If you’re a B2B startup founder, you’re probably handling product, sales, hiring and fundraising. Marketing is somewhere in the mix, but it often ends up as a long to-do list, random experiments, and a lot of “we should really get serious about this soon to build the compounding effect.”
Hiring a (good) full-time CMO is expensive. Agencies often need a lot of direction and don’t always understand early-stage startup struggles. That’s where a fractional CMO comes in: a senior marketing leader you don’t have to hire full-time.
In this guide, we’ll break down what a fractional CMO actually is, how this role differs from agencies, when B2B startups truly need one, what realistic cost ranges look like, and how our own fractional CMO service at InnoMaker Partners works in practice.
What is a fractional CMO for startups?
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who works with your startup on a part-time or on-demand basis. You get the experience and strategic thinking of a CMO without the full-time salary and headcount.
In a B2B startup, a fractional CMO typically owns:
- Go-to-market and positioning – who you’re for, why you’re different, and how you win.
- Channel and budget strategy – where to invest, in what order, and with what expected outcomes.
- Funnel and metrics – defining the right KPIs, dashboards and feedback loops.
- Team leadership – guiding internal marketers, sales, and external partners.
- Prioritisation – saying no to distractions, and focusing on what really move your numbers.
They sit close to the founders and leadership team. Think of them as your marketing co-pilot: not just a consultant giving advice from the sidelines, but someone who helps make and implement the decisions.
Compared to a full-time CMO, you get: similar strategic level, much lower fixed cost, and flexibility to adjust involvement as your startup grows.
How a fractional CMO differs from a marketing agency
A common question we hear: “Isn’t this just what a good marketing agency does?” Short answer: no. Most marketing agencies are structured around execution:
- running paid campaigns,
- producing content and creatives,
- setting up and managing tools (ad accounts, email tools, CRM, etc.).
They’re usually excellent at implementing, but they still need someone to set the overall direction, decide what “good” looks like, and connect marketing to business goals. That “someone” is often missing at early-stage startups.
A fractional CMO, on the other hand:
- owns the overall marketing strategy and GTM narrative,
- sits in leadership conversations and board meetings,
- turns company goals into clear marketing priorities,
- then directs internal teams and agencies to execute.
A quick side-by-side:
In many cases, the healthiest setup is fractional CMO first, agencies second – not the other way around.
Does your B2B startup need a fractional CMO?
Not every startup needs a fractional CMO right away. Some are better off with an advisor, some with a strong agency plus founder oversight.
From our work with early-stage B2B companies, here are the common situations where a fractional CMO becomes the missing piece.
1. The Founder is still wearing the CMO hat
You’re still deciding every campaign, reviewing every piece of content, jumping into ad accounts, and giving feedback on everything from copy to creatives.
Marketing works somehow, but it drains your time and mental energy. There’s no single person responsible for turning your vision into a coherent plan.
A fractional CMO takes this load off your shoulders, without disconnecting marketing from strategy.
2. You Have Early Traction, but No Repeatable GTM
You’ve got some customers, some channels that seem to work, and a bit of inbound or outbound pipeline.
But it’s unclear why certain deals close and others don’t, which segments are truly the best fit, which channels you should double down on.
This is where a fractional CMO helps you codify what works and turn it into a repeatable Go-To-Market engine.
3. You’re Preparing for Fundraising or a Major Launch
Investors expect a clear growth story, realistic CAC/LTV assumptions, and a credible plan for how new capital will turn into revenue.
A fractional CMO helps you connect the dots between market narrative, pipeline, and the actual levers you’re going to pull.
The same applies if you’re about to launch a new product or enter a new market: the cost of getting it wrong is too high to treat marketing as an afterthought.
4. You Have Marketers or Agencies, but No Senior Direction
Maybe you already have 1-2 junior or mid-level marketers, a content freelancer, a performance agency.
They’re busy, but you’re still not confident in the plan or the results. People are doing “marketing things” without a clear, coherent strategy.
A fractional CMO gives that team direction, joins the dots across functions, and ensures everyone works towards measurable business outcomes.
5. You’re Entering a Phase Where Random Tactics Aren’t Enough
At some point, “throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks” becomes too risky. You need prioritised bets, a clear experimentation framework, and a story that scales beyond the founder’s personal network.
That’s a natural moment to bring in a fractional CMO.
How much does a startup fractional CMO cost in Europe?
Costs vary depending on seniority, scope, time commitment, and geography. But there are clear benchmarks we can work from.
Full-time CMO vs Fractional CMO (Europe)
Recent European salary reports show European CMO salaries roughly in the €45,000-€250,000 annual range, depending on country, company size and experience.
For example, Germany-specific data puts the average CMO salary around €105,000 per year, excluding bonuses and equity.
Once you add bonuses, employer taxes and other costs, the total yearly cost of a full-time CMO for a European startup can easily rise well above €150,000-€180,000.
A fractional CMO is designed to give you access to that level of seniority at a fraction of the annual cost, especially in the early stages.
Typical Fractional CMO Price Ranges (Europe)
For B2B startups in Europe, fractional CMOs typically charge around €4,500-€14,000 per month, usually for 1-3 days per week of involvement, depending on seniority and scope.
For more complex situations (e.g. multi-country Go-To-Market, multiple product lines, or heavily funded scale-ups) retainers can rise to €15,000-€17,000+ per month, reflecting higher time commitments and broader responsibilities.
Where you land in these ranges depends on:
- how many days per week you need,
- whether the role includes hands-on execution as well as strategy,
- the complexity of your market and product, and
- whether the fractional CMO also brings a wider team or specialist network.
How our fractional CMO service works at InnoMaker Partners
We’re often asked, “So are you a marketing agency? Or consultants? Or what exactly?”
We’re not an agency. You don’t need to explain to us what a startup is.
We understand fundraising pressure, product in constant iteration, sales cycles that don’t behave like textbook funnels, and the reality of limited time, budget and people.
Traditional agencies often need detailed briefs and long explanations. We step in as partners, not vendors, thinking alongside you, not just ticking execution boxes.
We’re not classic marketing consultants either. We don’t just write a strategy and walk away.
We believe a plan is pointless if you’re left alone to execute it, so our work always includes implementation support, continuous iteration, and close collaboration with your team.
So what are we?
We are a marketing team with a fractional CMO service approach that acts like your internal marketing department for the early stages of your startup.
You get senior marketing leaders acting as your fractional CMO, plus a flexible team that can partially or fully take over execution, all designed so you can spend as little energy on marketing as possible while still seeing real results.
What you can Count on Us For
1. A marketing strategy that keeps up with you
Together, we define your positioning and GTM approach, prioritise the right bets for your stage and runway, and keep the strategy alive – constantly adapting it as your startup grows.
2. Execution tailored to your needs
Depending on your internal capacity, we can complement your existing team, or take over execution entirely.
We work across a wide range of tools and platforms, and we add specialists where needed – without you having to manage multiple vendors.
3. A partner that takes the load off your shoulders
Through our fractional CMO service, you get experienced strategists, an agile execution team, and a partner who acts like your internal marketing team.
Our goal is simple: take marketing off your plate so you can focus on building and growing the company.
How our pricing works
At InnoMaker Partners, we work primarily with early-stage startups, so we structure pricing around clear engagement levels, transparent monthly ranges, and focus on outcomes rather than a huge laundry list of deliverables.
Most of our fractional CMO partnerships start around €2,500-€5,000 per month, and scale up as you add more markets, products or channels.
The key for us: we’d rather be honest about when a smaller advisory setup, a specialist agency or a full-time hire is a better use of your budget.
How to decide if a fractional CMO-type service is right for you
If you’re still unsure whether you need a fractional CMO-type service, an advisory setup, an agency, or a full-time hire, ask yourself:
- Do we already have some traction or funding, but no one truly owns marketing strategy?
- Is the founder still the bottleneck for every important marketing decision?
- Are we doing lots of marketing activities, but not seeing clear, consistent results?
- Does our sales team cry for more leads and/or shorter sales cycles?
- Are we heading into a funding round, big launch or new market in the next 6-12 months?
If you’re nodding “yes” to several of these, a fractional CMO-style partner is probably worth exploring.
How to know if you need a fractional CMO-type service like ours
If you feel you need a fractional CMO, the next question is: do you just need a person, or a fractional CMO-type partner with an entire marketing team behind them?
Our model is usually the right fit if:
- You don’t want to build and manage an in-house marketing department (yet), but you still need the capacity of a full team.
- You need access to different skills and channels (strategy, copy, content, performance, ops etc.) without hiring 3–4 separate people.
- You want a team that is not just learning the robes, but already understands early-stage constraints and can adapt quickly as your product, positioning or priorities change.
- You prefer one accountable partner who can partially or fully take over execution, and plug in specialists without extra work or admin overhead on your side.
- You like the idea of a marketing function that behaves like an internal team, but stays as flexible and scalable as an external partner.
If several of these hit home, a fractional CMO-style partnership with a dedicated marketing team, like the way we work at InnoMaker Partners, is likely closer to what you actually need than a solo fractional CMO or a traditional agency.
If you’re interested in how this could work for your startup, you can learn more about our fractional CMO-style service here or conact us at info@innomakerpartners.com.
