Executive marketing leadership.
Without the full-time cost.
You have reached the stage where marketing needs an owner: someone with executive-level experience to set the strategy, run the team (in-house and agencies), make the high-level calls, and answer for the results. You are also nowhere near ready to hire a full-time Chief Marketing Officer, with the multi six-figure salary and benefits package that comes with one. That is the seat a fractional CMO fills.
one client, no ads
handed off warm
in one month
in the seat
Every number above comes from a client’s own reports or this site’s own search data. Read the stories on the case studies page.
A consultant hands you a strategy deck and leaves. A fractional CMO owns the outcome, sits on your leadership team, and stays until the marketing runs without them.
One executive seat,
part-time.
A fractional CMO is a seasoned marketing executive who works with your business part-time, typically 5 to 10 hours a month, and brings the strategic leadership, team management, and hands-on guidance you need at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. The role owns your marketing outcomes, drives results, and becomes part of your leadership team without the overhead of a full-time employee.
The difference is ownership. Advice is cheap and everyone has some. A fractional CMO makes the decisions, holds the team to them, reports the numbers to you, and carries the result.
The right stage,
and how to tell.
Your revenue is between $1M and $20M+ a year
You have proven the business model works. Now you need to scale it, and marketing is the engine that gets you there.
Marketing is happening, with no strategy behind it
You are running ads, posting on social, sending emails, updating the website, and there is no cohesive plan tying it together. It is reactive.
You have a marketer or a small team, and no senior leadership
Your team executes tactics. Nobody sets the vision, makes the strategic decisions, or makes sure everything lines up with business goals.
You have outgrown DIY marketing
You know you need senior-level expertise, and a full-time CMO feels like overkill, or is out of budget for now.
The CEO is still wearing the marketing hat
The CEO should be running the business, and is instead managing Facebook ads, reviewing email campaigns, and trying to work out why the website is not converting.
You are about to scale
Aggressive growth, a capital raise, a new product, a new market, and the current marketing setup will not support it. Someone has to build the infrastructure first.
What a fractional CMO
does all month.
Advising is the smallest part of it. I own the marketing outcomes, which means the work below is mine to run.
Strategic leadership
- Develop and execute the marketing strategy, aligned with business goals
- Set quarterly and annual marketing goals tied directly to revenue
- Identify growth opportunities and competitive advantages
- Build the marketing roadmap and prioritize initiatives
- Make the high-level calls on channels, budgets, and tactics
Budget management
- Build and manage the marketing budget
- Allocate resources across channels on purpose
- Track ROI and move spend based on performance
- Make sure every dollar spent has a measurable return
Team leadership
- Lead your internal marketing team with clear direction and accountability
- Manage external agencies, contractors, and freelancers
- Run performance reviews and coach
- Hire, onboard, and train new marketing team members when needed
- Build the processes and systems so the team runs efficiently
Execution and implementation
- Make sure campaigns get implemented, and stay implemented
- Remove roadblocks and eliminate bottlenecks
- Review creative, messaging, and campaign strategy before launch
- Jump in hands-on when specialized expertise is needed
- Hold the team, internal and external, accountable for results
Reporting and analytics
- Track performance across every marketing channel
- Report directly to the CEO or leadership team
- Use the data to make decisions and course corrections
- Identify what is working, what is not, and why
What makes this seat
different.
I have been in the trenches
I have been an entrepreneur since 2015 and have run a digital marketing agency since 2020, hands-on with businesses across industries. I know what works in 2026, and I am in the accounts every day to keep it that way.
I execute
Most fractional CMOs deliver a strategy and walk away. I stay to make sure it gets implemented, hands-on when needed, leading from the front instead of pointing from the sidelines.
I know the full stack
From Instagram trial reels to answer engine optimization, from WooCommerce to CRM automation, from paid ads to email nurture sequences, I have built it, run it, optimized it, and scaled it. You get proven systems, with the receipts to match.
I build systems that outlast me
The goal is marketing systems, processes, and a team that can operate independently. When you are ready to bring on a full-time CMO or scale the internal team, the foundation is already there.
I am a partner, with one seat at your table
I care about your business succeeding. I sit on your leadership team, attend the key meetings, contribute to the strategic decisions, and keep marketing aligned with the overall business objectives. Your wins are my wins.
Three phases,
then it compounds.
Discovery and audit, month one
A full month, on its own, before any strategy gets written. A deep dive into your business, your market, your customers, and everything marketing is doing today, including a full audit of the tech stack. Sorting what is working from what is not takes the month by itself.
- Current marketing performance across all channels: what is working, what is not, and why
- Full technology stack audit: CRM, email, automation, analytics, website, ad accounts, and how they connect
- Team structure, roles, and capabilities
- Budget allocation and ROI by channel
- Competitive landscape and market positioning
- Sales process and customer journey
- Gaps, opportunities, and quick wins
Strategy development, month two
The audit becomes your marketing strategy and roadmap.
- Marketing strategy aligned with business goals
- Channel prioritization: where to focus, where to cut
- Budget reallocation recommendations
- Team structure and hiring plan, if needed
- Campaign calendar and prioritized initiatives
- KPIs and success metrics tied to revenue
Implementation and leadership, month three onward
Sleeves rolled up, leading execution.
- Weekly or bi-weekly leadership meetings with your marketing team
- Monthly reporting and performance reviews with leadership
- Campaign planning, creative review, and approval
- Team coaching, accountability, and process improvements
- Agency and vendor management
- Hiring, onboarding, and training new team members as needed
- Hands-on support when specialized expertise is required
What to expect,
and when.
Every business is different. This is the shape my fractional CMO engagements follow.
First 90 days
- The audit done and a clear marketing strategy aligned with business goals
- Wasted budget on underperforming channels cut
- The team operating with clear direction and accountability
- Quick wins live, the low-hanging fruit that moves numbers right away
Six months
- Measurable improvement in the key metrics: traffic, leads, conversions, revenue
- The marketing team running on systems and processes
- Marketing and sales aligned
- Confidence that marketing is driving growth instead of producing activity
Twelve months
- Marketing running as a well-oiled machine
- Consistent, predictable lead generation and customer acquisition
- An internal team that executes without constant oversight
- A foundation built for scale, whether that means a full-time CMO or a bigger team
All of the value.
A fraction of the cost.
Fractional CMO engagements are scoped to your business size, complexity, and needs. The comparison that matters is with the full-time hire you would otherwise be making.
A fractional CMO
- 5 to 10 hours a month of executive-level marketing leadership
- Strategic planning, team management, and hands-on execution support
- Direct access to a marketing leader with more than ten years in the work
- Accountability, results tracking, and performance reporting to you
- Scoped to the business, with a six-month minimum
A full-time CMO
- A multi six-figure executive salary
- Benefits on top: health insurance, retirement, bonuses, equity
- Recruiting and hiring costs before day one
- A first-year total most businesses at this stage cannot justify yet
- Six to twelve months before the role is fully productive
A fractional CMO delivers the same value as the full-time hire, at a fraction of the price. Same strategy, same leadership, same accountability for the numbers, without the salary, the benefits, and the recruiting bill. When the business grows into a full-time CMO, the systems and the team are already in place, and I help you make the hire.
The seat,
with receipts.
One engagement where paid advertising was off the table, and one set of numbers from this site’s own search data.
Meta and Google restrict real estate ads originating outside the US, so paid was never an option. I built a two-pronged organic strategy around the founder’s personal brand and the business account, with the CRM and automations in place before the content went out. One to five million views a month across all channels, and every account grew and stayed grown.
referrals
added
to date
The same playbook I run for clients, run on lesliemlyon.com: Search Console on everything, content built from real search data, and pages structured so AI answers can cite them. Google’s AI cited this site 32,000 times in a single month. The receipts, straight from the search data, are in the post.
AI answers
property
spend
The Caribbean engagement was featured in Marketer Magazine’s roundup of social media success stories for small businesses. Read the feature.
A good fit,
and a bad one.
This is for you if
- You are doing $1M to $20M+ in annual revenue
- Marketing feels chaotic, reactive, or disconnected
- You have a team, or a person, executing tactics and nobody leading strategy
- You are planning to scale and need the marketing infrastructure in place first
- Your CEO is still managing marketing and needs to get back to running the business
- You need senior-level expertise before a full-time CMO makes sense
- You want accountability, results, and someone who cares whether you win
This is not for you if
- You are pre-revenue or launching. You need execution first, and strategy can wait
- You want someone to do all of your marketing for you. That is an agency or a full-time team, and I do that too
- You are unwilling to invest in marketing or commit to six months
- You are looking for quick fixes or overnight results. Real growth takes time
- You are unlikely to implement recommendations. Strategy without execution is a document
Ready to get serious
about marketing leadership?
If marketing feels like guesswork, your team needs direction, or you are about to scale and need the infrastructure built, let’s talk. The first call is a strategic conversation: where you are, where you want to go, and whether this seat is the right fit for your business right now. Book it below.
The thinking behind the work.
Deciding on a fractional CMO is a real decision. Read how I think before we ever get on a call.
Frequently asked questions.
What is the difference between a fractional CMO and a marketing agency?
An agency executes tactics: runs the ads, makes the content, builds the website. A fractional CMO leads the strategy, manages the team, and keeps everything aligned with business goals. I do both, and the CMO seat is about leadership. The full comparison.
How much time will you spend with us?
Typically 5 to 10 hours a month, depending on scope. That covers meetings, strategic planning, performance reviews, team leadership, and hands-on work when it is needed. Most of the impact comes from the high-level decisions, and the hours follow the work.
Will you manage our existing marketing team or agency?
Yes. Leading your internal team and managing external agencies, contractors, and freelancers is part of the seat. Everyone aligned, accountable, and delivering. I also help with strategic hiring when it is needed.
Do we need a marketing team already, or can you help us build one?
Either. I can step in and lead an existing team, or build one from scratch: defining the roles, hiring, onboarding, and training.
What industries do you work with?
I have worked with service businesses, e-commerce brands, real estate companies, property management, coaches, consultants, SaaS, and more. The principles of great marketing are universal. The tactics get adapted to your industry and your audience.
How do we measure success?
Marketing goals are tied directly to business outcomes: revenue, leads, conversions, customer acquisition cost, lifetime value. I track performance monthly and adjust the strategy from the results. The KPIs that matter in the first 90 days.
What happens after six to twelve months? Do we still need you?
It depends. Some clients stay long-term. Others reach the point where they are ready to hire a full-time CMO, or have a team that can run independently. Either way the goal is the same: you set up to win, whether I am still in the picture or not.
Is a fractional CMO ever the wrong call?
Yes, and I will tell you on the first call. Pre-revenue businesses need execution before strategy, and some problems are cheaper to fix another way. Seven situations where the role is the wrong spend.