies for execution. This combines the best of both worlds.

Fractional CMO Handles:

• Overall marketing strategy & positioning
• Channel prioritization & budget allocation
• Agency selection, briefs, and management
• Team hiring and leadership
• Performance tracking & optimization
• Reporting to CEO/board

Agencies Handle:

• Paid advertising (Google, Meta, LinkedIn)
• SEO implementation & link building
• Content creation at scale (blog, video, social)
• Creative design (ads, landing pages, emails)
• Technical implementation (website, automation)
• Specialized tactics (PR, influencer, partnerships)

Real Example: Series A SaaS Company

ROLE

Fractional CMO (2 days/week)

COST

£104k/year

RESPONSIBILITIES

Strategy, team, agencies

AGENCIES

SEO agency, Paid ads agency, Content freelancers

COST

£60k/year total

RESPONSIBILITIES

Execution only

Total Marketing Investment: £164k/year

vs £200k-£300k for full-time CMO + in-house team to achieve same output. Saved £50k-£140k while getting strategic leadership + specialized execution.

Avoid These

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Hiring an agency when you need strategic leadership

Why it fails:

Agencies execute tactics, not strategy. If you don't know what to do, they can't help—they need your direction. Hiring an SEO agency won't solve "we don't have a positioning strategy."

✓ The fix:

Get strategic clarity first (fractional CMO or consultant), then hire agencies to execute that strategy.

❌ Hiring a fractional CMO when you just need execution

Why it fails:

If you have clear strategy and just need someone to run ads or write content, a CMO is overkill and expensive. You need doers, not strategists.

✓ The fix:

Hire specialized agencies or freelancers for execution. Save CMO for when you need leadership.

❌ Expecting agencies to "own" marketing results

Why it fails:

Agencies deliver on their SOW (e.g., "increase organic traffic by 30%"), but they don't own business outcomes. That's the CMO's job.

✓ The fix:

CMO owns business results. Agency delivers channel-specific KPIs. Clear separation of accountability.

❌ Hiring multiple agencies with no one coordinating

Why it fails:

SEO agency, paid agency, and content agency working in silos = wasted budget, conflicting messages, no synergy.

✓ The fix:

Fractional CMO acts as "client-side quarterback" to coordinate agencies and ensure strategic alignment.

❌ Choosing based on cost alone

Why it fails:

Cheap agency = junior talent, cookie-cutter approach. Cheap fractional CMO = lacks experience to drive results. You get what you pay for.

✓ The fix:

Optimize for value, not cost. £10k/month for great agency or £1,200/day CMO pays back 10x with results.

Frequently Asked Questions

A fractional CMO is a strategic leader who owns your entire marketing function—setting strategy, building teams, managing budgets, and driving results. A marketing agency is a vendor that executes specific tactics (ads, content, SEO) based on your direction. CMOs lead, agencies execute.

Depends on scope. Fractional CMOs cost £70k-£140k/year for strategic leadership. Full-service agencies cost £5k-£20k/month (£60k-£240k/year) for execution. Many companies use both: fractional CMO for strategy + agency for execution, which can be more cost-effective than either alone.

Yes, and this is actually the ideal setup for many companies. The fractional CMO sets strategy, manages the agency, ensures work aligns with goals, and owns results. The agency executes tactics at scale. This combines strategic leadership with specialized execution.

Hire a fractional CMO when: you need strategic direction (not just execution), your founder is overwhelmed with marketing, you have a marketing team that needs leadership, agencies aren't delivering results because there's no strategy, or you're preparing for growth/fundraising.

Hire an agency when: you have clear strategy but lack execution resources, you need specialized skills (e.g., advanced paid ads, SEO, creative), you want to scale a specific channel quickly, or you have strong internal leadership but need extra hands.

Some agencies offer strategic consulting, but they're fundamentally execution partners, not internal leaders. They won't hire your team, sit in leadership meetings, own your P&L, or make hard prioritization calls across all marketing. That's what CMOs do.

Need Strategic Leadership?

Browse fractional CMOs who can set strategy, manage agencies, and drive real marketing results.

Find a Fractional CMO Complete CMO Guide

Related Resources

Fractional CMO Guide How to Hire CMO Cost What CMOs Do

The Core Difference

Fractional CMO

Strategic Leader who owns your entire marketing function. Sets direction, builds teams, manages budgets, and is accountable for results.

✓ Embedded in your company
✓ Owns marketing strategy
✓ Builds and leads teams
✓ Accountable for revenue

Marketing Agency

Execution Partner that delivers specialized tactics (ads, SEO, content) based on your strategy. Vendor relationship, not leadership.

✓ External service provider
✓ Executes specific tactics
✓ Specialized capabilities
✓ Scalable resources

Best Setup for Most Companies: Fractional CMO (strategy) + Agency (execution)

Fractional CMO vsMarketing Agency

The Core Difference

Fractional CMO

Marketing Agency

Side-by-Side Breakdown

When to Choose Each

Choose a Fractional CMO When:

Choose a Marketing Agency When:

Can You Use Both Together?

The Fractional CMO + Agency Model

Fractional CMO Handles:

Agencies Handle:

Real Example: Series A SaaS Company

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Hiring an agency when you need strategic leadership

❌ Hiring a fractional CMO when you just need execution

❌ Expecting agencies to "own" marketing results

❌ Hiring multiple agencies with no one coordinating

❌ Choosing based on cost alone

Frequently Asked Questions

Need Strategic Leadership?

Fractional CMO vsMarketing Agency

The Core Difference

Fractional CMO

Marketing Agency

Side-by-Side Breakdown

When to Choose Each

Choose a Fractional CMO When:

Choose a Marketing Agency When:

Can You Use Both Together?

The Fractional CMO + Agency Model

Fractional CMO Handles:

Agencies Handle:

Real Example: Series A SaaS Company

Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Hiring an agency when you need strategic leadership

❌ Hiring a fractional CMO when you just need execution

❌ Expecting agencies to "own" marketing results

❌ Hiring multiple agencies with no one coordinating

❌ Choosing based on cost alone

Frequently Asked Questions

Need Strategic Leadership?

Fractional CMO vs
Marketing Agency

Fractional CMO vs
Marketing Agency