Why a Fractional CMO Might Be Exactly What Your Business Needs?
- clairporteous5
- Jul 11
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 18
Over the last five years, I’ve worked with 26 B2B companies—ranging from startups and scaleups to legacy businesses navigating transformation.

I’ve seen what accelerates growth, what stalls it, and where marketing becomes either a strategic asset or an expensive misfire. One thing stands out across all of them: most growing B2B companies don’t need a full-time CMO straight away. What they need is the right strategic brain at the right time. That’s where a fractional CMO comes in—senior firepower, without the full-time overhead, and with the clarity to focus on what matters.
The True Cost of a Full-Time CMO
Hiring a permanent CMO in the UK typically means a salary of £150–200k+. Add bonuses, equity, and recruitment fees, and you're into six-figure territory before they’ve even started.
And if you hire the wrong person—which happens more often than you’d expect—it can take 6–12 months, and a significant amount of money, to undo the damage. I’ve stepped into those situations before. Fixing that kind of mess isn’t easy, and it’s always expensive.
What I Offer
As a fractional CMO, I provide that same senior-level thinking on a flexible basis. I typically work with businesses a few days per week, focused on three things:
Positioning. Pipeline. Performance. No fluff. No bloat. Just clear, commercial outcomes.
Whether it's redefining your ICP, sharpening messaging, or restructuring marketing operations for scale, I help founders and leadership teams make better decisions—faster. I’ve helped companies cut unnecessary agency spend, reallocate underperforming budgets, and redirect content that wasn’t delivering.
What I Often See (And Fix)
Too often, companies are burning tens of thousands each month on marketing that isn’t tracked, measured, or clearly linked to outcomes. It’s not due to carelessness—it’s a lack of senior oversight.
In many cases, the fundamentals aren’t in place. There’s no clarity on buyer personas, pain points, or purchase drivers. Internal teams are often stretched—tactical rather than strategic. Junior or mid-level marketers are expected to make board-level decisions without the right guidance. It’s not their fault—they’ve simply never been shown how.
A key part of my role is to guide and mentor internal teams while installing smarter, more scalable systems to generate leads, measure performance, and go to market effectively.
A Strategic Partner—Not Just a Contractor
Because I operate independently from the day-to-day noise, I can quickly identify what’s missing—whether that’s unclear positioning, a broken funnel, or a disconnect between marketing and sales.
And because I’m not a full-time hire, I bring the flexibility to adapt as your business evolves, without the long-term risk or fixed cost.
Why I Do This Work
I enjoy helping founders and leadership teams make sense of their marketing, giving them clarity and confidence in their message, their numbers, and their strategy. Watching a business hit its stride—knowing I played a part in that—is what keeps me doing this work.
In Summary
A fractional CMO gives you strategic leadership without the full-time commitment. I bring experience, commercial clarity, and measurable impact—exactly when and where it’s needed most.
If that’s what your business needs, let’s have a conversation.
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