Compare your options before you commit budget
Fractional leadership is not always the right answer. These pages set out what each option is actually accountable for, what it costs, and the situations where the alternative wins.
Three decisions most businesses face
Each page ends with a plain recommendation, including when not to hire me.
- 01
Fractional CMO vs marketing agency
Hire an agency when you know what to do and need capacity to do it well. Hire a Fractional CMO when nobody senior owns the strategy, the budget or the numbers. If you cannot state your target cost per qualified enquiry, leadership comes first — otherwise the agency is optimising towards a goal nobody set.
Read the comparison - 02
Fractional CMO vs full-time Marketing Director
Below roughly £5m turnover, or where the marketing function is not yet defined, fractional leadership is normally the better first move: senior thinking within weeks, at one or two days a month, with no recruitment risk. A full-time Marketing Director becomes the right hire once there is a team and a proven plan to run.
Read the comparison - 03
Fractional CMO vs freelance marketer
A freelance marketer delivers defined work — content, ads, email, a website — against your brief. A Fractional CMO sets the brief, owns the strategy and budget, manages suppliers and reports to the board on pipeline. One is capacity; the other is leadership and accountability.
Read the comparison
Choosing between the options
Where to go next
A few things worth reading — and the pages most people move to from here.
Related insights
- SME GrowthWhen an SME Should Hire a Fractional CMO Instead of a Marketing DirectorThe revenue, team and complexity signals that decide between part-time and full-time leadership.
- Marketing StrategyWhy Your Marketing Isn't Working (And It Probably Isn't the Tactics)The positioning and priority problems that make good execution look like bad marketing.
Related services
- Fractional CMOSenior marketing leadership on a retained, part-time basis.
- Growth Advisory RetainerMonthly strategy calls and async support from £750/month.
- Marketing consultancyAn independent review of what is working, what is not and what to do next.
- Case studiesFeatured UK businesses and products launched or grown, with client quotes.
Bring the question to a discovery call
One hour, no pitch. If an agency, a freelancer or a permanent hire is the better answer for you, I will say so.