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Complete breakdown of day-to-day responsibilities, deliverables, and what you can expect from a fractional Chief Marketing Officer.
Fractional CMOs are strategic marketing leaders, not hands-on executors. They build marketing strategy, lead and develop teams, manage budgets, set up measurement systems, and drive customer acquisition—working 1-3 days per week instead of full-time.
These are the high-leverage activities fractional CMOs focus on to drive maximum impact.
Build the overall marketing strategy from scratch or refine existing approaches. Define positioning, messaging, ICP, TAM, channel mix, and go-to-market approach. Create quarterly OKRs and annual roadmaps.
Review market research, competitor analysis, customer interviews. Draft strategy docs. Present to leadership team.
Marketing strategy document, quarterly OKRs, channel prioritization framework
Hire, manage, and develop the marketing team. Run 1-on-1s, set goals, provide coaching, make performance decisions. Build team structure and define roles as the company scales.
Weekly 1-on-1s with direct reports, review hiring pipelines, coach on campaigns, facilitate team standups
Org charts, job descriptions, hiring scorecards, performance reviews, 1-on-1 notes
Own customer acquisition across all channels. Build repeatable systems for lead generation, pipeline creation, and revenue growth. Optimize the full funnel from awareness to conversion.
Review campaign performance, optimize channel spend, identify growth experiments, prioritize initiatives
Demand gen strategy, channel playbooks, growth experiment tracker, conversion optimization roadmap
Shape brand identity, positioning, and messaging. Lead product launches, create GTM plans, and ensure consistent brand across all touchpoints. Build sales enablement materials.
Refine messaging frameworks, review creative work, plan product launches, approve brand assets
Brand guidelines, messaging hierarchy, positioning docs, launch plans, sales decks
Build marketing infrastructure: CRM, automation, analytics, attribution. Set up dashboards, reporting, and data governance. Ensure marketing team has the tools to execute.
Review analytics dashboards, audit tech stack, troubleshoot integrations, evaluate new tools
Tech stack recommendations, attribution models, reporting dashboards, process documentation
Manage marketing budget (typically 10-30% of revenue). Allocate spend across channels, negotiate with vendors, forecast future needs. Prove ROI on marketing investments.
Review spend vs plan, reallocate budget to high-performing channels, approve expenses, forecast needs
Budget models, channel spend allocation, ROI reports, vendor contracts
Select, brief, and manage external partners—agencies, freelancers, contractors. Ensure they deliver on strategy and budget. Act as client-side quarterback.
Agency check-ins, review deliverables, provide feedback, negotiate scopes, source new partners
Agency briefs, SOWs, performance scorecards, vendor recommendations
Define KPIs, track performance, report to CEO/board. Make data-driven decisions, identify problems early, course-correct quickly. Own the marketing narrative.
Review dashboards, analyze trends, prepare reports, present to leadership, iterate on metrics
Monthly reports, board decks, KPI dashboards, performance insights, recommendations
What a fractional CMO does in the critical first three months to build the foundation for growth.
Deep dive into your business, market, customers, and current marketing. Identify quick wins and strategic priorities.
Implement quick wins, build systems, hire key roles, and start optimizing high-priority channels.
Scale what's working, hire critical roles, build repeatable processes, and report on early results.
Expected Impact by Day 90: Clear marketing strategy, 1-3 optimized channels showing growth, measurement systems in place, 1-2 new team members hired, repeatable processes documented. Not massive revenue yet—but the foundation for 12-24 months of scalable growth.
Here's how a fractional CMO working 2 days/week might structure their time across a typical week.
Strategic Planning & Team Leadership
Review weekend updates, check dashboards, prioritize week. Async responses to team questions.
1-on-1s with 2-3 direct reports (performance marketer, content lead, designer)
Leadership meeting with CEO, sales, product to align on Q4 priorities
Deep work: Draft Q4 marketing strategy, review budget reallocation, analyze channel performance
Agency check-ins (SEO agency, creative freelancer), review deliverables, provide feedback
Team executes, CMO available for questions
Not on site. Team executes campaigns, creates content, runs ads. CMO available async via Slack for urgent questions, approvals, or course corrections. Spends 30-60 mins reviewing progress, leaving feedback asynchronously.
Execution Review & Hiring
Team standup: Review campaign performance, unblock issues, realign priorities
Candidate interviews for demand gen manager role (2 calls)
Review creative assets, approve campaigns going live, finalize messaging for product launch
Prepare monthly board deck, analyze CAC trends, draft recommendations for budget reallocation
Weekly async update to team: progress, priorities for next week, shoutouts
Wrap-up and planning
Team wraps campaigns, posts content, finalizes reports. CMO reviews week's progress (30 mins), plans Monday priorities, leaves feedback on Slack/docs. Available for urgent questions only.
Key Insight: Fractional CMOs maximize leverage by focusing on strategic decisions, team leadership, and removing blockers during "on" days. Team executes independently during "off" days using frameworks and systems the CMO has built.
Browse live fractional CMO job descriptions to see real responsibilities and deliverables from actual roles.