Morether Logo.
Book a discovery call
Fractional CMO: Your prescription for marketing myopia

Fractional CMO services and bulletproof implementation to help you grow.

Explore Fractional CMO Services
Optometrist working with a patient and eye chart.
Save time and reduce the hassle of training your team to manage daily marketing tasks.
Fill the critical marketing seat at the table with a qualified pro.
Sync company objectives with your marketing strategy every time.
Daniel C. Palmer, fractional CMO.

I am a Fractional CMO.

"When you’re focused on keeping your practice on track, there’s little time and energy left for anything else.

As your fractional CMO, my team will deliver the marketing leadership and management of an internal team mate at a 'fraction' of the investment."

- Daniel Palmer, fractional CMO
What is a Fractional CMO?

Our Fractional CMO Services

Want to work with us but not ready to commit to a retainer?

90-Day Marketing Sprints

Our marketing sprints are like a turbo boost for your marketing. We’ll combine a short, intense burst of teamwork to tackle a specific marketing task.
Industry and competitive research to see how you stack up against the rest
Marketing blueprint to ensure your marketing efforts aren’t blowing cash
StoryBrand Messaging Guide to provide clarity, positioning, and direction
Ideal customer profiles and customer journey development to ensure you’re talking to the right people at the right time
A website that converts visitors to customers
Website wireframes to get the words on your site dialed in
Sales funnel to make a family out of fans
Ad campaign to move leads faster through the funnel
Fill that seat with a marketing pro!

Level 1 Fractional CMO

As your advisor, we will work with you to ensure you’re maximizing your marketing resources, staying on top of the strategies that work, and keeping up with the latest tactics to build the practice you want.
Monthly 60-minute Zoom call to talk strategy, report on outcomes, and mentor your marketing team
Weekly project management check-in
Budget planning and management
Vendor network and pricing
Marketing Toolbox for project management, analytics tracking, and content planning
Unlimited email, Google Chat, or Slack support
6 month commitment required*
Get it all done for you!

Level 2 Fractional CMO

We bring years of strategy and execution, a robust vendor network, and a healthy dose of sarcasm as your marketing department.
Everything from Level 1, plus … 
Access to our project management team to deliver marketing assets and tactics, such as your website, campaigns, email, social media, video, and more. In other words, we'll get it done!
Weekly leadership meeting participation
6 month commitment required*
*Our 6-month commitment is all about helping you out. It gives us plenty of time to really get to know your business and come up with a marketing plan to drive growth.
Book a discovery call

Who We Help Best

Our sweet spot is optometry marketing. However, we have an excellent track record and extensive experience working with industries such as: 
Book a discovery call
Up arrow icon.
“Using the StoryBrand tools, Morether does an excellent job producing a quality website. They worked hard to understand our company culture and vision. Highly recommend!”
– Dr. Clark DeShon, Olney EyeCare

The “No Fine Print, Just Better Results” Marketing Guarantee

If, after 90 days, you think we stink, Daniel will personally work with you for the next 90 days at no cost to get your marketing on track.

Timely feedback

Your team provides feedback within 48 hours of delivery.

Quick responses

You and your team respond to messages within 24 hours.

Follow-through

You perform the tasks we assign on time to move initiatives forward.
What have you got to lose?

Your path to a thriving business starts here.

Book a discovery call
The Morether team: Kelsey Taylor, Daniel C. Palmer, and Caroline Queen.
1. Book a discovery call
We’ll spend 60 minutes together to find out what you need – and if that’s a match for our capabilities.
2. Get a plan
You’re unique, so we’ll create a custom plan to deliver maximum marketing returns for your hard-earned bucks.
3. Grow your practice
As you get your marketing on track, you’ll soak up the rewards of new patients, more sales, and a calculated strategic growth track.

Frequently Asked Questions

tl;dr, a fractional CMO oversees a company's marketing – at a fraction of the time (and cost).

A Fractional CMO should provide the marketing leadership, skills, and expertise you need at a “fraction” of the investment. They will drive your company’s profit and ensure you capture and harness your growth.

Specifically, they will...

  • Fill the critical marketing seat at the leadership table
  • Align your marketing activities to your company goals
  • Develop better teamwork through clarified company-wide objectives
  • Train your team to manage daily marketing tasks
  • Build a marketing foundation
  • Start new staff at full speed through systems and repeatable processes
  • Vet and negotiate terms with a network of marketing specialists
  • Manage your marketing budget and ensure strategies have positive returns

At Morether, we believe there are four phases to marketing that a fractional CMO leads:

  1. Leadership and Strategy
  2. Marketing Opps (managing execution)
  3. Execution
  4. Analysis and Reporting

Our model handles 1, 2, and 4 and utilizes rock-star vendors or members on your team to accomplish #3. 

Find out What is a Fractional CMO?

That depends (you knew that answer was coming!)

The cost of a fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) can vary depending on factors such as...

  1. Your Budget: Duh. What can you afford?
  2. Your Scope: What specific growth goal do you have, and how fast do you want to get there? Will they prepare and monitor budgets? 
  3. Time Requirements: Do you need someone to participate in a call every week? Will you ask them to join quarterly or annual planning sessions? Is travel involved if they are remote?
  4. Your Team: Will they manage your marketing team or vendors? Will they vet and provide their list of vendors? 

On average, you’re looking at anywhere between $2,000 to $6,000 monthly for a part-time CMO if you are an organization making $1 million to $15 million annually.

Think of it as paying for the high-powered brain of a marketing expert, but without the full-time commitment (or the full-time price tag). A full-time marketing coordinator, according to Indeed, makes around $50k per year, while a Chief Marketing Officer averages $130k in salary. 

It’s like having the best of both worlds—strategic leadership and insight for your brand's marketing efforts minus the overhead of a full-time salary. So, it's a great way to get high-level guidance while keeping costs under control!

The key is to assess your marketing needs and calculate the cost of leaving them unresolved. Then, consider the potential gains if those needs were addressed.

Let's flip that question: What kind of companies do not benefit from a fractional CMO? 

  1. Companies with a CEO who does not see the value in marketing. Your marketing department, sales team, and operations department may want a marketing leader. But if you're CEO isn't sold on it, hiring a marketing leader is doomed to fail. 
  2. Companies without a marketing budget. Usually, these companies are led by a CEO or owner who does not see the value in marketing.
  3. Companies with poor operations. Hire a fractional COO first. Marketing cannot fix a poorly run company. In fact, it will often amplify it. 
  4. Companies with a failing business model. If the problem you solve is not in demand or your industry is failing, a marketing leader isn't the right fit. It's time to find a new problem to get paid to solve.
  5. Companies that don't have the time for marketing. Hiring a fractional CMO does not necessarily mean that the company will spend less time on marketing efforts; in fact, the opposite is often true. By bringing in a marketing leader, the company can gain fresh ideas and strategies that involve the leadership and employee base. Effective marketing encompasses the company's culture, requiring energy and time from every department.
Yep! We work with small medical offices, Hot Spring® Hot Tub Dealers (yes random, but hey, we can do it!), Direct to Consumer Manufacturers and other B2C companies. 

We're a great fit for semi-established companies of $1 million in annual revenue or more with a monthly marketing budget of $5K+. 
You wouldn’t jump straight to marriage, would you? Us, either. And while six months would be a quick engagement, for us, it’s the perfect amount of time to get to know you (and you to know us) to build the marketing foundation to meet take your business objectives to the next level. 
That’s cool. That’s why we’re here! That will be one of the first conversations we have. Using historical data we’ll work on a budget that will stretch you, but get you the growth results you’re looking for. 

Sure! We call them marketing sprints. A marketing sprint solves a specific marketing problem. Some examples are...

  • Building a comprehensive marketing strategy
  • Writing your core messaging and positioning
  • Discovering your ideal customer profile (ICP)
  • Figuring out your customer journey
  • Building a fresh website,
  • Launching killer ad campaigns, and more.

Often, a marketing sprint will uncover other problems that need solving. When that happens, we can run another sprint, or if you like our work, we can jump into Fractional CMO work.

As a business owner, you know that’s a tricky question to answer. 

Much of it depends on the state of your business or practice when launching with us. Some of it depends on your budget, availability, and customer experience. 

We cannot guarantee exact results. 

What we can promise is that you will get our full attention and expertise every time we show up. In fact, we actually guarantee it. If you’re unhappy with how the first three months of your retainer plays out, you get three more months of Daniel’s time at no cost. 

When hiring a fractional CMO, business owners should look for:

  1. A curious, adaptable leader: A good fractional CMO is interested in the culture and rhythm of your company. They should integrate seamlessly into your company's values and vision. 
  2. Strong industry knowledge: While not every marketing strategist will have 100% knowledge of your industry, they should have a working understanding of the relevant and successful marketing initiatives in your field of work.
  3. Expert multitaskers: When hiring a fractional CMO, remember they have other clients (thus, "fractional"). However, most high-caliber marketing leaders have mastered the art of working with several clients simultaneously.
  4. Communication bosses: Your fractional CMO plays a crucial role in communicating with you, your management team, and marketing vendors. In addition, they also interact with clients and customers. So, it's important for them to communicate quickly and translate complex marketing concepts into clear language for all stakeholders.
  5. Creative yet practical thinking: Marketing leaders should think outside the box and transform those ideas into effective campaigns to achieve growth.
  6. Collaborative spirit: Your leadership team, whether comprised of just you or a group of directors, will benefit from the seamless integration of a fractional CMO. They provide a strong strategic voice and a fresh perspective when you need to "read the label from outside the bottle." 
  7. Results-oriented approach: Lastly (and possibly most importantly), your fractional CMO should be laser-focused on results. Given the fractional nature of the agreement, these leaders don't have the luxury to waste time. In the start-up world, that's called "results or die." 

Keep in mind that hiring the right fractional CMO is crucial. They should seamlessly integrate into your team, provide trustworthy expertise, and deliver results to grow your business. 

Let's pro/con this question (who doesn't love a great pro/con exercise?).

Fractional CMO

Pros:

  1. Operates as if they are part of your team–you get dedicated leadership
  2. Provides strategy that's aligned with a wholistic view of your company goals
  3. Guides and leads members of your marketing team
  4. Is vendor-agnostic. In other words, if your social media person stinks, they have no issue with finding a better fit.

Cons:

  1. They do not work in your office, so they aren't available on demand and often miss company culture intricacies. 
  2. Their attention is divided given their work with multiple clients. 
  3. They may not have the entire suite of collective intelligence that a marketing agency has with multiple strategists and marketing experts.

Marketing Agency

Pros:

  1. They have the team and technicians to handle an array of marketing needs, such as digital marketing, graphic design, web development, video and more.
  2. They have the capacity to handle larger projects quickly. 
  3. Good agencies have the SOPs in place to crank out work on demand. 
  4. Agencies have a broader tech stack for research and execution. 

Cons: 

  1. If you don't like their graphic designer, too bad. 
  2. Agencies that offer strategy plus execution often have a higher retainer cost.
  3. Many agencies (particularly industry or niche-specific agencies) offer a cookie-cutter approach to marketing strategy and execution, such as mass content production and distribution. 
  4. Agencies do not prioritize company culture or value alignment, thus they often miss the philosophical reason your company exists. 

When the stars align just right, a fractional CMO collaborates seamlessly with marketing agencies (sometimes multiple) and freelancers to determine the optimal mix of strategy and execution for a company.

© 2024 The Palmer Agency, LLC, Doing Business As Morether • All Rights Reserved