How should eco founders brief a fractional CMO without buying an agency in disguise?
Quick answer
Brief a fractional CMO as a decision owner: channel mix, claims freeze, vendor map, and a 90-day scorecard the board can read. They should not be a media buyer with a CMO title. Timing (when to hire at all) lives in the first marketer guide. How to pick an execution shop lives in the agency guide.
FTE vs agency vs this brief
| Guide | Job |
|---|---|
| First marketer | When to add marketing headcount at all |
| Choose agency | How to vet execution partners |
| This guide | What to put in the fractional CMO SOW, scorecard, and kill rules |
When a fractional CMO fits
- Founder is the bottleneck on decisions (budget, claims, vendors), not only on making ads
- You have or will hire specialists (email, paid, creative) who need a single brief
- Board or investors want a marketing owner who is not a junior generalist
- You are not ready for a $180K+ full-time CMO and do not want an agency to set strategy by default
Skip fractional CMO if product-market fit is still a guess, or if you only need someone to click around Ads Manager. Use the first-hire signals first.
In scope vs out of scope
| They own | They do not own |
|---|---|
| Channel mix and test budget vs the CAC floor | Daily bid changes as the only job |
| Vendor map (agency, UGC, retail media) and who fires whom | Becoming a hidden second agency |
| Claim freeze with the substantiation owner | Writing unscoped “eco” lines to hit ROAS |
| 90-day scorecard and board narrative | Vanity dashboards with no contribution |
| Hiring plan for the next FTE | Indefinite hours with no succession |
Hours are typically 1 to 2 days a week. Write the day split: strategy, reviews, founder 1:1. If they need 5 days, you are hiring a FTE and calling it fractional.
What the brief must contain
- Economics: contribution, CAC payback, LTV band; see healthy CAC
- Claim kit: must / may / must not plus who signs ads; pair with substantiation folder
- Stack: live channels, agencies, tools, and what is broken (tracking, email, Amazon)
- Decisions reserved for founder: pricing, new markets, brand name, litigation
- 90-day outcomes: 3 to 5 measurable jobs, not “fix marketing”
- Kill / extend: date and criteria before the first invoice
90-day scorecard (board-readable)
| Metric | Why the board cares |
|---|---|
| Blended contribution and payback, not platform ROAS alone | Cash |
| New-customer mix vs harvesting | Growth quality |
| Claim or policy incidents on live ads and CS | Eco-specific risk |
| Vendor list with owners and spend | No shadow retainers |
| One documented test (creative, incrementality, or channel) | They are steering, not decorating |
If they cannot explain incrementality vs last-click, they are not a CMO. Method: incrementality testing.
Red flags in the first month
- They rewrite the homepage to “more eco” without the claim kit
- They insist on taking over the ad account as the only proof of value
- No written decision log; everything lives in Slack
- They will not name what they will stop (channels, agencies, vanity campaigns)
- Guaranteed ROAS or “we will 3x you” in the pitch
Handoff to FTE or agency
The job is to make the next hire cheaper: a ranked backlog, a claims owner, and a vendor map. If after two quarters you still cannot describe what the CMO decided, you bought meetings. Convert to FTE, switch to a scoped agency, or stop.
Strategy is a seat, not a retainer shape
If the person cannot say no to a channel, they are not a CMO. They are extra hands.
Frequently asked questions
How should eco founders brief a fractional CMO?
Write economics, claim kit, vendor map, reserved founder decisions, 90-day outcomes, and a kill date. Hire them to own decisions, not to be a media buyer.
Fractional CMO or agency first?
Fractional CMO when you need a brain to brief vendors. Agency first when the founder already sets strategy and only needs execution. Do not let the agency set claims and mix by default.
How many hours is enough?
Usually 1 to 2 days a week with a written split. Five days is a FTE. A few hours of “advice” with no scorecard is a coffee chat.
What should the board see?
Contribution and payback, new-customer mix, claim incidents, vendors, and one real test. Not follower counts or unscoped impact stories.
When do we replace them with a full-time CMO?
When daily ownership is cheaper in-house and the fractional lead has left a backlog and a claims system. Do not hire a FTE just to duplicate the same meetings.