A Fractional CMO for Startups That Are Not Ready for a Full-Time Hire
You get a senior marketer who sets the strategy and does the work, part time. That includes helping you find product market fit if you are not there yet.
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Senior marketing without the full-time salary
A full-time marketing leader is a big commitment for an early stage company. Many startups end up with either nobody owning marketing, or a junior hire without the experience to set direction. A fractional CMO sits in between. You get senior judgment on positioning, channels and budget, for a few hours a week instead of a full salary.
The difference with us is that the person setting the strategy is also the one doing the work. There is no hand-off to a junior account team. We help you find product market fit through customer conversations and offer tests, build the marketing plan, run the channels that matter and report on results. When you are ready to hire in-house, we help you hire and hand everything over cleanly.
What a fractional CMO does for you
Product market fit work
Customer interviews, message testing and small offer experiments before scaling spend.
Positioning and messaging
A clear story about who you serve and why you are different.
Marketing plan and budget
Where to spend, what to expect and how to measure it.
Hands-on execution
Paid search, LinkedIn, SEO and analytics run directly, not delegated.
Board and investor reporting
Clean numbers on pipeline and marketing efficiency for your updates.
Hiring support
Help defining and hiring your first in-house marketer when the time comes.
How it usually goes
Assess
We review where you are: market, product, data and past marketing.
Focus
We agree on the one or two problems that matter most right now.
Build
We set up the plan, tracking and first channels, with weekly calls.
Grow or hand off
We keep scaling, or hand everything to your new hire with documentation.
A fractional CMO makes sense if you
- Are a seed or Series A startup without a marketing leader
- Have a founder doing marketing on top of everything else
- Are still testing who your best customers are
- Need senior strategy but also someone to execute
- Plan to hire in-house later and want a clean setup to hand over
8 new clients in the first 4 weeks
A brand new business came to us with zero clients and a small Google Ads budget. We built tightly targeted search campaigns and conversion tracking from day one. Within the first four weeks, the campaigns brought in eight paying clients.
“Thoughtful Marketing Solutions has helped us figure out the most efficient way to market our service.”
Kunal, Owner, Elesier
“Thoughtful Marketing Solutions helped us get our first clients within 2 months of working together.”
Antonette, Owner, A Plus Blood Services
Questions about Fractional CMO
What is a fractional CMO?
A senior marketing leader who works with you part time. You get the strategy and leadership of a CMO without a full-time salary.
Do you help with product market fit?
Yes. That is part of the job. We run customer interviews and small offer tests so you are not scaling a message that does not land.
How is it priced?
Fractional CMO work is available hourly or as a monthly retainer, and you get a clear quote after the discovery call. Most clients start on a retainer with a weekly call.
Where are you based?
In Cambridge, Ontario. We work with startups across Waterloo Region and the rest of Ontario, mostly online with in-person sessions when helpful.
Related services
A pipeline-focused marketing plan, weekly calls and hands-on outreach.
GA4, Google Tag Manager, CRM tracking and dashboards, set up and fixed so you can trust the numbers.
Google Ads and Microsoft Ads audits, setup and management, with Search and Performance Max campaigns.
