Fractional CMO Services From Old Fox: Senior Marketing Leadership Built on Performance Data (2026)

Fractional CMO Services From Old Fox: Senior Marketing Leadership Built on Performance Data (2026)

Most marketing leaders come from one of two worlds. Some come from brand and strategy, and are strong on positioning and storytelling but a step removed from how campaigns actually behave in the ad platforms. Others come from channel execution, and know the mechanics of bidding, creative testing and tracking but have rarely been asked to run the whole function. Companies need both: someone who can decide where the money should go and someone who understands what happens when it gets there.

Old Fox's Fractional CMO service is built from the second world upward. We are a performance marketing agency founded in 2012, a Google Premier Partner with 130+ active accounts, and for more than a decade we have run paid search, paid social, analytics and conversion programmes for ecommerce, B2B and service companies. Our fractional leadership applies that hands-on experience to the executive questions: what should we invest in, how do we know it is working, who should do the work and what should we stop?

This page explains what the service includes, how it works week to week, the engagement models we offer, who it fits, what we need from you, how we measure progress and how we handle the question every buyer should ask: whether an agency giving you strategic advice has a conflict of interest.

In short: Old Fox provides part-time senior marketing leadership that combines strategy, measurement, budget allocation, team design and vendor direction with the ability to run Google Ads, Meta Ads and other performance channels when you want us to. Engagements start with a diagnosis, run on a retainer with defined days and deliverables, include a review at about 90 days and keep your accounts and data in your name. Fees are scoped to your situation; we do not publish a standard price.

Last updated: November 2026.

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Who This Is For

Our fractional service tends to fit companies that:

• Spend meaningfully on paid media or growth channels (often a few thousand dollars a month or more) and want to know whether it is working.
• Have founders or managers acting as the de facto CMO.
• Use multiple agencies or freelancers without a single plan.
• Run ecommerce, B2B, SaaS or service businesses where performance channels matter.
• Are between marketing leaders or preparing to hire their first.
• Are scaling and need measurement, discipline and a repeatable operating rhythm.

It is probably not the right fit if you have no budget to act on recommendations, no one to execute or an unproven product. In those cases we will tell you, and suggest a lighter option. For a broader view of the model and the decision, read what a Fractional CMO is and when to hire one.

What the Service Includes

1. Diagnosis and baseline

We begin by reviewing what exists: ad accounts, analytics setup, CRM data, website funnel, creative, past results, agency reports and competitor positioning. We interview the people who know the business. The output is a plain-language diagnosis: what is working, what is wasted, what is missing and which quick wins are available.

2. Strategy and positioning

We define target segments, value proposition, messaging, channel priorities and sequencing. The strategy is written down, tied to your unit economics and reviewed with leadership. It names what you will not do, because focus is usually the scarce resource.

3. Measurement and reporting

Measurement comes before scale. We audit tracking, define conversions that reflect real business value, align marketing and sales definitions and build a reporting view leadership can trust. We are open about attribution limits and use triangulation rather than false precision. Our multichannel attribution guide explains the approach.

4. Budget and channel allocation

We build a budget model based on margins, payback and capacity, and set rules for scaling or cutting. This includes deciding how much belongs in paid search, paid social, content and SEO, lifecycle and partnerships. For paid search specifically, see how much to invest in Google Ads.

5. Paid media direction or execution

Depending on your needs, we can direct your existing paid media team or agencies, or run Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, Meta Ads, TikTok Ads and other performance channels directly. When we execute, our work is billed and reported separately from leadership so you can see what each costs.

6. Creative and testing system

We establish a creative testing cadence: hypotheses, briefs, production, learning and iteration. Our Meta Ads creative testing framework shows how we think about structured testing.

7. Conversion and funnel improvement

We prioritise landing pages, forms, checkout steps and follow-up speed, because media efficiency depends on what happens after the click.

8. Team design and hiring

We define roles, write job descriptions, help screen and interview candidates, onboard new hires and coach them. When the goal is an in-house team, we work toward our own exit.

9. Agency and vendor management

We write briefs, set shared scorecards, run review meetings and hold vendors accountable. Where vendors perform, we strengthen the relationship. Where they do not, we recommend changes.

10. Operating rhythm

Weekly or biweekly working sessions, monthly performance reviews, quarterly planning and a visible test backlog. This is the system that turns strategy into steady progress.

How the Engagement Works

Step 1: Discovery call. A conversation about your business, goals, current marketing and constraints. No obligation.

Step 2: Diagnostic. A short, focused review of accounts and data, when access is available. We tell you what we see and what we would do first.

Step 3: Proposal. A written scope with time allocation, deliverables, cadence, fee, what is included and excluded and how we will measure success.

Step 4: First 90 days. Foundations: diagnosis, strategy, measurement fixes, priority tests, vendor alignment and operating rhythm.

Step 5: Review. A structured assessment at about 90 days. We decide together to continue, adjust the scope or stop.

Step 6: Ongoing leadership or handover. Continue at a steady level, reduce time as your team grows or transition to a full-time hire.

Engagement Models

Model	Time	Best for	What it looks like
Advisory	A few hours per month	Founders needing a sounding board	Monthly strategy session, quarterly review, ad hoc questions
Light leadership	About 1 day per week	Early-stage and small companies	Weekly working session, agency oversight, measurement and reporting
Core fractional	2–3 days per week	Growth companies with active spend and a team	Full operating cadence, team coaching, budget governance, test programme
Leadership plus execution	Leadership time plus defined channel management	Companies wanting one accountable partner	Leadership with Google Ads, Meta Ads and analytics managed by our team
Project	Fixed scope	Go-to-market plans, audits, hiring plans	A defined deliverable and handover

We scope each engagement individually. Any price ranges you see elsewhere, including in our guide to what a Fractional CMO costs, are market references, not Old Fox quotes.

How We Handle the Conflict-of-Interest Question

A fair concern: if an agency offers leadership and execution, will its advice conveniently recommend more agency work? We take the question seriously, and we manage it in several ways.

• Separate scopes and fees. Leadership and execution are scoped and priced separately, so you can see each component.
• You can use other vendors. We do not require you to buy execution from us. Many fractional engagements direct existing agencies or in-house staff.
• Recommendations to spend less are on the table. If data shows a channel is wasting money, we say so, even when that reduces our potential work.
• Your accounts, your data. Ad accounts, analytics properties and documents remain yours.
• Transparent reporting. We show the numbers and the method, so you can challenge us.
• A review point. At about 90 days, you decide whether the arrangement is still worth it.

If you prefer complete separation, we can serve as leadership only, or as an execution partner only under a different leader.

What We Need From You

• Access to ad accounts, analytics, CRM and relevant financial data.
• A decision-maker who can meet regularly and approve budgets and priorities.
• A day-to-day counterpart inside the company.
• Candour about margins, constraints, past mistakes and sales realities.
• Willingness to test. Not every experiment works; the process does.
• Time. The first month needs more of yours than later months.

How We Measure Progress

We agree on metrics at the start, based on your business. Typical measures include:

• Customer acquisition cost and payback period.
• Marketing-sourced and influenced revenue or pipeline.
• Return on ad spend and contribution margin for ecommerce.
• Lead quality and conversion rates by stage for B2B and services.
• Share of spend in tested versus untested activity.
• Reporting quality: whether leadership trusts and uses the numbers.
• Team readiness: roles filled, onboarding complete, playbooks documented.
• Founder time spent on marketing decisions.

We do not promise specific revenue results. Markets, products and sales processes shape outcomes. What we can commit to is a clear process, honest measurement and regular learning.

What a Typical Month Looks Like

Week 1. Review last month's numbers, update the dashboard and identify the two or three decisions that matter most.

Week 2. Working session with the internal team and agencies on tests, creative briefs and priorities.

Week 3. Deep dive on one topic: a funnel stage, a channel, a segment or a hiring decision.

Week 4. Leadership review with a short written summary: results, learnings, decisions needed and the plan for next month.

Between sessions, we remain available for questions and approvals within agreed response times.

Our Perspective on Channels

Because we run campaigns, our recommendations come with channel-level detail.

Google Ads and Microsoft Ads. Capturing existing demand with structured search, well-fed Performance Max and Shopping where relevant, and conversion tracking tied to real value. See our guides on Google Ads for ecommerce and Google Ads for B2B.

Meta Ads and TikTok Ads. Creating and scaling demand through creative testing, audience strategy and remarketing, measured with incrementality in mind.

Email, SMS and lifecycle. Retention and repeat revenue, often the highest-return investment for ecommerce and subscription businesses.

SEO and content. Long-term compounding visibility, planned with realistic timelines.

AI-enabled workflows. We use automation and AI tools to speed analysis, reporting and creative variation, while keeping human judgement over strategy and brand. Our view is explained in the future of performance marketing with AI.

An Illustrative Engagement Outline

This is a hypothetical outline to show the shape of the work, not a client case.

A mid-sized online retailer spends a substantial monthly budget across Google and Meta, with separate agencies and a small in-house team. Leadership cannot reconcile reported returns with profit. Over the first 90 days a fractional engagement would audit tracking and data quality, define a blended efficiency target by margin, rebuild reporting around a single scorecard, reorganise campaigns to remove overlap, set a creative testing cadence and brief both agencies against shared goals. A first in-house hire would be defined and recruited. At day 90, leadership would review progress on agreed metrics and decide whether to continue at the same level, reduce time or add execution support.

How We Adapt the Service to Your Business Model

Ecommerce and direct-to-consumer brands. The emphasis is on unit economics, contribution margin, blended efficiency and the balance between acquisition and retention. We look closely at product feeds, creative volume, discounting habits and the relationship between paid media and repeat purchase. The leadership questions are usually how fast to scale, which channels deserve more, and what the true payback looks like after returns and shipping.

B2B and SaaS companies. The emphasis is on ideal customer definition, lead quality, pipeline stages and alignment with sales. We work on lead scoring, offer design, paid search and paid social programmes aimed at qualified accounts, and the feedback loop that tells media buyers which leads became revenue.

Service and local businesses. The emphasis is on call and form tracking, speed to lead, local search, reviews and sensible geographic targeting. Leadership often means bringing discipline to a handful of channels and making sure the phone gets answered.

Multi-market and bilingual companies. The emphasis is on localisation, regional budgets and consistent measurement across markets. Our team works in English and Spanish, which helps when companies sell across the Americas or into Spanish-speaking audiences. See our guide on marketing to Spanish-speaking markets.

The Reporting You Can Expect

Reports should help you decide, not impress you. A typical monthly package includes:

1. A one-page summary of results against agreed targets, with plain-language commentary.
2. A blended view of spend, revenue or pipeline and efficiency across channels.
3. Channel detail for the areas that need attention, with what changed and why.
4. Test results: what we tried, what we learned and what we will do next.
5. Risks and open questions: data gaps, vendor issues, budget constraints.
6. Decisions needed from leadership, with our recommendation.

You get access to the underlying dashboards, so you can verify the story yourself.

What the First Two Weeks Look Like

Early momentum matters. In the first two weeks we typically sign off on access and confidentiality terms, hold stakeholder interviews, review ad accounts and analytics, map the funnel from first touch to revenue, list the vendors and tools in use and gather the last twelve months of spend and results. By the end of week two you receive a short diagnostic summary and a proposed focus for the next 30 days, so the work starts with a shared understanding of the problem instead of assumptions.

How a Fractional Engagement Ends Well

Good fractional work is designed to be outgrown. The best endings share a few features. The strategy and playbooks are documented in your own files, so knowledge does not walk out the door. Dashboards and tracking are owned by your team and understood by the people who use them. Key roles are filled, or the plan to fill them is clear. Agencies have scorecards and briefs that do not depend on us to enforce. And leadership has a realistic view of what to do next, whether that means continuing at a lower level, hiring a full-time head of marketing or simply running the system you now have.

If at any point the data shows that the engagement is no longer producing enough value, we would rather say so and wind down than keep a retainer going. A company that needs us less because its marketing is working is the outcome we are aiming for. That is also why we encourage a formal review at about ninety days and again whenever your priorities change materially.

Common Questions We Hear Before Starting

"Will you replace our agency?" Only if the data shows it is not working. Often the better move is to align goals, change briefs and improve reporting.

"Can we try it for a short time?" Yes. We usually propose an initial period with a review point, instead of an open-ended commitment.

"Do you work with our CRM and tools?" Generally yes. We work with common analytics, advertising and CRM platforms and tell you if something needs to change.

"What if we are too small?" Smaller companies often start with advisory or light leadership, or with a focused diagnostic first.

Frequently Asked Questions About Old Fox's Fractional CMO Service

What exactly does Old Fox's Fractional CMO service include? Diagnosis, strategy, measurement, budget allocation, team design, vendor direction and an operating cadence, with optional hands-on management of Google Ads, Meta Ads and other performance channels.

How is it different from hiring Old Fox as an agency? An agency engagement focuses on running campaigns. A fractional engagement focuses on leadership and decisions across all channels and vendors, though the two can be combined with separate scopes and fees.

Can you act as our Fractional CMO without managing our ads? Yes. Many engagements are leadership only, with execution handled by your team or other agencies.

Can you manage our ads as part of the engagement? Yes, when you want it. We scope and price execution separately from leadership so you can see each component.

How much does it cost? It depends on the days per week, scope and whether execution is included. We provide a proposal after a diagnostic conversation. Market reference ranges are discussed in our cost guide.

How long is a typical engagement? Many clients start with about three months and a review, then continue for six to twelve months or more depending on goals. Others reduce time as their team grows.

Do you work with startups? Yes, from early-stage companies with initial traction to scaling businesses. For very early companies, we may recommend advisory work or a diagnostic before a full engagement.

Will you help us hire a marketing team? Yes. We can define roles, interview candidates and coach new hires, with the aim of building internal capability.

Who owns the ad accounts and data? You do. Accounts, analytics and documents stay in your name.

Do you guarantee results? No. We commit to a rigorous process, honest measurement and clear communication. Results depend on many factors, including product, pricing, sales and market conditions.

Where is Old Fox based and can you work with companies in other regions? We work remotely with companies across several markets and languages, including English- and Spanish-speaking teams. We agree communication rhythms and meeting times that suit your time zone.

Start With a Diagnostic Conversation

The most useful first step is not a proposal but a conversation about what is happening in your marketing, what you have tried and where you want to be in a year. Send us a note, and we will tell you honestly whether fractional leadership, an agency, a hire or a simple fix is the right move.

Keep reading: Fractional CMO vs. full-time CMO vs. agency and free Google Ads audit.

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