Senior marketing leadership without the cost of a full-time CMO. We act as your strategic marketing partner, owning direction, planning, coordination, and accountability across the marketing function.

Fractional CMO — Own the function. Not just the campaign

Once the system works, someone has to run it. We step in as your ongoing marketing leadership — owning strategy, priorities, team direction, and vendor coordination — so marketing has one accountable owner instead of a scatter of disconnected activity.

Where this fits

Fractional CMO is Step 3 of the Core Ideas system. Most engagements start with a Core Compass diagnostic or a Sprint 90 execution sprint — Fractional CMO is where we stay on once the system is built and someone needs to own it long-term. If you’re not sure this is the right starting point, Core Compass is a lower-commitment way to find out.

What coreIdeas’ fractional CMO service covers

What coreIdeas’ fractional CMO service covers

Marketing strategy and business priorities

What matters most right now, and what can wait — set and revisited as the business changes.

Positioning and message direction

A consistent answer to who you’re for and why you’re different, carried across every channel and every hire.

Go-to-market
planning

A working plan for how the business actually acquires customers — not a deck that sits in a shared drive.

Budget allocation and channel focus

Where the marketing budget goes, and why — reviewed against results, not habit.

Team guidance and hiring support

Direction for the marketing team you have, and a clear brief for the roles you still need to fill.

Vendor and partner coordination

One person accountable for every agency, freelancer, and specialist working on your marketing — not five vendors reporting to no one.

Reporting rhythm and performance accountability

A regular, honest read on what’s working and what isn’t, in language leadership can actually use.

Alignment between founders, sales, product, and marketing

Marketing decisions made with the rest of the business in the room, not in isolation from it.

Engagement mechanics

How the engagement works

How the engagement works

Ongoing retainer, typically a defined number of days per week aligned to your stage and needs

Minimum initial term to allow real change to take hold, reviewed on a regular cadence after that

If you’ve already completed a Sprint 90, the credit mechanic carries forward into this engagement

Who this is for / Not for

This is for you if:

  • You have marketing activity happening but no single person accountable for whether it’s working

  • You’re ready for ongoing leadership, not a one-time project

  • You’d rather have senior direction a few days a week than a full-time hire you’re not ready to make

This isn’t the right fit if:

  • You haven’t yet identified the specific problem holding growth back — start with Core Compass instead

  • You need a single execution project completed, not ongoing leadership — Sprint 90 is built for that