Marketing Strategy & 360° Consulting · ServiceMOFU
A fractional CMO who owns the numbers
The short answer
Many companies need CMO-level decisions without CMO-level cost. Somebody has to decide how much to spend and where, hire and manage marketers, hold agencies accountable, and explain the numbers to founders and investors. A fractional CMO does that for a few days a month.
PMG's fractional CMO engagements are built around one principle: the CMO owns the numbers. Not just the plan — the outcomes.
What's included
- Marketing strategy and annual plan built on unit economics
- Budget ownership and quarterly allocation
- Hiring plans, interviews and onboarding for in-house marketers
- Agency selection, briefing and performance management
- Weekly leadership check-in
- Monthly founder or board reporting
- A single marketing scorecard everyone agrees on
When a fractional CMO makes sense
- Post-seed and Series A startups with spend growing faster than marketing leadership
- SMEs with a junior team that needs senior direction
- Founders who are the marketing department and need to hand it over
- Companies between CMOs needing interim leadership
- Businesses managing several agencies that don't coordinate
The first ninety days
- Audit — spend, tracking, team, agencies and results.
- Economics — affordable CAC, payback tolerance and targets.
- Plan — channel mix, budget, hires and a 90-day roadmap.
- Execute — weekly rhythm with the team and agencies.
- Report — a scorecard the board can read in five minutes.
What a fractional CMO does
- Marketing strategy and annual plan
- Budget allocation and targets
- Hiring and structuring the marketing team
- Agency selection and management
- Weekly or monthly performance reviews
- Board and investor reporting on marketing
- Brand and positioning decisions
Fractional vs full-time CMO
| Fractional | Full-time | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | A fraction of a senior salary | Full salary and benefits |
| Time | Defined days per month | Full-time |
| Best for | Early-stage and mid-size businesses | Large marketing teams and budgets |
| Speed to start | Weeks | Months to hire |
Fractional CMO by company stage
| Stage | Typical focus |
|---|---|
| Early startup | Strategy, first hires, first channels |
| Scaling company | Team structure, budgets, agencies |
| Established SME | Professionalising marketing |
| Pre-fundraise | Metrics and growth story |
A worked example
A growing company had several agencies and no marketing leader. A fractional CMO set targets, consolidated reporting, clarified agency roles and hired the first in-house marketing manager. Spend became accountable within a quarter.
Before engaging a fractional CMO
- Business goals and constraints
- Current team and agencies
- Budget and reporting
- Decision rights
How a Fractional CMO engagement with PMG runs
- Audit (week 0–1). Accounts, analytics, tracking, website, CRM flow and competitors reviewed, with a written list of what's broken, what's wasted and the three moves we'd make first.
- Plan (week 1–2). Break-even ROAS or a target cost per lead, a measurement plan and a 90-day roadmap for Fractional CMO, with owners and dates.
- Launch (week 2–4). Clean structures, verified conversion signals, the first creative sprint and landing-page fixes.
- Optimise (months 2–3). A weekly test cadence, with budget following the cheapest incremental results rather than platform-reported ones.
- Scale (month 3 onwards). New channels, geographies and retention loops, added only when the economics hold.
Every week you get a one-page scorecard, a change log, the test board and a 30-minute call with your strategist. See how we work and pricing for details.
Why teams choose PMG for Fractional CMO
- Measurement first. Unit economics and clean tracking come before any increase in spend.
- You own everything. Ad accounts, data and creative stay in your name; ad spend goes straight to the platforms.
- Senior hands on the account. The strategist you speak to is the person running it.
- Weekly transparency. Scorecard, change log and test board — every week.
- Short minimum terms. We keep clients with results, not contracts.
- India and international. One Mumbai team running campaigns across Indian cities and overseas markets, Mon–Sat, 7am–9pm IST.
Where we run Fractional CMO
We manage Fractional CMO for businesses across India — including Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad — and for companies in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Singapore and Germany. Campaigns are planned market by market, with language, currency, platform mix and privacy rules matched to each. See all Indian locations and international markets.
Free growth audit
Get a written audit for Fractional CMO.
No sales call required. Tell us where to look; a strategist replies within working hours and sends the written audit within 72 hours.
- Tracking check
- Pixels, Conversions API, GA4 events and offline conversions — what is firing, what is double-counted, what is missing.
- Wasted spend
- Search terms, placements, audiences and overlap that cost money without producing qualified leads or sales.
- Conversion path
- Landing page speed, message match, form friction and follow-up time — where interested people drop off.
- 90-day priorities
- The three changes we would make first, with the metric each one should move.
Frequently asked questions
When should we hire a full-time CMO instead?
When marketing spend and team size justify a full-time leader — often once the team grows beyond a handful of people or marketing becomes a major share of the P&L.
Can the fractional CMO also run execution?
Often yes, with PMG's specialists handling channels — though some clients prefer the CMO role to stay independent of execution.
How much time does a fractional CMO spend with us?
Typically a few days a month plus availability for key decisions, agreed at the start.
Can the fractional CMO work with our agency?
Yes — including PMG or other agencies, with clear accountability.
When should we hire a full-time CMO?
When marketing budgets, team size and complexity need daily senior leadership.
How many days a month does a fractional CMO work?
Typically a few days a month, agreed by scope.
Can a fractional CMO hire for us?
Yes — defining roles, interviewing and onboarding marketing hires.
What's the difference between a fractional CMO and a consultant?
A fractional CMO takes ongoing ownership of marketing outcomes, not just advice.
How long does Fractional CMO take to show results?
Tracking fixes and search campaigns often show improvement within two to four weeks; prospecting on Meta or YouTube usually needs three to six weeks of creative testing; SEO compounds over three to nine months. We agree leading indicators up front so progress is visible early.
Is there a long contract?
No. Minimum terms are short, because we would rather keep clients with results than with contracts.
Will we own the ad accounts and data?
Yes. Everything runs in your own accounts with partner access for PMG, and you can see it all at any time.
What do you need from us to start?
Access to ad accounts and analytics, your margins and order values (or deal values), brand assets, and a decision-maker available for a weekly 30-minute call.
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