FRACTIONAL CMO SYDNEY
A fractional CMO in Sydney — with a whole agency behind them
A fractional CMO in Sydney — with a whole agency behind them
A fractional CMO gives your business senior marketing leadership - strategy, budget ownership, team direction for a fraction of a full-time executive salary.
Queen Charles offers fractional CMO services in Sydney with a difference: our marketing leadership comes attached to a full-service creative agency and production house. The strategy doesn't stop at the slide deck - the same team can build the brand, make the campaigns and produce the content it calls for.
Queen Charles offers fractional CMO services in Sydney with a difference: our marketing leadership comes attached to a full-service creative agency and production house. The strategy doesn't stop at the slide deck - the same team can build the brand, make the campaigns and produce the content it calls for.
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What is a fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO is an experienced chief marketing officer who works with your business part-time - usually on a monthly retainer of one to three days per week. You get executive-level marketing thinking (positioning, budget allocation, channel strategy, team leadership, board reporting) without the $250,000–$400,000+ cost of hiring a full-time CMO in Australia.
It suits businesses in a specific gap: too big to run marketing off the founder's gut, not big enough to justify a full-time executive. Typically $2M–$50M revenue, a small marketing team or none, and a nagging sense that the marketing spend isn't compounding.
It suits businesses in a specific gap: too big to run marketing off the founder's gut, not big enough to justify a full-time executive. Typically $2M–$50M revenue, a small marketing team or none, and a nagging sense that the marketing spend isn't compounding.
Our work
Over the last 20 years we have worked with some of the biggest brands in the world.
What our fractional CMO service covers
- Marketing strategy & positioningWhere to play, what to say, what to stop doing.
- Budget ownershipAllocation across brand and activation, with the ROI logic to defend it to a board.
- Team leadershipDirection (and hiring help) for your in-house marketers; a senior sounding board for the founder.
- Agency & supplier managementOne person accountable for making every external partner earn their fee - including us.
- Measurement that mattersA reporting rhythm built on effectiveness, not vanity metrics.
- Execution on tapDirect access to Queen Charles' creative, production and content capability when the plan calls for it.
Why hire a fractional CMO through an agency?
The standard fractional CMO is a solo consultant: excellent thinking, then a handover to whoever executes - a freelancer patchwork, a junior in-house team, or another agency that wasn't in the room when the strategy was set. That handover is where most strategies die.
Queen Charles closes the gap. Your fractional CMO leads the thinking *and* commands the delivery: brand and campaign development, video production →, social content →, copywriting and media thinking, all from one accountable team. When the strategy says "we need a brand film and three months of social content," that's an instruction to colleagues, not a procurement project.
The thinking itself is evidence-based - grounded in marketing effectiveness research (Binet & Field's 60/40 brand-to-activation principle among it) rather than whatever's trending on LinkedIn this quarter.
The thinking itself is evidence-based - grounded in marketing effectiveness research (Binet & Field's 60/40 brand-to-activation principle among it) rather than whatever's trending on LinkedIn this quarter.
How much does a fractional CMO cost?
In Australia, fractional CMO retainers typically run $3,000–$24,000+ per month depending on days per week and scope - one day a week sits toward the lower end, two to three days with team leadership toward the top.
Day-rate equivalents run $1,800–$2,600. Compare that with a full-time CMO at $250,000+ plus super, bonus and the six-month hiring risk, and the maths is the point: senior leadership, right-sized.
Every engagement starts with a fixed-scope strategy sprint so you can judge the thinking before committing to a retainer.
Day-rate equivalents run $1,800–$2,600. Compare that with a full-time CMO at $250,000+ plus super, bonus and the six-month hiring risk, and the maths is the point: senior leadership, right-sized.
Every engagement starts with a fixed-scope strategy sprint so you can judge the thinking before committing to a retainer.
FAQs - Fractional CMO
Question:
What does a fractional CMO do?
Answer:
Everything a full-time CMO does - strategy, positioning, budget, team leadership, board reporting - on a part-time retainer, typically one to three days a week.
Question:
How much does a fractional CMO cost in Australia?
Answer:
Typically $3,000–$22,000+ per month depending on days and scope, versus $250,000+ a year for a full-time CMO.
Question:
How is a fractional CMO different from a marketing consultant?
Answer:
A consultant advises and leaves. A fractional CMO takes ongoing ownership - they're accountable for the marketing function's results, not just its recommendations.
Question:
What size business suits a fractional CMO?
Answer:
Usually $2M–$50M revenue: enough marketing complexity to need senior leadership, not enough to justify a full-time executive.
Question:
How do I hire a fractional CMO in Sydney?
Answer:
Look for evidence of strategic thinking (ask how they'd allocate your budget and why), category experience, and - the part most miss - a credible path from strategy to execution. Or start with our fixed-scope strategy sprint and judge the thinking firsthand.
Question:
Can you work alongside our existing marketing team?
Answer:
Yes - that's the most common shape. The fractional CMO leads and develops your in-house team; Queen Charles' production capability fills the gaps they can't.
BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
get in touch
Drive your business forward without the cost of a full time CMO
Drop us an email or a call and we'll respond within 24 hours with an approach and fixed quote.
+61 421 692 749
Alex@queencharles.com.au
Alex@queencharles.com.au
Leswell Street, Bondi Junction, NSW.