Three Ways To Fix Your Marketing. Only One Fits What You Actually Need.
An agency, a full-time hire, and a Fractional CMO solve different problems. Most businesses pick based on what's familiar, not what's right. Here's the honest breakdown.
What Each One Actually Is
Executes a plan someone else already decided on. Good at running campaigns, producing creative, and managing channels. Not accountable for whether the underlying strategy is right — that's your job to hand them, or you're both guessing.
Owns strategy and leads execution, embedded in your company full-time. $300,000-$500,000/year in salary alone, plus benefits and equity — before accounting for the real risk of a hire that doesn't work out: months of ramp time, severance, and the growth you didn't get in the meantime.
Owns strategy and leads execution, without the full-time overhead. Direct access to Ken Moskowitz — 40 years in advertising, 10 Super Bowl ads, $460 billion in client revenue generated — averaging $20,000/month over a 12-24 month term. Embedded strategic leadership, not consulting from a distance.
What A Bad Full-Time Hire Actually Costs
The salary is the easy number to compare. The real cost of a full-time CMO hire that doesn't work out is everything around it: months of ramp-up before they're producing real strategy, the severance or buyout if it ends early, the recruiting cost to replace them, and — the part most businesses underweight — the growth you didn't get during all of that. A Fractional CMO engagement carries none of that structural risk: it's scoped, reviewed, and never locked into a full-time salary commitment you can't unwind quickly if it's not the right fit.
$300,000-$500,000/year salary, plus benefits and equity — fixed cost whether or not it works out.
Average $20,000/month ($240,000/year) — roughly half, with no severance or ramp-time risk if it's not a fit.
Which One Actually Fits Your Situation?
You have a clear plan and just need it executed → agency.
You need someone deciding what the plan should be, embedded, ongoing → Fractional CMO.
You want to find the root cause of stalled growth first, in a bounded engagement → Marketing Autopsy.
You're building a large internal team and need daily on-site leadership → full-time hire.
Still not sure? See Fractional CMO, Marketing Autopsy, or consulting generally — or just tell us where you're stuck and we'll tell you honestly which one fits.
Frequently Asked Questions
On direct comparison, yes — but the bigger number is what a bad full-time hire actually costs. A $350,000/year CMO who doesn't work out costs you the salary, benefits, months of ramp time before they're productive, severance, and the growth you didn't get during that stretch. A Fractional CMO engagement is scoped, reviewed, and doesn't carry that same downside risk.
An agency executes a plan. A Fractional CMO builds the plan and is accountable for the outcome, not just the deliverables. Most businesses that are stuck don't need more tactics — they need someone deciding what the tactics should even be.
A full-time Chief Marketing Officer at a real company runs $300,000 to $500,000 a year in salary alone, before benefits, equity, and the cost of a hire that doesn't pan out. A Fractional CMO engagement averages $20,000/month — roughly half, without the fixed long-term commitment of a bad hire.
If you need ongoing strategic leadership over 12-24 months, Fractional CMO. If you need a bounded diagnostic to find out what's actually broken first, Marketing Autopsy. If you need a team to run tactics you've already decided on, an agency. Most businesses that think they need "an agency" actually need someone deciding what the agency should be told to do.