Nobody wants to say the number first. Here it is.
What does a fractional CMO cost in 2026?
Across the country, fractional CMO retainers run roughly $3,000 to $20,000 a month. The low end is ten to fifteen hours of strategy a month. The middle, $6,000 to $10,000, is where most of the market sits. Hourly, people in this seat charge $200 to $500.
My prices are by days, because days are what you are actually buying:
- About two days a month, $3,500. The plan, the priorities, a monthly review, and a phone that answers. Good for a company doing one to five million that needs a grown-up in the marketing seat but not every week.
- About a day a week, $6,500. I own the marketing roadmap, run the vendors and freelancers, and sit in on the leadership meeting.
- About two days a week, $11,000. I run the function. Hiring, agencies, budget, the whole thing, until you are ready for a full-time person, and then I help you hire them.
What do I actually get for that?
Someone who has done it before and is on the hook for the result. The difference between a fractional CMO and a marketing agency is that the agency does what you tell it. The fractional CMO figures out what to tell them, and then manages them, and then tells you the truth about whether it is working.
In practice that means a plan you can read on one page, a budget that matches it, the right vendors picked and managed, and a monthly conversation about what is working and what gets cut.
When is a business too small for one?
If you are under about a million in revenue, a monthly retainer is probably more than you need. Do a one-day brand and marketing workshop instead, get the plan, and run it yourself or with a freelancer for six months. Come back when it is working and you cannot keep up with it.
If you are doing over fifty million, you probably want a full-time CMO and I would tell you so on the call.
Why are you cheaper than the big fractional firms?
Because there is no firm. There is me, in Minneapolis, with no office rent and no sales team. The big fractional shops charge $10,000 and up because they have a bench, a brand, and a margin. Some businesses need that bench. Most companies under ten million need one good person who answers the phone.
What is the catch?
Days are days. If you need five days a week, that is a full-time hire, and I will help you make it rather than pretend I am one. And I do not do the hands-on marketing work in the seat: the writing, the ads, the posting. I find and manage the people who do, which is cheaper for you than paying my rate for it.
Answered by Jared Lukes, Minneapolis. Twenty-five years in brand, UX, and technology, currently holding fractional AI and technology seats at three companies. About Jared.