Fractional CMO & Marketing Leadership
Executive-level marketing leadership without the full-time executive cost. Northbound sets your strategy, leads your team and vendors, and takes ownership of marketing results — as a true extension of your leadership team.
You don’t have a marketing problem. You have a marketing leadership problem.
Most growing businesses reach a point where marketing activity outpaces marketing direction: campaigns run, content ships, agencies invoice — but nobody senior owns the strategy or the results. A full-time CMO costs well into six figures. A strategy consultant hands you a plan and leaves. Fractional marketing leadership closes that gap.
As your fractional CMO, Northbound joins your leadership conversations, sets priorities and budgets, directs internal teams and external vendors, and reports marketing performance in the language of revenue. You get the judgment of an executive who has managed multi-million-dollar budgets — for a fraction of the cost of hiring one.
- Senior marketing leadership from day one, no recruiting cycle
- One accountable owner for strategy, vendors, and results
- Budgets and priorities set against revenue, not activity
- Flexible commitment that scales with your needs
What Fractional Marketing Leadership looks like with Northbound.
Marketing Strategy Ownership
A documented growth strategy with priorities, budgets, and KPIs — owned and updated by your fractional CMO.
Team & Vendor Leadership
Direction, standards, and accountability for your internal marketers, agencies, and freelancers.
Executive Reporting
Board-ready reporting that ties marketing spend to pipeline and revenue.
Hiring & Org Design
Role definitions, hiring support, and team structure that fits your stage and budget.
Budget & Channel Allocation
Spend allocated across channels by expected return — reviewed and rebalanced continuously.
Quality Control
Every campaign, page, and deliverable reviewed against strategy before it ships.
What changes when this is done right.
Direction replaces drift
Everyone — internal and external — works from one prioritized plan.
Faster, better decisions
An experienced executive evaluates opportunities so you don’t learn by burning budget.
Marketing tied to revenue
KPIs, reporting, and accountability defined from the first engagement.
Frequently Asked Questions
A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who leads your marketing part-time — typically a set number of days per month. You get CMO-level strategy, leadership, and accountability without the salary, equity, and overhead of a full-time hire.
An agency executes channels; a fractional CMO owns outcomes. Northbound sits on your side of the table — setting strategy, directing vendors (including agencies), and reporting results to you as a member of your leadership team.
Most engagements range from a few days per month for advisory-focused work to one to two days per week when we’re actively leading a team and multiple channels. We scope it to your stage and goals.
Yes, when you want it. Northbound can pair leadership with execution across SEO, Google Ads, email, and web through our trusted specialist partners — under one strategy and one point of accountability.
It fits businesses with real revenue and growth ambitions that can’t yet justify — or don’t yet need — a full-time CMO: typically when marketing spend and team size have outgrown the founder’s capacity to direct them.
Get executive marketing leadership without the executive payroll.
Book a free consultation and we’ll show you what a fractional engagement would look like for your business — scope, focus, and the results you should expect.
Book a Free Consultation