Fractional “CMO”
Chief Marketing Officer
UNLOCK YOUR GROWTH POTENTIAL
Unsure what’s working in your digital marketing efforts? Whether your revenue is flatlining or you’re looking to accelerate growth, it’s time to take action. You may not need more tactics; you need experienced marketing leadership that can position your offering in a crowded market and turn marketing activity into measurable revenue. Transform marketing from an expense into a revenue-generating growth engine with the expertise of a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO).
What is a Fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who provides strategic leadership on a part-time or flexible basis. They work alongside your leadership team to align marketing with business goals, identify growth opportunities, prioritize investments and guide the strategy, channels, resources and measurement needed to drive results. Companies gain senior-level marketing expertise and ongoing leadership without the cost or commitment of hiring a full-time CMO.
How is a Fractional CMO different from an agency partner?
A fractional CMO provides embedded, executive-level marketing leadership, while an agency partner typically focuses on executing specific strategies, channels or campaigns. A fractional CMO looks across the entire marketing ecosystem, including positioning, customer acquisition, the marketing funnel, budgets, technology, resources and performance, to ensure every effort supports broader business goals. They can also lead internal teams and manage agency partners, creating a more cohesive strategy, clearer accountability and stronger alignment around growth.
Why should you hire Michaela Bagwell as your Fractional CMO?
Michaela knows the playbook for turning marketing into a scalable growth engine because she has helped do it firsthand. Her experience spans driving sustained year-over-year growth in e-commerce through acquisition, helping scale a franchise system to over 50 locations, and working alongside private equity-backed leadership and boards focused on accelerating growth and increasing enterprise value.
She combines that experience with a data-driven approach, looking across the full marketing ecosystem to identify growth opportunities, prioritize the right investments and connect marketing performance directly to revenue and business goals. Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all strategy, Michaela brings a proven growth framework and uses your business, customer and performance data to determine what will move the needle.
Working alongside internal teams, agency partners and executive leadership, she provides the strategic direction, accountability and cross-functional alignment needed to scale more efficiently and sustainably.
How does it work? What is the process, typical contract length, and the associated cost of hiring a Fractional CMO?
Fractional CMO engagements are designed to provide ongoing, executive-level marketing leadership without the commitment of a full-time hire. The process typically begins with a review of your current marketing strategy, performance, resources, customer journey and growth goals to identify the biggest opportunities and priorities.
From there, Michaela works as an extension of your leadership team to build and guide the marketing roadmap, establish meaningful KPIs, oversee priorities and budgets, align internal teams and agency partners, and continually evaluate performance against business goals. The engagement evolves as the business grows, allowing strategy and resources to shift based on performance, opportunities and changing priorities.
Fractional CMO engagements typically begin with a six-month commitment to allow enough time to understand the business, implement strategic priorities and measure progress. After the initial six months, either party may end the engagement with 30 days’ notice.
Monthly retainers vary based on the level of involvement, business complexity and time commitment required. Michaela’s typical fractional CMO engagements range from $4,000 to $6,000 per month.
Benefits of Hiring a Fractional CMO:
High-Level Expertise
Gain access to a seasoned digital marketing leader with a proven track record of driving growth, effectively integrating high-level expertise into your team.
Measurable Results
Experience a no-risk hiring solution without the long-term commitment of a full-time position, enabling assessment of impact and alignment before making a lasting investment.
Cost Effective
Benefit from top-tier strategic insights at a fraction of the cost of a full-time CMO, ensuring that high-level expertise is accessible and budget-friendly.
Flexible Engagement
Adjust your level of support easily to align with business demands, whether responding to seasonal trends or executing specific initiatives, ensuring flexibility in your marketing strategy.
Recommendations
Liz Hunt
Chief Marketing & Digital Officer
“Michaela stepped in to drive our digital marketing channels at SmartBiz during a critical transition time, quickly taking ownership of our channels and bringing structure and momentum to the necessary work. She combines strategic thinking with hands-on execution, using data and technology to make smart decisions, improve performance, and keep marketing aligned with business goals and running smoothly.”
John Augst
Co-Founder of Cloud 9 Living (Acquired by Virgin)
“Under Michaela’s marketing leadership, our brand gained significant traction, ultimately attracting the attention of Virgin Experience Days in the UK, which acquired our company in 2021. Michaela’s experience is particularly valuable as she has successfully navigated marketing in a small business environment, guided the brand through an acquisition, and gone on to contribute within a larger, globally recognized organization.”
Poonam Patel
Vice President Operations | Franchise & Corporate
“Michaela was a pleasure to work alongside during our time together at Big Blue, bringing insightful digital data to support business unit decision making to drive marketing KPI’s, highly recommend partnering with Michaela & her services.”
Alexa Dahlin
Email Marketing Specialist III at Tommy Bahama
“I truly valued the opportunity to work with Michaela and learned a great deal from her leadership. She’s an incredibly thoughtful marketer who brings clarity, strong strategic thinking, and a calm, steady presence to every project. She leads with intention and empathy, provides clear and actionable direction, and consistently creates space for her team to grow and do their best work.”