A managing director often tells me some version of this. They have an agency running Google Ads, a freelancer doing social media and a junior marketer looking after the website and the newsletter. Everyone is busy, and everyone is doing something sensible. But nobody is joining it up, and when the MD asks what the marketing budget actually brought in last quarter, the answers don’t agree.
That gap is what my fractional CMO services are for. A Fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is part-time marketing help at senior level. I own your marketing strategy and budget for a set amount of time each month, without the cost of a full-time hire. Prices start from £1,000 per month.
If you’d rather talk it through first, you can book a free consultation.
You get one senior marketer on your side, a few days a month. I look at everything you spend on marketing, decide with you what’s worth doing, and make sure the people doing the work are pulling in the same direction.
Some people search for a “fractional marketing director” or a “part time CMO”. It’s the same idea. The job title matters less than what you get: someone senior who owns the plan, the budget and the results, and who tells you plainly what’s working and what isn’t.
Where I differ from many fractional CMOs is that I’m also a Google Ads certified specialist. I can set the strategy and then go into the account and fix it myself.
I mostly work with established UK businesses, typically between £1m and £20m turnover, that are spending money on marketing but can’t say plainly what’s working and what isn’t. That usually looks like one of these:
It wasn’t the plan, it’s taking up evenings, and you’d rather hand it to someone who knows what they’re doing.
They do good work but have no senior person to plan with, or to push back on their behalf.
An agency, a couple of freelancers and Google Ads, each reporting their own numbers, with nobody owning the whole picture. If that sounds familiar, my piece on fixing marketing that isn’t joined up goes into more detail.
Usually nobody has done anything wrong on purpose. Marketing tends to drift apart one sensible decision at a time.
It isn’t the right fit for very early-stage businesses that don’t yet have a marketing budget, or for anyone who wants to hand everything over and never hear about it. I’ll want you involved, at least a little.
Every business is different, but the work usually covers:
I look at what you’re spending, where, and what it brings in. You can read more about my fractional CMO and Google Ads services, including marketing audits.
Conversion tracking records which ads and pages actually lead to enquiries and sales. It’s often broken, and it’s worth reading why conversion tracking is broken in most accounts I audit.
For example, and this is purely illustrative rather than a client figure: if you need eighty enquiries a month and each one costs around £250 to win, eighty enquiries at £250 is £20,000. A £5,000 budget won’t get you there, however clever the ads are.
Your agency and freelancers work to one plan, with one set of numbers.
Senior strategy and the technical work, from the same person.
Judged on enquiries and sales, not likes.
So they can keep improving without me.
Return on ad spend, qualified leads and sales, rather than figures that look good and mean little.
You talk me through what you’ve got, and I tell you plainly what I’d change and what I’d leave alone.
In the first few weeks I check the numbers and fix measurement, so everything after this rests on real data.
You and I agree priorities, and decide what to keep, what to change and what to stop.
I work alongside your team rather than behind closed doors, with a set amount of time agreed upfront.
You can see what’s working and what isn’t, and we adjust together.
If you’d like the detail, I’ve written about what happens in the first 90 days with a fractional CMO.
A full-time hire gives you a senior person every day, at full-time cost. A fractional CMO gives you the same seniority for a few days a month, which for many £1m–£20m businesses is the amount of senior time the job genuinely needs.
An agency does the work. A fractional CMO decides what work is worth doing and keeps the agency on track. Many businesses need both, and I’m happy working with the agency you already have.
There’s no single right answer. Sometimes a full-time hire is the better call later on, once the plan is working and there’s enough to keep someone busy every day. If I think that’s you, I’ll say so, and you’re welcome to ignore me. There’s more on this in fractional CMO vs marketing agency: which you need.
I’d rather show you results than make claims:
I work with Rucklidge Law as their fractional CMO, owning the marketing strategy and budget. They now get 30–50 qualified leads a month. Read the Rucklidge Law fractional CMO case study.
We’ve worked together since 2023, more than three years now. Year on year, Google Ads return on ad spend rose by 141% and Meta return on ad spend by 246%. Read the Royal Armouries return on ad spend case study.
As a specialist marketing adviser on a Department for Business & Trade initiative delivered by UMi, I’ve helped 75+ Yorkshire businesses adopt digital. See the UMi digital adoption programme.
You can find more client results on my work page.
You deal with me every time.
I’ll tell you plainly what to keep, what to change and what to stop, including when things are fine as they are.
I explain every technical term the first time, and I don’t mind being asked twice.
The plan is built on real numbers, not hunches.
As a Google Ads certified specialist, I can do the work myself rather than just talk about it.
I’ve helped hundreds of businesses all over the UK, including multi-million-pound businesses.
Senior marketing expertise at a fraction of the cost of an in-house hire.
A report full of green arrows is lovely, as long as your enquiries are going the same way.
If you’re comparing options, these questions to ask before hiring a marketing consultant will help, whoever you choose.
My fractional CMO services start from £1,000 per month. What changes the price:
How many days a month the work needs.
Whether I’m advising on campaigns or running them myself.
How many people and suppliers I’m working with and coordinating.
I’d suggest budgeting for ad spend and supplier costs separately from my fee, so you can see clearly what goes on media and what goes on advice. If you’re unsure what the total should be, read how much a £5m business should spend on marketing.
A Fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) is a senior marketer who works with your business part time. They own your marketing strategy and budget for a set number of days a month. You get senior experience without paying for a full-time hire.
With me, it usually starts with a marketing audit and fixing conversion tracking. Then comes a strategy and budget, managing your suppliers, hands-on Google Ads where it’s needed, training your team and plain-English reporting. The exact mix depends on what your business needs.
In practice, they’re the same idea under different names. Each means one senior person on your side for part of the month. What matters is what they actually do, so ask to see the plan and the results.
Prices vary between providers. Mine start from £1,000 per month, with the price depending on time, how much hands-on Google Ads work is needed and the size of your team. Ad spend and supplier costs are best budgeted separately.
That depends on what needs doing, and we agree it upfront after the free consultation. Busier periods, such as the first few weeks of fixing tracking, can need more time than later months.
Not always. For many businesses of £1m–£20m turnover, a few senior days a month is enough and costs far less. If your business genuinely needs someone every day, a full-time hire may be the better call, and I’ll tell you if I think so.
Often, yes. An agency does the work, and a fractional CMO decides what’s worth doing and keeps it on track. Sometimes the audit shows you need less agency support than you’re paying for, and sometimes it shows you need more.
Yes. I work alongside in-house teams rather than behind closed doors, and I’m happy to manage or oversee agencies and freelancers. The aim is one plan that everyone works to.
Both, depending on what you need. I’m a Google Ads certified specialist, so I can run campaigns myself or oversee the agency or person who does. Either way, the tracking gets checked first.
You’ll usually see clearer numbers early on, once tracking is fixed. Changes to enquiries and sales take longer and depend on your market, budget and starting point. I’d rather not promise a date I can’t stand behind.
Terms are agreed before we start, so you know exactly what you’re signing up to. Ask me in the free consultation and I’ll explain them plainly.
Yes. I work with businesses across the UK, and I’ve helped hundreds of businesses all over the country.
You talk me through what you’ve got: your marketing, your suppliers and your numbers, as far as you know them. I’ll tell you plainly what I’d change, what I’d leave alone and whether a fractional CMO is right for you. There’s no obligation.
If your marketing feels like a pile of sensible activities that don’t add up, book a free consultation. Talk me through what you’ve got, and I’ll tell you plainly what I’d change, what I’d leave alone, and whether a fractional CMO is right for you.
If it isn’t the right fit, I’ll say so.
You can also email me at hello@marketingbycaroline.co.uk.