Fractional CMO Advisory. A senior review before you sign, hire or raise the budget.
Say you sign an agency at $8,000 a month on a 12-month term. If it's the wrong one, that's $96,000 before you can leave. Advisory gives owners who run marketing in-house a fractional CMO consultant to review that decision first, so the mistake gets caught in a conversation.
What advisory changes.
You stop making the big calls alone. Before you sign the agency contract, approve the budget or make the hire, someone senior has read it with you and asked the questions you didn't think to ask. Your in-house lead gets sharper, because every plan now has to survive a real review. You keep control of the work. You also know the direction will hold.
What advisory clients get.
- 01Senior counsel on call
Direct access to Zachary Ellison for the decisions that carry the most money.
- 02Plan reviews
Send your marketing plan, campaign brief or launch calendar. We mark what's missing, what's out of order and what we'd cut.
- 03Budget pressure tests
Before you raise or shift spend, we check the math: what each dollar should return, and how you'll know early if it doesn't.
- 04Hiring support
We help define the role, review candidates and decide whether you need a hire, a contractor or a vendor at all.
- 05Vendor and tool reviews
We read agency proposals, software contracts and monthly reports, and tell you which claims hold up and which don't.
- 06Working sessions
Regular sessions with you or your marketing lead to read results, work through problems and agree the next priorities.
How advisory works.
- 01
Step 01
Scope it on the call
On the free assessment call we review your scores, decide whether we start from the Roadmap or your own plan, and list the decisions you want reviewed.
- 02
Step 02
Set the cadence
We agree how often we meet and how you reach us between sessions, based on how many big decisions you have coming this year.
- 03
Step 03
Bring the decision
You bring a plan, a budget, a candidate or a vendor proposal. We review it, ask the hard questions and give you a clear recommendation.
Step 04
You execute
Your team does the work and owns the result. When you need us to lead instead of advise, the retainer is the next step.
Best for
- Owners whose marketing is already set up who want senior judgment, not someone to run it.
- Companies facing a few large calls this year: a new agency, a key hire or a jump in budget.
- Founders who want to stay hands-on with marketing and stop deciding big things alone.
Not the right fit if
- Businesses with nobody to carry out the advice. A recommendation nobody acts on changes nothing.
- Owners with no plan yet. Advisory starts from the Roadmap or from a written plan we've reviewed.
Starts from the Roadmap or your own plan
Also included in
Frequently asked questions.
What is the difference between advisory and the retainer?
Advisory is done with you. We counsel. You and your team do the work and own the result. The retainer is done for you. We lead marketing every week, direct your people and vendors, and Advisory and the Academy come included. Pick advisory when you have the people and need judgment. Pick the retainer when you need someone to lead.
Does advisory include the Marketing Impact Roadmap?
No, but it works from one. Advisory reviews the decisions in front of you, so it needs a plan to measure them against: the Marketing Impact Roadmap, or your own written plan once we've reviewed it.
What does a fractional CMO consultant cost?
It depends on how often we meet and how much review happens between sessions. Advisory costs less than a retainer because your team does the execution. There are no prices on the site. We size the cadence on the free assessment call and quote it then, month to month.
Can advisory turn into a retainer later?
Yes. If you find you need someone to lead, moving to the retainer is a simple change, and everything we've learned about your business carries over. It works the other way too. Once your team can run the system, a retainer can step down to advisory.
Where to next.
Start with your free Marketing Impact score.
It takes a few minutes. You get a score from 1 to 5 on each of the seven dimensions of your marketing and see where to start. If you’d rather talk first, book a 15-minute call.