Fractional CMO scope of work: what is in, what is out.
A fractional CMO scope of work that holds up: the responsibilities that belong to the CMO, the work that belongs to an execution team, and a template you can copy into your next agreement.
Why the scope is where most engagements go wrong
Most fractional CMO engagements that go sideways do it for the same reason. The client thought they were getting a marketing department, and the CMO thought they were selling two days a month of strategy.
A written scope fixes that before it starts. It says what the CMO owns, what someone else owns, and what happens when a request falls outside both. It also protects your hours, which are the only thing you sell.
Fractional CMO responsibilities (what belongs to you)
These are the responsibilities that sit with the CMO in nearly every engagement:
- Strategy and the plan. Positioning, target customer, channel priorities, and a written plan for the next quarter.
- Budget. How much goes where, and when to move it.
- Goals and the scorecard. The handful of numbers leadership reviews every week or two.
- Leadership reporting. Showing up to the leadership meeting with what changed and why.
- Vendor and team direction. Picking and directing whoever does the work, inside or outside the company.
- Hiring advice. When to bring marketing roles in-house, and what to look for.
What belongs to an execution team
These are the tasks that eat a fractional CMO's week if nobody else owns them:
- Building and running ad campaigns on Google and Meta
- SEO fixes, service and location pages, and blog posts
- Website changes, landing pages and forms
- GA4, conversion tracking and the reporting dashboard
- Email flows and newsletters
- Social posting and creative production
Some fractional CMOs do some of this themselves, and that is fine if it is priced separately. The mistake is letting it slide into the strategy retainer for free.
A scope of work template you can copy
Here is a structure that fits on one page. Swap in your own numbers.
Fractional CMO job description (if the client wants one)
Some clients, especially ones with HR teams, want a job description before they sign. It is the same scope written for a different reader. Keep it to the six responsibilities above, the time commitment, and who the role reports to. Leave execution out of it, or the role description will invite execution requests.
Keeping execution out of your hours
If your clients need the weekly work done and you do not want to do it yourself, that is what we do. You keep the strategy and the client, we run the ads, SEO, websites, tracking and email under your plan. See how it works.
