Fractional CMO or a marketing consultant?
A marketing consultant advises on a defined question and leaves; a fractional CMO takes accountability for the answer and stays to deliver it. The consultant is a project fee ending in a recommendation; the CMO costs £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week and owns the pipeline number. Buy advice when the team can act on it, and accountability when nobody owns marketing.
Below is what each one actually owns, what they cost on the same basis, how each one fails, and when to pick the other one.
| A fractional CMO | A marketing consultant | |
|---|---|---|
| Who owns the outcome | The pipeline number, and the explanation when it is missed | A clear answer to a defined question, delivered on a date |
| Commitment | One to three days a week, flexing with the work, no end date assumed | A defined project or a set number of days, ending with the recommendation |
| How it is priced | £700 to £1,300 a day | A fixed project fee or a day rate for a set number of days, ending when the recommendation is delivered. |
| Typical monthly cost | £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week | No like-for-like monthly figure is published here; see how it is priced |
| How it fails | Being hired for a one-off question, such as a positioning review, that a consultant would have answered in a month for a fixed fee, then staying on with no ongoing job to do. | Delivering a strong recommendation to a company with nobody senior to own it, so the deck is presented, praised and filed, and nothing in the market changes. |
| Pick it when | Nobody senior owns marketing, so advice has nowhere to land | The question is defined and finite: a positioning review, a channel audit, a pricing study |
What a marketing consultant actually is
An external adviser engaged for a defined question: a positioning review, a go-to-market plan, a channel audit or a pricing study. They recommend; the company decides and executes.
What each one owns
| A fractional CMO | A marketing consultant |
|---|---|
| The pipeline number, and the explanation when it is missed | A clear answer to a defined question, delivered on a date |
| Positioning, carried into every channel rather than into a deck | An outside view, free of the internal politics |
| The marketing budget and who it is spent with | Specialist depth in one area: pricing, research or a channel |
| Hiring and managing the team or the agency that does the work | A recommendation the company can take or leave |
What neither of them does
Neither produces the content, runs the ads or builds the website. One decides and the other advises on what should be done, and somebody, an in-house team or an agency, still has to do it.
How each one fails
The fractional CMO: Being hired for a one-off question, such as a positioning review, that a consultant would have answered in a month for a fixed fee, then staying on with no ongoing job to do.
A marketing consultant: Delivering a strong recommendation to a company with nobody senior to own it, so the deck is presented, praised and filed, and nothing in the market changes.
What they cost, on the same basis
A fractional CMO charges £700 to £1,300 a day, which is £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week. A fixed project fee or a day rate for a set number of days, ending when the recommendation is delivered. The monthly and annual arithmetic for the fractional side, against a full-time equivalent, is on the cost page for this seat.
Pick a marketing consultant when
- The question is defined and finite: a positioning review, a channel audit, a pricing study
- Somebody senior in-house already owns marketing and will act on the answer
- You want an outside view without adding a member to the leadership team
We would rather say that plainly than win an engagement that was the wrong shape. Nobody pays us to list on the bench, so there is nothing in it for us either way.
When you want both
Sometimes, in sequence. A consultant answers a specialist question, research or pricing for instance, and the fractional CMO carries the answer into the plan and holds the team to it. A CMO commissioning a consultant for a specific study is a sign the seat is working.
Advice or accountability
The difference is not seniority, since many consultants and fractional CMOs come from the same careers. It is what each is measured on. A consultant is judged on the quality of the recommendation. A fractional CMO is judged on what happens afterwards: pipeline, conversion, the cost of winning a customer. One hands over a plan; the other is still there when the plan meets the market.
That changes how to brief each. Give a consultant a precise question and a date. Give a fractional CMO a number, and authority over the budget and the people who move it. A brief that asks a consultant to own a number, or a fractional CMO to deliver a report and leave, gets the worst of both.
Common questions
Should I hire a fractional CMO or a marketing consultant?
A marketing consultant advises on a defined question and leaves; a fractional CMO takes accountability for the answer and stays to deliver it. The consultant is a project fee ending in a recommendation; the CMO costs £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week and owns the pipeline number. Buy advice when the team can act on it, and accountability when nobody owns marketing.
Is a fractional CMO cheaper than a marketing consultant?
For a single defined question, usually not: a consultant's fixed fee for one project often costs less than a few months of a fractional CMO at £5,367 to £9,967 a month at two days a week. Over a year of ongoing work the comparison turns, because a consultant is paid again for every new question and owns none of the answers.
When is a marketing consultant the better choice than a fractional CMO?
The question is defined and finite: a positioning review, a channel audit, a pricing study. Somebody senior in-house already owns marketing and will act on the answer. You want an outside view without adding a member to the leadership team.
Can I use a fractional CMO and a marketing consultant at the same time?
Sometimes, in sequence. A consultant answers a specialist question, research or pricing for instance, and the fractional CMO carries the answer into the plan and holds the team to it. A CMO commissioning a consultant for a specific study is a sign the seat is working.
Is a fractional CMO the same as a marketing consultant?
No. A marketing consultant advises on a defined question and leaves when the recommendation is delivered. A fractional CMO holds the seat part-time: sits in the leadership meeting, owns the budget and the pipeline number, and manages whoever does the work. The careers behind them often overlap; the job does not.
How is a marketing consultant priced?
Usually as a fixed fee for a defined project, or a day rate for a set number of days, ending with a recommendation. No band for consultants is published here, because the scope varies too much for one to be honest. Compare quotes on what is delivered and by when, and on who actually does the work.
When should a company move from a marketing consultant to a fractional CMO?
When the recommendations keep arriving and nothing changes, because nobody senior owns turning them into a plan and a number. A fractional CMO at £700 to £1,300 a day is an ongoing cost rather than a project fee, and is worth it once the gap is ownership rather than ideas.