Owns the marketing strategy.
Decides which markets, segments, and channels get funded this quarter and which ones get cut. Writes the plan the rest of the team executes against, then revises it when the numbers say to.
Nacho ordinary marketing leadership
Hire a Fractional CMO without the CMO salary.
Nacho matches growing businesses with vetted, 100% US-based Fractional CMOs who own the marketing strategy 2 to 3 days a week, starting at $125/hr.
Free 30-minute call. Every match backed by the Nacho re-match guarantee.
The short answer
What is a Fractional CMO?
A Fractional CMO is an experienced Chief Marketing Officer who runs your marketing part-time, usually 2 to 3 days a week. They own the strategy, the budget, and the team, exactly like a full-time CMO, but you pay only for the time you use. At Nacho, that time costs $125 an hour.
The word "fractional" describes the schedule, not the seniority. A Fractional CMO is not a junior marketer with an inflated title, and it is not a consultant who hands you a deck and leaves. It is a career marketing leader who has already owned the function somewhere else, taking on your company as one of a small number of clients.
Companies usually reach for one at the exact point where marketing has outgrown the founder's attention but cannot yet justify a six-figure salary. Someone has to decide which channels get funded, what the company actually stands for, and whether the agency invoice is buying anything. A Fractional CMO makes those calls and is accountable for the result.
The difference between a Fractional CMO and a marketing consultant is accountability: a consultant recommends, a Fractional CMO decides and owns the number. The difference between a Fractional CMO and a marketing manager is altitude: a manager runs the plan, a CMO writes it.
- Seniority
- Full C-level marketing experience
- Schedule
- Usually 1 to 3 days a week
- Reports to
- You, the founder or CEO
- Owns
- Strategy, budget, team, and the pipeline number
- Cost through Nacho
- $125/hr from one monthly Talent Budget
- Based in
- The United States, 100% of the time
The job itself
What does a Fractional CMO actually do?
A Fractional CMO sets the marketing strategy, owns the budget, leads the marketing team and agencies, installs the measurement system, and reports results to the leadership team. On a 2-day-a-week schedule the work concentrates on decisions and direction rather than day-to-day production.
Sets and defends the budget.
Builds the marketing budget, states what each line is expected to return, and kills the spend that is not returning it. For most owners the first savings show up here.
Fixes positioning and messaging.
Nails down who you are for, what you do better, and how that gets said on the site, in sales calls, and in every campaign. Ambiguity here is what makes marketing expensive.
Leads the team and the vendors.
Manages your in-house marketers, contractors, and agencies. Sets the standard, runs the reviews, and makes the hard call when an agency is coasting.
Installs the measurement system.
Defines the handful of numbers that actually matter, gets tracking and attribution wired up honestly, and puts a reporting rhythm in place so you stop guessing.
Builds the demand engine.
Turns scattered campaigns into a repeatable system that produces pipeline every month, then documents it so it keeps running after the engagement ends.
What a Fractional CMO does not do is the production work. They are not writing every email, editing the video, or sitting in the ad account all day. If those hands are what you need, they come from the same Nacho network as Specialists at $65/hr and draw from the same monthly Talent Budget, so you are not managing two vendors.
Timing
When should you hire a Fractional CMO?
Hire a Fractional CMO when marketing has outgrown the founder's attention but the company cannot yet justify a full-time salary at that level. The usual trigger is spending real money on marketing every month with nobody senior deciding where it goes.
Signs you are ready
- You are spending real money on marketing every month and nobody senior owns the plan.
- Marketing reports to you, and you have become the bottleneck on every decision.
- You have marketers or agencies doing good work that is not adding up to anything.
- You can describe what you sell but not why a buyer should pick you over the obvious alternative.
- Revenue still depends on the founder's network and you need a second source of pipeline.
- You are about to hire a full-time CMO and you are not confident you could write the job description.
When it is the wrong hire
- You need hands, not direction. If the plan is already clear, a Specialist at $65/hr is the better buy.
- You are pre-revenue and still finding the product. Strategy work is premature until something is selling.
- You want someone in the ad accounts every day. That is an operator role, not a CMO role.
- You are not willing to change anything. A leader who cannot move budget, people, or messaging will not earn the rate.
- Marketing already works and simply needs more volume. Promote from within or hire full-time.
We would rather tell you on the discovery call that this is not your bottleneck than sell you a leader you do not need. If the real problem is capacity, an Executive Assistant or Specialist solves it for less.
Real numbers
What does a Fractional CMO cost?
A Fractional CMO through Nacho costs $125 an hour. There is no placement fee and no separate retainer. Hours draw from one monthly Talent Budget with a $1,000 monthly minimum, so about $4,000 a month buys 1 day a week and about $8,000 a month buys 2 days a week.
The comparison most owners never run is the loaded cost of the full-time alternative. A salary is not the price of an employee. Payroll taxes, benefits, insurance, software, and equipment commonly add 25% to 35% on top of it, and a retained search adds 20% to 25% of the first-year salary in year one alone.
| What you are comparing | Fractional CMO through Nacho | Full-time CMO |
|---|---|---|
| Rate | $125/hr, published up front | $180,000 to $280,000 base salary, negotiated |
| Typical schedule | 1 to 3 days a week | 5 days a week |
| Payroll taxes and benefits | None. They are not your employee. | Commonly adds 25% to 35% on top of salary |
| Recruiting cost | None | 20% to 25% of first-year salary for a retained search |
| Equity | None | Frequently expected at this level |
| Time to first day | About a week from the discovery call | 2 to 4 months to search, close, and start |
| Ramp-up | Arrives having run the function before | 30 to 90 days before they truly own it |
| Commitment | 3-month initial term, then month to month | At-will in name, expensive in practice |
| If the fit is wrong | Free re-match under the Nacho Guarantee | Severance, a second search, and lost quarters |
| Illustrative annual cost | About $96,000 at 2 days a week | About $286,000 loaded on a $220,000 salary |
Salary and search-fee ranges above are broad US market ranges for the role and vary widely by industry, region, and company stage. Treat them as a planning starting point, not a quote. The Nacho column is our published rate.
What $125 an hour actually buys
- $1,000 a month is about 8 hours: a monthly strategy session and a standing review of the numbers.
- $4,000 a month is about 32 hours, roughly 1 day a week: a plan, a defended budget, and a marketing leader in your management meetings.
- $8,000 a month is about 64 hours, roughly 2 days a week: full ownership of the function, including your team and your agencies.
Up to $200 of unused budget rolls over each month. Everything bills as one flat monthly Talent Budget, and if you also need an Executive Assistant at $40/hr or a Specialist at $65/hr, they draw from the same budget. The only other fee is the $300 Delegation Strategy Plan, which comes before your first match. See how pricing works.
The process
How hiring a Fractional CMO through Nacho works
You book a free 30-minute discovery call, we build a $300 Delegation Strategy Plan, and we introduce you to 1 to 3 hand-picked Fractional CMOs from our vetted, 100% US-based network. Most clients meet their first match within about a week.
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Book a free discovery call.
Thirty minutes, no obligation. Tell us where marketing is stuck. We will tell you honestly whether a Fractional CMO is the right role, or whether a Specialist or an Executive Assistant would move the needle faster.
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We build your Delegation Strategy Plan.
For $300 we scope the engagement in writing: what the Fractional CMO owns, how many hours a week that takes, what the first 90 days should produce, and how you will know it worked.
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You meet your shortlist.
We hand-pick 1 to 3 Fractional CMOs from our vetted, 100% US-based network and send you their backgrounds. You interview them. Nobody starts until you say yes to a specific person.
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We handle the paperwork.
Contracts, payments, and onboarding run through Nacho. Your Fractional CMO starts on an agreed weekly rhythm and reports to you, not to us.
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You scale it up or down.
A 3-month initial term gives the work time to land, then it is month to month. Change hours as things change, and if the match is not right we re-match you free under the Nacho Guarantee.
Need a different kind of leader?
- Fractional COOOperations, process, and delivery
- Fractional CFOCash, forecasting, and finance
- Fractional CTOProduct, engineering, and architecture
All four roles come from the same network under the same Talent Budget. Compare every Fractional Executive role.
Frequently asked questions
Fractional CMO questions, answered
What is a Fractional CMO?
A Fractional CMO is an experienced Chief Marketing Officer who runs your marketing part-time, usually 2 to 3 days a week. They own the strategy, the budget, and the marketing team the same way a full-time CMO would, but you pay only for the time you use.
How much does a Fractional CMO cost?
Through Nacho, a Fractional CMO is $125/hr with no placement fee and no separate retainer. Hours draw from one monthly Talent Budget with a $1,000 monthly minimum, so roughly $4,000 a month buys 1 day a week and roughly $8,000 a month buys 2 days a week. A $300 Delegation Strategy Plan is the only other fee, and it comes before your first match.
How many hours a month does a Fractional CMO work?
Most engagements land between 32 and 96 hours a month, which is 1 to 3 days a week. Smaller companies often start at 8 to 20 hours a month for strategy and review only, then add hours once the plan needs someone driving it.
What is the difference between a Fractional CMO and a marketing consultant?
Accountability. A consultant recommends and hands you a plan. A Fractional CMO decides, owns the number, manages the people, and sits in your leadership meetings. You are hiring a leader for part of the week, not an advisor for a project.
What is the difference between a Fractional CMO and a marketing agency?
An agency executes channels it is good at. A Fractional CMO sits on your side of the table, sets the strategy the agency works against, and is free to conclude that an agency is the wrong spend. Many clients keep their agency and hire a Fractional CMO to manage it.
How long does a Fractional CMO engagement last?
Nacho engagements start with a 3-month initial commitment so the work has time to land, then continue month to month for as long as they are useful. Some clients keep a Fractional CMO indefinitely; others use one to build the function and hire a full-time leader into it.
Can a Fractional CMO manage my existing marketing team?
Yes. Managing in-house marketers, contractors, and agencies is a core part of the role. They set the standards, run the reviews, and give your team the senior direction they have been missing.
How fast can I hire a Fractional CMO?
Most clients meet their first match within about a week of the discovery call, and many start the same week they meet the right person.
Are Nacho's Fractional CMOs US-based?
Yes. Every person in the Nacho network lives and works in the United States. No offshore teams, no exceptions.
What if the Fractional CMO is not the right fit?
We re-match you free under the Nacho Guarantee until the fit is right. It is a re-match guarantee, not a money-back guarantee, and there is no limit on how many times we will go back to the network for you.
Ready when you are
Put a marketing leader on the problem this month.
Book a free, no-obligation discovery call. Tell us where marketing is stuck and we'll tell you honestly whether a Fractional CMO is the right fix.