What is a fractional CMO, you may have asked yourself recently, and how does having one compare to contracting a marketing agency?
If your business is at a strategic crossroads or struggling to sustain growth, you might be weighing up these two options. As ‘fractional’ is a relatively new term – particularly in the UK business environment – understanding exactly what a fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) does is one half of the battle towards making the right decision for your business.
A fractional CMO is a senior-level marketing executive who works with your company on a part-time or contract basis for a specific number of days or hours per week. They offer strategic leadership, market insights, and deep industry experience. Importantly, they should also be capable of integrating with your leadership team.
A marketing agency, on the other hand, provides an outsourced range of marketing services such as media buying, digital marketing, content creation and campaign execution. Agencies typically offer executional power, covering multiple marketing disciplines without fully embedding themselves in the strategic direction of the business.
In this article, we’ll compare the two options, outline their benefits, and help you determine which is the best fit for your business.
What are the differences?
The main difference between a fractional CMO and a marketing agency lies in their role and approach. A fractional CMO offers strategic leadership, working closely with your executive team to build and oversee a long-term marketing strategy instead of doing ‘random acts of marketing’ that simply don’t achieve results.
A fractional CMO will be able to identify gaps in your current approach, help get the marketing budget right, ensure alignment with business objectives, and direct both in-house and external teams. Their leadership capability can make significant improvements to how marketing is approached from within the organisation, and their appointment can often be the catalyst that kickstarts a phase of growth at scale.
Fractional CMOs will be able to help SMEs that so desperately need senior in-house expertise, but don’t have the budget to hire an experienced CMO on a full-time basis.
A marketing agency, in contrast, provides specialist execution. They bring expertise in specific areas to the table, such as SEO, PPC, content marketing, or branding, and execute campaigns based on your directives. Many agencies also offer strategic input from an external perspective, but they cannot take high-level decisions about your marketing strategy. This can lead to bottlenecks while they wait for internal non-experts to be convinced about their advice and approve the action or budget required.
What are the benefits?
When trying to understand the different strengths and weaknesses of fractional CMOs and marketing agencies, it can be helpful to compare their advantages side-by-side to understand their value.
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Fractional CMO |
Marketing agency |
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Strategic leadership A fractional CMO aligns marketing with business goals, ensuring that all efforts contribute to long-term growth. |
Specialised services Agencies often specialise in specific areas of marketing, allowing you to leverage top-tier services in SEO, paid media, branding, and more. |
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Deep expertise With years of experience in leadership roles, fractional CMOs bring industry knowledge and best practices that are tailored to your business. |
Targeted campaigns Agencies are experts at delivering campaigns and launching new initiatives – and they will be motivated to deliver excellent results. |
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Cost-effective senior talent Hiring a full-time CMO can be expensive. A fractional CMO provides executive-level expertise at a fraction of the cost. |
Diverse skill sets With a team of specialists, agencies provide access to multiple marketing disciplines under one roof. |
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Flexibility They can adapt to your needs, scaling their involvement as your business evolves. |
Technology and tools Agencies often have access to premium tools, analytics platforms, and insights that may be costly for individual businesses to acquire. |
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Team development A fractional CMO can mentor your internal team by providing strategic direction and cultivating a marketing-driven culture. |
Outsourced efficiency They handle the day-to-day execution of marketing outputs, allowing businesses to focus more on strategy and core operations.
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Which option is best for your business?
Deciding on whether to go for a fractional CMO or go the agency route is a difficult decision, and often depends on the size and current challenges of your business.
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Fractional CMO |
Marketing agency |
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Startup or small business |
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A fractional CMO can help define and establish a long-term marketing strategy. |
An agency can support execution if internal resources are limited. |
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Mid-size or growing business |
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A fractional CMO can help build a marketing team and offer strategic oversight for growth. |
An agency can support the internal team during high-growth phases. |
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Enterprise-level companies |
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A fractional CMO may be useful in transition periods (e.g. interim appointments). |
Multiple agencies may be needed for specialised campaigns and expertise. |
When deciding between a fractional CMO and a marketing agency, also consider other important factors such as:
- Budget: fractional CMOs provide senior expertise at a lower cost than a full-time CMO, while agencies offer flexible pricing models based on project scope.
- Goals: if you need strategic direction, a fractional CMO is the better choice. If you need execution support, an agency may be more appropriate.
- Existing resources: if you lack an internal marketing team, a fractional CMO can help build one. If you have a team, but are experiencing a temporary lack of capacity within it, an agency can help fill the gap.
- Level of expertise: if your challenge is a lack of leadership, go with a fractional CMO. If you just need campaigns delivered, an agency is more likely the answer.
- Flexibility: a fractional CMO can adjust their involvement based on evolving needs, while agencies may require longer-term commitments for certain services.
Depending on your needs, you may require a combination of both types of resources to maximise return on investment. A fractional CMO will often need to collaborate with internal teams and external agencies to implement strategies, while a business relying on an agency will usually need an experienced internal team member to coordinate efforts and make sure the marketing strategy is aligned with business objectives. Often a fractional CMO with agency support for execution is a winning combination.
Even the best agencies need detailed briefs, clear communication and strong cross-functional coordination skills from their main client-side contact to deliver great results. An inexperienced client-side manager often leads to unclear expectations and sub-optimal outcomes from the agency.
Despite their leadership skills, even CEOs can lack the specific marketing expertise needed to manage agencies effectively, leading them to be disappointed with their agency’s performance. A fractional CMO can solve this issue by providing strategic oversight, clear briefs, holding agencies accountable and driving results – while also offering broader expertise to align marketing with business objectives.
Why choose a fractional CMO from The Marketing Centre?
Not all fractional CMOs are the same. When you choose The Marketing Centre, you gain access not just to one expert, but an entire network of experienced marketing leaders to choose from:
- 100 proven fractional CMOs
- 1400 UK small and mid-market businesses helped
- Flexible, cost-effective access to top marketing leadership
- No long-term contracts
Our team has a proven track record – both individually and collectively – of delivering a measurable impact on business growth. Browse through our collection of case studies to discover the impressive results we have achieved for well-known organisations.
Get in touch today to see how a fractional CMO can help build a sustainable marketing engine for your business.
