How much does a Fractional CMO cost?
$195 an hour, typically 10 to 20 hours a month
Our Fractional CMO rate is $195 per hour. Most engagements run 10 to 20 hours a month, which puts a typical month between $1,950 and $3,900.
How it is structured
Fractional CMO time is available within our retainers at that same rate, so you are not signing a separate agreement to get senior strategic leadership on top of execution work. If the strategy work is the whole engagement, we scope the hours directly. See how many hours a Fractional CMO engagement takes.
Doing the comparison honestly
We are not going to quote you a CMO salary figure we pulled off the internet. Do this instead, with your own numbers.
Look up what a marketing leader with the experience you actually want earns in your market. Add payroll taxes, benefits, and equity if you offer it. Add recruiting cost, which is often a percentage of first-year salary. Add ramp time, because a new executive is not at full output in month one. That total, divided by twelve, is your real monthly cost for a full-time hire.
Now compare it to 10 to 20 hours a month at $195. The comparison usually favors fractional for companies under a certain size, and usually favors full-time above it. Run it rather than taking our word for it, and if it comes out favoring a full-time hire, we will tell you so.
What you are paying for
Strategy ownership, team leadership, vendor and agency oversight, and marketing tied to revenue rather than activity. See what a Fractional CMO from LevelUp Digital actually does and who it is a good fit for.