A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who works part time, owning strategy, budget, team and results. It gives growing companies C-level judgment at the stage when a full time hire is too early or too risky.

Strategy

A plan built backward from your revenue target that funds the few channels worth it and names what to stop first

Leadership

Clear priorities and weekly accountability for your team and agencies, so effort goes where pipeline comes from

Budget

Spend allocated by return and CAC payback, then moved each month toward whatever is earning its keep

Reporting

Board level reporting on pipeline, CAC and payback that shows leadership what marketing returns and where it's heading

Hiring

An org design that sequences hires and agencies in the right order, adding headcount once the plan has earned it

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Tell us where marketing feels stuck. We'll tell you if you need a CMO or something cheaper.

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Why teams hire our fractional CMOs

You get an executive who can set the plan, plus a team that can ship it.

Three exits

Your fractional CMO has taken three companies through acquisition.

11+ years

Over a decade leading marketing teams at startups and growth companies.

$Leather chair and desk lamp in a quiet executive office, the seat fractional CMO services fill$

Team included

A senior team and a vetted bench of specialists come with the seat.

Board tested

Plans and reports built to stand up in board and investor meetings.

From stuck to led.

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Our stack

Certified experts. Not learning on your dime.

Every strategist is vetted and certified in the platforms we run, so your budget pays for results, not our training.

$Certified partner badges behind Leapyn fractional CMO services, including HubSpot Solutions Partner, Semrush, Google Ads, Google Partner, Meta Business Partner and LinkedIn Marketing Partner$

Vetted senior experts

Every strategist has years of hands-on work in your channels before they touch your account.

Certified on every platform

Certifications stay current, so best practice is already built into the work.

Plugged in from week one

We work in the stack you already have. No new software for your team to learn.

How we work

What it's like to work with us

First call

We Talk

You tell us what's on your plate, what's working and what isn't. We tell you what we're seeing and where we'd start.

From week one

We Build

Strategy and execution start together, because six weeks of planning is how plans go stale. You see the work, and we check in weekly.

Every week

We Ship

Finished work lands every week. We review what shipped, measure what moved and plan the next sprint.

FAQ

Fractional CMO questions

What is a fractional CMO?

A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who leads your marketing part time for a monthly fee. You get the strategy, team leadership and accountability of a chief marketing officer without the full time salary or the full time bet.

What does a fractional CMO do?

A fractional CMO sets the marketing strategy, owns the budget and the number, manages the team and vendors and reports to leadership or the board. At Leapyn that person also has a team behind them, so the plan gets shipped and doesn't just get presented.

How much does a fractional CMO cost?

A fractional CMO from Leapyn runs on a monthly retainer scoped to the hours you need, starting as low as $150 an hour. For comparison, Salary.com puts median base pay for a full time CMO at about $374,000 as of October 2026, before bonus or benefits.

When should you hire a fractional CMO?

Hire a fractional CMO when you need senior marketing judgment but a full time executive doesn't make sense yet, such as before a launch, a funding round or a move into a new market. If your team is busy and nobody can say what's working, that's usually the moment.

What's the difference between a fractional CMO and a marketing consultant?

A fractional CMO owns the strategy, the team and the results as part of your leadership, while a marketing consultant advises and leaves the doing to you. Hire the consultant for an answer and the fractional CMO for the outcome.

How many hours does a fractional CMO work?

A fractional CMO works as many hours as the retainer sets, and Leapyn scopes that time to the job in front of you. Our work runs on weekly sprints, so you'll see a regular rhythm of meetings and shipped work instead of a monthly cameo.

Is a fractional CMO worth it?

A fractional CMO is worth it when you have a marketing team or budget that needs direction and the company isn't ready for a full time executive. If you only need a plan, a consultant is cheaper, and we'll tell you that on the first call.

How fast can a fractional CMO start?

A Leapyn fractional CMO can have work moving within about a week of the first call, once priorities are agreed. A full time executive search takes far longer, and your marketing doesn't pause while the recruiter writes the job description.

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Pairs well with a fractional CMO

All services →

$Papers spread across a wooden desk in soft light, linking to Marketing strategy services that pair with fractional CMO services$ Marketing strategy→A 90 day plan built on your numbers $Two hands passing a slip of paper, linking to Revenue operations services that pair with fractional CMO services$ Revenue operations→Find the revenue leaking between teams $Reading glasses resting on a closed notebook, linking to Consulting services that pair with fractional CMO services$ Consulting→Get the answer before you spend the budget

Name what's stuck.

We'll get it moving.

Share your goals and your team today.

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