A fractional CMO costs about $4,000 to $15,000 a month in retainer fees. For a $2M to $20M company, $6,000 to $10,000 is the common band. That fee buys leadership. The marketing itself, meaning ad spend, agencies, freelancers and software, is a separate budget, and buyers who forget it end up with a strategy and no money to run it.
Ranges by company size
As a rough guide:
- Under $3M in revenue: $3,000 to $6,000 a month, often a more hands-on CMO who also does some execution.
- $3M to $20M: $6,000 to $12,000 a month for one to two days a week, agency management and a monthly report.
- $20M to $100M: $10,000 to $20,000 a month, usually leading an in-house team of three or more.
What drives the price
Hours are the first driver. A CMO who attends your weekly leadership meeting, runs a weekly marketing meeting and manages three agencies needs eight hours a week before doing any thinking. Team size is the second: managing in-house staff costs more time than briefing agencies. Business model is the third. Complex B2B sales with long cycles, multiple buyers and account-based marketing take more senior attention than a single-product ecommerce brand. Industry specialists in healthcare, financial services or industrial markets charge more because regulated claims and technical buyers take expertise.
Day rates and projects
Some fractional CMOs bill by the day at roughly $1,500 to $2,500, or by the hour at $200 to $350. Fixed-fee projects are common as a first step. A marketing audit with a 90-day plan typically runs $8,000 to $25,000. Positioning and messaging work runs $10,000 to $40,000 depending on the research involved. Many firms credit part of the project fee against a retainer that starts afterward.
Performance and equity deals
A minority of fractional CMOs tie part of their fee to results: a bonus on pipeline, qualified leads or new revenue above a baseline. Agree on the measurement before you start, because marketing attribution is easy to argue about. At venture-backed startups, some CMOs take equity in exchange for a lower cash fee, typically a fraction of a percent vesting over two to four years. Pure equity deals are rare and usually signal a CMO who is between full-time roles.
The budget beside the fee
Plan the working budget at the same time. Many B2B companies spend somewhere around 5% to 10% of revenue on marketing in total, including people. A $5M company paying a fractional CMO $8,000 a month has spent $96,000 of a $250,000 to $500,000 budget before the first ad runs. That is a reasonable split. A CMO with no budget to deploy is an expensive adviser.
What the first month costs in time
Expect 8 to 12 hours of the founder’s time in month one: interviews about the customer and the history of what has been tried, access to analytics, ad accounts and the CRM, and introductions to each agency. Sales leaders should expect an interview too, because marketing and sales numbers have to agree.
How to read a quote
Check the hours or days behind the fee, whether execution is included or only strategy, whether the CMO’s firm also sells agency services, the minimum term (three to six months is common) and what the first 90 days will deliver in writing.