Making the Invisible, Unmissable.

Making the Invisible, Unmissable.

Fractional CMO and Marketing Leadership FAQs

More than twenty years inside marketing, from hands on delivery to board level leadership

Choosing the right level of marketing support is not always straightforward. A business may know that marketing needs to improve without knowing whether it needs a permanent senior appointment, a Fractional CMO, an independent review or help with one specific problem.

These answers explain how I normally work, the types of businesses I support and what you can expect from the different Hiddn Marketing services. Every engagement is shaped around the business, so the answers are intended to provide useful guidance rather than impose the same solution on every organisation.

Where your situation is more complicated, the simplest starting point is usually a short discovery call. That gives us an opportunity to discuss what is happening, what you are trying to achieve and whether there is a sensible reason for us to work together.

Fractional CMO services

A Fractional CMO is an experienced senior marketing leader who works with a business for an agreed proportion of their time rather than joining as a permanent full-time executive.

The role can include marketing strategy, team leadership, agency management, budgeting, performance reporting, recruitment, CRM, customer data and communication with the board. The exact remit depends on what the business already has in place and where senior marketing leadership is currently missing.

The important distinction is responsibility. A Fractional CMO should not simply attend an occasional meeting and offer general advice. They should take meaningful ownership of agreed marketing priorities and help make sure decisions are implemented properly.

In practice, the terms Fractional CMO and Fractional Marketing Director are often used to describe a similar service. Both normally refer to an experienced marketing leader who works with a business on a part-time or retained basis.

The most appropriate title depends on the organisation. A larger business with a board-level executive structure may naturally use CMO, while another may be more familiar with Marketing Director.

I focus less on the title and more on the responsibility the business needs me to take. That may range from strategic oversight and board support to direct leadership of the marketing team, agencies, budgets and wider marketing function.

Outsourced CMO is another term commonly used for senior marketing leadership provided by somebody who is not a permanent employee.

The phrase can sometimes suggest that the entire marketing function has been outsourced, which is not normally how I work. I am usually brought in to lead the function, support the internal team and manage external agencies rather than replace every person involved in marketing.

The business retains its employees, suppliers and internal decision-making structure. I provide the senior leadership needed to make those resources work together more effectively.

The role begins with understanding what marketing should contribute to the wider business plan and what is currently preventing that from happening.

Depending on the engagement, I may set marketing priorities, lead the internal team, manage agencies, review budgets, improve performance reporting, support recruitment, strengthen CRM and customer data processes or improve alignment between sales and marketing.

I can also represent marketing within leadership and board discussions, making sure the function has clear objectives and that performance is explained in commercially useful terms.

The work is not limited to producing a marketing strategy. I can remain involved to lead implementation, resolve problems and maintain responsibility for progress.

A Fractional CMO can be useful when a business has reached the point where it needs more senior marketing leadership but does not currently need, or is not ready to recruit, a permanent CMO.

This often happens when marketing expenditure is increasing, but performance remains unclear. The business may have a team and several agencies, but nobody owns the overall result. The founder or CEO may still be making day-to-day marketing decisions, while sales and marketing disagree about lead quality or reporting cannot be fully trusted.

Fractional support can also be valuable when a senior marketer has left, the business is restructuring, an acquisition is being integrated, or growth has exposed weaknesses in the team, systems and processes.

The strongest fit is usually an established business with an existing marketing team, meaningful agency investment or a significant marketing budget.

That will often be a business with approximately £5 million to £100 million in annual revenue and between 30 and 500 employees. However, turnover and employee numbers are only indicators.

The more important question is whether the business has reached the point where the absence of sufficiently senior marketing leadership is affecting performance, decision-making or confidence in the function.

Smaller investment-backed or rapidly growing businesses may also be suitable where the level of need, ambition and available budget justify senior involvement.

My experience includes financial services, investment, property, technology, e-commerce, professional services, mergers and acquisitions, travel and hospitality.

I am particularly comfortable working within complex, regulated or reputationally sensitive environments. These businesses often need marketing to support growth while also working within legal, compliance, customer communication and governance requirements.

I do not believe a Fractional CMO must have worked in exactly the same sector to provide value. However, there should be a credible connection between the business problem, the operating environment and the experience I bring.

Working arrangements

I normally work through a combination of remote leadership and planned onsite involvement.

Regular meetings, reporting, reviews and day-to-day communication can often be handled effectively online. However, board meetings, team workshops, agency reviews, recruitment interviews and important planning sessions can benefit from being conducted in person.

I am based in Southport and can provide on-site Fractional CMO support across the North West, including Liverpool, Manchester, Preston, Lancashire, Merseyside and Cheshire. I also work with businesses across the UK where the scope and working arrangements are practical.

The right level of involvement depends on the responsibility you need me to take.

Two days each month can provide strategic oversight, board support and independent performance challenge. This can work well where capable people already manage day-to-day marketing.

Four to six days each month is more appropriate for an embedded Fractional CMO role involving team leadership, agency management, reporting, planning and oversight of implementation.

Interim marketing leadership, stabilisation work or major transformation will normally require eight days or more each month.

The level of availability is agreed at the beginning of the engagement.

A Fractional CMO arrangement should provide enough access for important decisions and genuine leadership. However, it is not intended to create unlimited availability or replace a full-time employee while only paying for a small number of days.

I will normally agree how routine communication, urgent decisions and planned meetings should be handled. This creates a practical working relationship while protecting the time allocated to other clients and responsibilities.

Strategic oversight will normally begin with an initial three-month commitment.

For an embedded Fractional CMO role, six months is usually more realistic. The first three months are used to understand the function, establish priorities and create a stronger operating rhythm. The following period allows meaningful implementation, team development and performance improvement to take place.

Some engagements continue longer where the business benefits from ongoing leadership. Others end when a permanent appointment has been made, the function is operating independently, or a defined transformation has been completed.

The first 30 days are focused on understanding the business before making major changes.

I will normally meet the leadership team, relevant employees and agencies, then review the existing strategy, budget, campaigns, CRM, customer data, reporting, team structure and performance.

The objective is to identify immediate risks, understand what is already working and separate visible symptoms from the underlying causes.

From there, I can agree a focused 90-day plan with clear priorities, named owners and appropriate measures of progress. The aim is not to create a longer list of marketing activity. It is to establish what genuinely needs to change and in what order.

Yes. Bringing in a Fractional CMO does not automatically mean replacing an existing Head of Marketing or internal marketing leader.

A capable person may need greater board support, experienced challenge, help setting priorities or somebody able to remove wider organisational barriers. I can provide that support while allowing the internal leader and team to retain appropriate ownership.

Where internal capability is strong, I want the team to receive credit for its work and become more effective as a result of my involvement.

Yes. Agency management is a common part of my Fractional CMO work.

The aim is not automatically to replace existing suppliers. It is to make sure they understand the wider business objectives, receive suitable briefs and are measured against outcomes that matter.

Where several agencies are involved, I can provide the senior client-side leadership needed to coordinate their work. This prevents each supplier optimising its own channel while nobody takes responsibility for the overall customer journey or commercial result.

I can become directly involved where my technical and practical experience adds value, particularly across CRM, customer data, websites, marketing operations, reporting and digital infrastructure.

However, a Fractional CMO engagement is not designed to provide unlimited copywriting, graphic design, social media management, campaign administration or general marketing production.

Where specialist delivery is required, I can work with your internal team and existing agencies. I can also help identify appropriate suppliers and oversee the work where that sits within the agreed remit.

Fractional CMO costs

Strategic oversight normally begins from approximately £2,000 per month, excluding VAT. This usually provides around two days of senior support focused on direction, priorities and performance governance.

Embedded Fractional CMO leadership normally begins from approximately £3,500 per month, excluding VAT. This usually involves four days each month and can include team leadership, agency management, reporting, recruitment support and implementation oversight.

More intensive interim marketing leadership normally begins from approximately £6,400 per month, excluding VAT.

Final pricing reflects the level of responsibility, complexity, urgency and availability required rather than simply multiplying an hourly rate.

A Fractional CMO will normally require a lower annual commitment than recruiting a permanent CMO, particularly when salary, employer National Insurance, pension contributions, benefits, recruitment fees and other employment costs are taken into account.

However, cost alone should not determine the decision.

If the business genuinely needs a full-time executive and has enough responsibility to justify the role, permanent recruitment may be appropriate. Fractional support is most useful where the business needs senior leadership without requiring somebody five days each week, or where the permanent requirement has not yet been properly defined.

I do not normally provide general hourly marketing support.

Fractional CMO engagements are priced around an agreed level of responsibility and involvement. Reviews, audits and advisory projects are usually offered at a fixed fee or within a clear range.

A defined Strategic Marketing Consultation can also be purchased for a fixed fee where the business needs experienced input on one particular decision or challenge.

This approach provides greater clarity than billing every email, meeting and piece of preparation separately.

Routine remote delivery is included within the agreed fee.

Material travel, accommodation and other agreed expenses are charged separately at cost. Where regular onsite involvement is expected, this will be discussed and reflected clearly in the proposal.

The aim is to agree the practical arrangements before the engagement begins so there are no surprises later.

The proposal will explain the agreed scope, fee, payment terms and any expenses that may be charged separately.

Third-party costs such as software licences, advertising budgets, development work or specialist suppliers are not included unless they are explicitly stated.

Where further work is identified during the engagement, it will be discussed and agreed before it is added to the scope. I do not use a low initial fee as a way to introduce unexpected charges later.

Marketing Function Reviews

A Marketing Function Review is an independent assessment of how marketing operates across the business.

It examines the areas that influence performance, including leadership, strategy, people, agencies, budgets, campaigns, customer journeys, CRM, reporting and data.

The purpose is to identify what is genuinely holding marketing back rather than reacting to the most visible symptom. The problem may not be the website, agency or campaign that first attracted attention. It may be an issue with leadership, capability, priorities, processes or the information being used to make decisions.

Marketing audit is a widely used search term, and there is some overlap between the two services.

I use Marketing Function Review because the work goes beyond checking channels, campaigns or marketing materials. It assesses how the whole function is led, structured and connected to the business.

A traditional marketing audit may concentrate on activity and performance. A Marketing Function Review also considers responsibility, team capability, agency relationships, internal processes, technology and whether the business has the right level of leadership in place.

The review normally includes leadership interviews, evidence gathering and an assessment of the current marketing strategy, structure, capability, agencies, budget, campaigns, customer journeys, CRM, reporting and data.

The exact scope will reflect the size and complexity of the organisation.

The review does not normally include detailed implementation, extensive customer research, complete platform configuration or a full technology selection process. Those areas can be scoped separately where the findings show they are required.

You will receive a concise diagnostic report explaining the main findings, immediate risks and underlying causes of the current problems.

The report will include a prioritised action plan, recommended ownership and practical next steps. I will also present the findings to the relevant leadership team so that questions can be addressed and the implications properly understood.

The objective is to provide a usable route forward rather than leave the business with a long document that nobody knows how to implement.

Most reviews take approximately three to four weeks.

The timing depends on the size of the business, the number of people involved and how quickly relevant information can be made available.

A clear timetable will be agreed at the beginning, including interviews, evidence gathering, analysis and presentation of the findings.

Marketing Function Reviews normally range from approximately £3,500 to £6,000, excluding VAT.

The final fee depends on the scale and complexity of the function, the number of stakeholders involved and the depth of evidence that needs to be reviewed.

A smaller business with one team and a limited number of agencies will require a different scope from a group operating several brands, systems and markets.

There is no obligation to commission further work.

The findings may be implemented internally, used to support recruitment or passed to existing agencies and suppliers.

Where appropriate, I can remain involved through a Fractional CMO engagement, provide recruitment advisory support or lead a defined transformation project.

The right next step depends on what the review discovers. In some cases, the most useful outcome is confirmation that the business needs far less intervention than originally assumed.

Marketing Recruitment Advisory

Marketing Recruitment Advisory helps a business define and assess a senior marketing appointment before committing to a recruitment process.

The service can include reviewing the current marketing function, defining the level of leadership required, creating the role profile, establishing candidate criteria and designing an appropriate assessment process.

I can also participate in interviews, review candidate tasks and provide independent feedback.

The purpose is to reduce the risk of recruiting the wrong person against an unclear brief.

Yes. This is one of the main reasons businesses use Marketing Recruitment Advisory.

Job titles are often chosen before the actual requirement has been properly understood. A business may advertise for a Head of Marketing when it genuinely needs a more senior Marketing Director, or create a CMO title for a role that is largely focused on campaign delivery.

I assess the current function, business objectives, team, budget and level of executive responsibility before recommending the appropriate seniority and remit.

I do not operate as a recruitment agency and do not normally source candidates directly.

I can work alongside your internal recruitment team or chosen recruitment partner to strengthen the brief, assessment and interview process.

This separation also means my advice is not influenced by a fee linked to placing a particular candidate.

Yes. Onboarding support can be included where appropriate.

This may involve helping the new marketing leader understand the current function, priorities, team, agencies, systems and expectations of the board.

The purpose is not to interfere with their authority. It is to give them a stronger starting point and reduce the time lost while they discover problems that could have been explained before they joined.

CRM and marketing data

A CRM and Marketing Data Audit assesses whether the business can rely on its customer information, workflows, automation and reporting.

The review can examine the CRM platform, data structure, lifecycle stages, lead handling, integrations, governance, adoption and the way sales and marketing use the system.

The objective is to identify why leads are being missed, reporting is unreliable, or automation is not working as intended.

A CRM problem often appears through symptoms elsewhere in the business.

Sales and marketing may disagree about the number or quality of leads. Reports from different platforms may not match. Customer records may be duplicated or incomplete. Automation may trigger at the wrong time, while employees rely on spreadsheets because they do not trust the system.

The platform itself may not always be the main problem. Poor data structure, unclear processes, weak adoption or unsuitable reporting can make a capable CRM appear inadequate.

The first step is therefore understanding the current system and how people actually use it before recommending a replacement.

Yes, but significant CRM implementation should normally begin with paid discovery.

Discovery allows the business to define its requirements, data model, lifecycle stages, workflows, reporting, and integration needs before committing to a platform or implementation plan.

Following discovery, I can lead or oversee configuration, migration planning, automation, testing, training and adoption. The exact delivery model will depend on the platform and technical complexity involved.

Yes, where sales processes directly affect marketing performance and customer follow-up.

CRM, lead management and revenue reporting rarely sit neatly within one department. Marketing may generate an enquiry, but the commercial outcome depends on how quickly and consistently it is handled.

I can help sales and marketing agree lifecycle stages, lead definitions, ownership, follow-up expectations and the information needed for useful reporting.

This does not mean taking over management of the sales team. It means improving the connected process between marketing activity and commercial outcome.

Website and digital transformation

I provide strategically led website and digital transformation rather than low-cost brochure website production.

The work normally begins with paid discovery covering positioning, audience needs, customer journeys, content architecture, functionality, measurement and the wider business case for change.

Where a full project is commissioned, I can lead the content, design direction, user experience, build oversight and launch process. I may deliver some areas directly and coordinate specialist support where required.

A website project can easily become focused on appearance before the business has agreed what the website needs to achieve.

Paid discovery establishes the audiences, journeys, messages, functional requirements and measures of success before design and development begin.

This reduces scope changes, prevents avoidable technical decisions and gives the business a clearer basis for comparing delivery options.

It also helps determine whether a new website is genuinely required or whether the existing site could be improved more efficiently.

Paid discovery normally begins from approximately £2,500, excluding VAT.

Full website transformation projects are proposal-based and will usually begin above £10,000, excluding VAT. The final investment depends on content requirements, functionality, integrations, design, technical complexity and the level of implementation support required.

I do not position Hiddn Marketing as a low-cost web design provider. The service is intended for businesses where the website forms part of a wider commercial, brand or marketing transformation.

Yes, where AI supports a clearly defined business improvement.

That may involve improving workflows, reducing repetitive manual work, strengthening reporting, supporting analysis or creating more consistent internal processes.

I do not recommend introducing AI simply because it is fashionable. The work should have a practical purpose, appropriate governance and a clear understanding of where human review remains necessary.

Clients normally buy better workflows and more effective decision-making. AI may be one of the tools used to achieve that, but it should not become the strategy in isolation.

Working with Simon Larkin

You will work directly with me, Simon Larkin.

Hiddn Marketing is not presented as a large consultancy with work handed down to a junior team after the initial sales conversation.

Where specialist support is required, I may work with an existing client supplier or recommend an appropriate partner. However, my own role, responsibility and involvement will be made clear before the engagement begins.

I am a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing with more than 20 years of senior marketing experience.

My background includes leadership roles across financial services, technology, investment, property, e-commerce, professional services and hospitality.

I have led marketing teams, agencies, CRM replacement, website transformation, international campaigns, performance marketing, customer data strategy and communications within complex and regulated environments.

Career outcomes include more than £18 million generated through online and contact centre sales, a campaign that generated £5.5 million within ten weeks, a lead conversion improvement of more than 35 per cent and more than £150,000 removed from annual marketing expenditure.

Chartered Marketer status is a professional designation awarded by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. It recognises marketers who demonstrate current professional competence, responsible practice and an ongoing commitment to learning and development. CIM describes it as the ultimate mark of a professionally certified marketer.

FCIM means Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Fellowship is CIM’s most senior professional membership grade and recognises marketers with substantial strategic experience and senior leadership responsibility.

I hold both distinctions. They provide independent professional recognition of my experience and standards, alongside more than 20 years of practical responsibility for marketing teams, budgets, systems and commercial performance.

My approach is calm, direct and practical.

I want to understand the business properly before recommending significant change. I am comfortable challenging assumptions and decisions where necessary, but I am not there to create conflict or undermine capable people.

I aim to give leadership teams a clear understanding of what is happening, what needs to change and what evidence supports that view.

I also believe in being honest about boundaries. I will not claim that marketing alone caused a wider business result, guarantee revenue growth or pretend to have specialist expertise in every channel and sector.

The first step is usually a 30-minute discovery call.

The conversation is intended to establish what is happening inside the business, what you are trying to achieve and whether my experience is relevant to the problem.

You do not need to know which service you require before booking. Part of the conversation may be deciding whether you need ongoing Fractional CMO leadership, a Marketing Function Review, recruitment support, a focused consultation or no external intervention at all.

There is no obligation and no manufactured sales process. If there is a sensible fit, I will explain the next step and what information would be needed to prepare an appropriate proposal.