(513) 657-1800

Fractional CMO

Executive marketing leadership without a full-time CMO hire. Positioning, budget, and vendor oversight, with optional in-house execution.

What a fractional CMO is

A fractional CMO is part-time executive marketing leadership who owns positioning, plan, budget, and vendor direction. Creative and media still get done; they stop being a substitute for strategy. Managed Marketing can run the channels under that seat, or you can keep specialists the CMO directs.

Fractional CMO vs common alternatives

Fractional CMOTypical alternative
RoleLeadership seat: plan, budget, vendor directionAgency-only delivery or a full-time CMO hire
ScoreboardPipeline and channel mix leadership can defendChannel reports without an owner of the plan
Best whenYou outgrew a coordinator or pure agency relationshipYou only need production, or you are ready for a dedicated hire

What the seat owns

A senior marketing operator in the leadership room who owns plan, budget, and pipeline. Creative and media still get done; they just stop being the strategy.

  • Positioning, offer, and audience clarity
  • Ideal customer profile and a living SWOT: who to chase, what to drop, revisited on a real cadence
  • Annual and quarterly marketing planning
  • Budget ownership and channel mix
  • Cross-sell between the service lines you already sell
  • Competitive positioning that leadership can defend
  • Team and vendor governance: keep, cut, or renegotiate marketing specialists; co-op and spend on the leadership scoreboard
  • Reporting that executives can use, not a 40-page slide dump

How it pairs with execution

You can keep your current designers and media buyers. Or we run delivery as Managed Marketing, the marketing equivalent of managed IT. The CMO seat stays the same either way.

  • Directs Website Services, SEO, PPC, print, and social without doing every task personally
  • Sets the brief so the site and campaigns solve the same problem
  • Stops channel teams from optimizing in isolation

A marketing leader who owns the plan and the budget, including when a channel should get more spend or less. Those calls are part of the seat.

Project cadence

Honest, orderly project management keeps work on track. Milestones are set before the work ramps, status reaches stakeholders before decisions pile up, and scope changes get a conversation instead of a surprise invoice.

  • Plan. Milestones and owners agreed before the work starts moving.
  • Status. Regular updates — you should not have to chase us for a status report.
  • Decisions. Trade-offs get surfaced early so leadership can make the call, not discover it after.

Questions we hear first

Fractional CMO vs. Managed Marketing?

Managed Marketing executes channels under an operating cadence. A CMO decides what those channels are for. If you lack a marketing leader, start with fractional CMO. If you have a plan and need ongoing hands, start with Managed Marketing. We offer both so you are not forced into the wrong product.

What does the seat actually own?

Positioning, audience clarity, annual and quarterly plans, budget and channel mix, cross-sell between your lines, competitive positioning, vendor direction, and reporting leadership can use. The CMO does not personally design every ad; they set the brief and hold the scoreboard.

Can you direct agencies we already use?

Yes. Many engagements start that way. We keep what works, cut what does not, and only move channels in-house when coordination or quality clearly improves. You are not buying a forced rip-and-replace.

Who owns technology vendors vs. marketing vendors?

Marketing specialists, agencies, co-op programs, and media partners sit with the Fractional CMO seat. Technology stack, contracts, and third-party IT risk sit with Fractional CIO/CISO. When a tool touches both sides, we coordinate so ownership stays clear.

Who is this for?

Companies that have outgrown a marketing coordinator or a pure agency relationship and need someone in the leadership room. Typical fit is growing professional services, home-service, healthcare-adjacent, manufacturing, and B2B firms in Ohio, not early-stage startups still finding a first offer. Medium businesses often buy the seat first.

Do you offer exclusive territories?

Certain territories may offer exclusivity for Fractional CMO and Managed Marketing so we are not also running demand for a like-kind competitor in that market. We confirm what we can commit to during scoping; it is not automatic. Home-service operators ask this often; see Home Services.

How is it priced?

A monthly retainer scoped to meeting cadence and decision authority. Channel production (site, SEO, paid, social, print) is separate if you want us to execute. Scope it via Become a Client or (513) 657-1800.

Industries we see often

Where this offer shows up often across Ohio. Start with the industry that fits:

All industries · Small business · Medium business

Ohio markets

We serve Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton. Nearby towns are covered from those cities. Start with all Ohio locations, or go straight to a market:

Serving from Cincinnati since 2014. Hamilton, Butler County, and Northern Kentucky are part of our Greater Cincinnati coverage.

Cincinnati skyline and Ohio River bridge at dusk

Ready for a direct conversation?

One briefing covers IT, marketing, or both. We use it to work through goals and what belongs in the first engagement.

Become a Client (513) 657-1800

Mailing address

6809 Main St · Cincinnati, OH 45244

Email

[email protected]