How we help
Fractional CMO & Marketing Leadership
Senior marketing leadership that sits with your leadership team, owns the plan and answers for the numbers, without adding a full-time executive. It works whether you have a marketing team or marketing has always been squeezed in by sales or operations.
What a fractional CMO does
Leadership, not more marketing activity.
A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who works part-time inside your business. They set the marketing strategy, own the budget and plan, direct the people doing the work and report results to leadership.
At Wise Fox, marketing leadership is tied to sales, your CRM and revenue. It's run as part of one growth system, not as a separate department chasing its own metrics.
Starting from scratch
Never had a marketing leader? That's true of many of our clients.
Plenty of good companies grew on referrals, relationships and a founder who sells. Marketing happened when someone had time: a trade show, a website refresh, an email when things got slow.
We start where you are. We build the plan, set up the basics that are missing, direct the agency or designer you already use, and bring in specialists only where they're needed. You don't need a marketing department to work with us. Part of the job is working out what kind of marketing function you actually need.
Signs you need this
You probably need marketing leadership if...
- Marketing has always been a side job for someone in sales or operations.
- You've never had a marketing person, just an agency or a website designer you call when something's needed.
- You're investing in marketing and want a clearer line to revenue.
- You have an agency, a web developer and a freelancer, and they need one person setting direction.
- Your marketing person is talented but needs a leader above them.
- Leads come in, but sales says they're not the right ones.
- A launch, a new market or a new product is coming, and you want a plan to win it.
What we own
What we take responsibility for
- Marketing strategy and the plan behind it, built from scratch if needed
- Budget and where the next dollar goes
- Positioning, messaging and your ideal customer
- Executing the plan, hands-on, and putting your existing team and outside partners (agencies, freelancers, developers) to their best use
- Campaign priorities and the calendar
- Alignment with sales, so marketing feeds the pipeline
- Reporting to leadership on what's producing revenue
How it runs
How it works
We don't hand you a plan and leave. We do the work to execute it. If you already have people or partners in place, like a marketing coordinator, an agency or a web developer, we put them to work where they're strongest and fill the gaps ourselves.
It starts with the 90-Day Growth Launch: we learn the business, build what's missing, launch the first campaigns and set a baseline. After that, we settle into a steady rhythm: weekly working sessions, a monthly leadership review and a quarterly plan.
What we're accountable for
We measure what matters to the business.
Chosen to fit how your business makes money. In the ongoing phase, part of our pay is tied to growth above the baseline we set during the launch.
Who leads it
Sara Hasselman
Founder & Managing Partner
Sara has built marketing, CRM and revenue systems from the inside, most recently as Chief Growth & Operations Officer at a health technology company, where revenue grew 176% in three years and annual leads grew more than 19 times.
“Most businesses don't have a marketing problem; they have a systems problem. My favorite moment is when the system we built starts showing up in the revenue numbers.”
Proof
Marketing that turned into revenue
in new revenue and 2,700 leads in six months. We opened new US territories with targeted prospecting, email campaigns, webinars and demos.
Client engagementgrowth in annual leads, with revenue up 176% in three years, while Sara led growth.
Operating track recordHow the options compare
Full-time CMO, agency or fractional?
| Full-time CMO | Marketing agency | Wise Fox | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starts with | Learning the business after they're hired | Your list of deliverables | Your growth goals |
| Owns the strategy | Yes | No | Yes |
| Does the work | Builds a team over time | Tactics only | Yes, hands-on. We use your team and outside partners where they're strong and do the rest ourselves |
| Measured by | Business results | Clicks and activity | Pipeline and revenue |
| How you pay | Salary, benefits, equity | Retainer for activity | Monthly fee, with part of our pay tied to growth |
| Time to impact | Months to hire and ramp | Fast, often unfocused | Results inside the first 90 days |
| Commitment | Long-term hire | Contract term | Cancel with 30 days' notice |
Thinking about a full-time hire? Read Before You Hire
Fractional CMO vs. full-time CMO: how to decide
Part of a bigger system
Marketing rarely fixes growth on its own.
It works with sales and the systems underneath.
FAQ
Common questions
How is this different from hiring an agency?
An agency executes tactics. We own the strategy and the results, and we do the work to execute it. If you already have agencies or freelancers you like, we partner with them and make sure their work moves the plan forward.
How many hours a month is it?
The 90-Day Growth Launch is the most hands-on stretch. After that, it settles into a steady weekly rhythm sized to your business.
Do you replace our marketing person?
No. We lead them, and usually make them more effective.
We've never had a marketing person. Is this still for us?
Yes. Many of our clients haven't. We do the work ourselves, partner with any agency or designer you already use, and help you decide if and when to hire.
What does it cost?
An intensive first 90 days, then a lower monthly fee plus pay tied to growth, scaled to company size. We'll talk specifics on the call.
Can we cancel?
Yes, any time, with 30 days' notice.
Can you help us hire a full-time CMO later?
Yes. We'll help define the role and hand off the plan and systems we've built.
Get a 30-minute growth review
See what your marketing could produce.
In 30 minutes, a partner will look at where you are, where your next growth should come from and the first step to get there. No obligation.