When do owners go looking for one?
Owners search for a fractional CMO at the point where the activity has outrun the plan. There is an agency on a retainer, a freelancer doing the socials, a Google Ads account nobody understands, and no one deciding what it is all for. A fractional CMO is one answer to that. The question is whether you have enough people to direct for a director to be worth paying.
What does a fractional CMO do?
Sets the goal and the strategy. Writes the plan. Briefs and manages the agency and the freelancers. Reads the reports and tells you what they mean. Sits in the monthly meeting and takes the blame when the numbers are wrong. A good one also tells you which of your spending to stop.
A fractional CMO does not build the ads, write the emails or fix the website. On the days they are not there, which is most days, the plan runs or it does not.
What does a fractional CMO cost?
Retainers vary with the person's seniority and the days you buy, so no single figure is honest. Ask every candidate for two numbers: the monthly retainer and the days it buys. Divide one by the other to get a day rate, and compare day rates, not retainers. Then ask a third question: what happens in the four days a week they are not in your business.
Say a quote is $6,000 a month for four days (an example, not a benchmark). That is $1,500 a day for direction, and the retainer buys none of the doing. If your marketing spend is $2,000 a month, the direction costs three times the marketing. For a $20,000 a month spend with an agency and a coordinator to direct, the same $6,000 can be the best money in the budget.
Fractional CMO, agency or AI CMO: which fits?
| Fractional CMO | Agency | AI CMO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sets the direction | They do, one or two days a week | Usually nobody; the account runs | It does, with you, every week |
| Who does the work | You, a freelancer or an agency | They do | You do, step by step |
| Who reads the numbers | They do, monthly | They do, in their report | It does, every night |
| What you pay for | Days | Hours and media | The thinking and the coaching |
| The right fit | A business with people to direct | An owner who wants it done for them | An owner who wants to understand their own marketing |
If it is only you, you do not need a director. You need a plan and someone to coach you through it.
Where does Cora fit in that table?
Cora is the AI CMO column in the table, and CoraVision is the AI marketing team around that column. The onboarding call takes about 25 minutes, the plan is 12 months in three layers around one number, and the check-in is weekly. CoraVision reads Google Ads, Meta and Google Analytics 4 every night once they are connected, and never changes anything in them. CoraVision is not for an owner who wants the marketing done for them.
Questions
Fractional CMO or agency?
Different jobs. An agency does the work; a fractional CMO decides what work to do. Owners who hire an agency without a plan get activity. Owners who hire a fractional CMO without anyone to direct get a plan nobody runs.
How many days a week is normal?
One or two. Fewer than one and they cannot keep up with your numbers. More than two and you are close to a part-time salary.
Is an AI CMO a fractional CMO?
It does the same job, the direction, and it is there every day instead of one. The difference is that an AI CMO coaches you to do the work rather than directing other people to do it.