If your marketing spend cannot be tied directly to revenue, something fundamental is wrong — a fractional CMO fixes it within 90 days.
There is a version of marketing that looks very busy and achieves very little. Brand refreshes that consume months of budget. Social media that generates engagement but no leads. Agency relationships that persist year after year without anyone holding the agency to revenue accountability. Content programmes that build an audience of the wrong people. And a marketing function that is creatively impressive but commercially unaccountable.The CEO knows something is wrong — marketing is expensive, the team is hard-working, but the pipeline is not filling. The problem is the absence of a senior commercial leader who insists that every marketing pound is justified by its contribution to revenue. That is exactly what a fractional CMO provides.A fractional CMO from Leadership Services is a revenue-focused marketing leader who takes ownership of your entire marketing function — strategy, team, agencies, channels, and measurement. They bring the discipline of commercial accountability and the experience of having built demand engines in comparable businesses. Marketing stops being a cost centre and starts being a pipeline machine. Within 90 days, you will know exactly which channels are working, which are not, and where every pound of marketing budget is going.
The first 90 days of a fractional CMO engagement are about establishing commercial accountability across the marketing function — replacing activity metrics with revenue metrics and building the pipeline engine the business has been missing.
Marketing audit: full review of all active channels, campaigns, agency relationships, and marketing technology. Analysis of current lead generation metrics, cost per acquisition, and pipeline contribution by channel. First board-level marketing report delivered — showing exactly what is working, what is not, and where the immediate opportunities lie.
Strategy realignment and quick wins: lowest-performing channels paused or restructured, agency briefs rewritten around commercial outcomes, and the highest-potential demand generation activities intensified. Pipeline reporting restructured to give the CEO and board real-time visibility of marketing’s contribution to revenue.
Demand engine operational: a coherent 12-month marketing strategy aligned to revenue targets, with a clear channel mix, content plan, and quarterly milestones. Marketing and sales aligned around a shared pipeline definition and shared accountability for revenue. The marketing function is no longer a creative department — it is a commercial asset.
Within 90 days, you will have board-level visibility of marketing ROI by channel, a functioning pipeline contribution framework, and a fractional CMO who is accountable to revenue targets — not activity metrics.
A clear, commercially grounded marketing strategy aligned to your revenue targets and growth objectives. Covers market positioning, target audience definition, channel mix strategy, and messaging hierarchy — delivered as a 12-month activity plan with explicit commercial goals, budget allocation, and measurable success criteria.
Sharp brand positioning that differentiates you in your market and resonates with your target buyers. Includes messaging frameworks, value proposition development, and brand guidelines that bring consistency and credibility across all channels — ensuring your brand builds recognition and trust with every customer interaction.
Systematic demand generation programmes that build awareness, generate qualified inbound leads, and feed your sales pipeline consistently. Covers content marketing, SEO, paid media, events, and account-based marketing — each channel measured against pipeline contribution and cost per acquisition rather than vanity metrics.
Direct leadership of your in-house marketing team or agency partners — setting priorities, developing individual capabilities, establishing quality standards, and maintaining delivery accountability. Your fractional CMO acts as the most senior marketing voice on the leadership team, bridging strategy and execution effectively.
Assessment and optimisation of your marketing technology stack — CRM, marketing automation, analytics platforms, and attribution tools. Ensures your investment is properly tracked, measured against revenue outcomes, and continuously improved. Eliminates the technology shelfware that plagues many SME marketing functions.
Strategies that systematically reduce customer acquisition cost, improve conversion rates at every funnel stage, and increase customer lifetime value. Combines market segmentation, buyer journey analysis, and channel optimisation to build a more efficient, scalable, and profitable marketing operation over time.
Leadership Services
per month — no recruitment fees, no long-term contracts
Full-Time Hire
per year plus benefits, recruitment fees, and on-costs
A fractional CMO provides senior marketing leadership on a part-time basis. They own your marketing strategy, brand positioning, demand generation, and team leadership — operating as the most senior marketer in your business without the cost of a full-time hire. Unlike a marketing manager focused on execution, a fractional CMO sets strategic direction, holds agencies accountable, presents to the board, and ensures marketing is directly contributing to revenue growth.
A fractional CMO or part-time marketing director from Leadership Services ranges from £1,500 to £5,000 per month, depending on the number of days required and the scope of the engagement. This compares to a full-time Marketing Director or CMO salary of £100,000 to £170,000 per year in the UK, plus employer on-costs, benefits, and recruitment fees. Most SMEs find the fractional model delivers superior value — particularly when their marketing needs are strategic rather than full-time operational.
In the UK market, the terms are broadly interchangeable. A Marketing Director typically leads the marketing function within a single business, while a CMO is a board-level role with broader commercial accountability. Leadership Services’ fractional marketing leaders operate at both levels — bringing CMO-quality strategic thinking combined with a hands-on marketing director approach. The right fit depends on your business size, marketing maturity, and what you need from the engagement.
Yes — and this is one of the most common use cases. Many UK businesses spend significant sums on marketing agencies without the internal senior expertise to brief them properly, hold them accountable, or evaluate their performance. A fractional CMO takes ownership of your agency relationships: setting strategy, writing briefs, reviewing output, managing contracts, and ensuring agency activity is delivering measurable commercial results.
Most engagements begin within one to two weeks. After an initial discovery call to understand your marketing challenges, target market, and business objectives, we match you with the right fractional CMO from our network. There is no recruitment process or lengthy onboarding — your part-time marketing director joins your leadership team and starts delivering from day one, typically beginning with a structured marketing audit and strategic assessment.
For most UK SMEs and scale-ups, a fractional CMO provides the senior marketing leadership they need. A full-time CMO is typically justified only when the organisation has a large marketing team requiring daily senior oversight, is running multiple simultaneous brand campaigns at scale, or is at a stage where marketing is the primary driver of very high-velocity growth. Until that point, a part-time marketing director delivers the same strategic capability at a significantly lower cost.
Book a free, no-obligation discovery call. We’ll match you with the right director within 5 business days.
