What Is a Fractional CMO?

Fractional CMO Cory Ampe helping a film crew on a video shoot

Sometimes the job calls for strategic leadership.
Sometimes it calls for holding the boom mic.
Either way, we’re here to help amplify your message.

Your On-Demand Marketing Team

CMO stands for Chief Marketing Officer. That title can sound like something only a large company would need. But the truth is, many organizations reach a point where marketing needs to grow up, even if they are not ready to hire a full-time executive.

A fractional CMO is a marketing leader who joins your team on a part-time or project basis. They help you define your goals, lead strategy, and oversee execution. The benefit is simple. You get senior-level thinking without the commitment or cost of a full-time hire.

At Campe + Co., a fractional engagement means you work directly with an experienced strategist who can step in quickly and get results. When needed, we pull together a right-sized team to support your work: writers, designers, media buyers, and digital specialists. It is an efficient and flexible way to access the capabilities of an in-house marketing department without having to build one from scratch.

You get leadership and execution. You stay focused on running your organization.

And sometimes, yes, we are literally the ones holding the boom mic. We jump in wherever we are needed to amplify your voice and help your story reach the right people, in the right way, at the right time.

Who This Supports

Fractional marketing leadership is a good fit for:

  • Growing nonprofits preparing for major fundraising or visibility campaigns

  • B2B companies that have strong sales teams but lack a strategic marketing function

  • Technical or engineering firms where the product leads but the brand lags

  • Founder-led businesses where everything is working, but marketing is scattered or inconsistent

  • Larger organizations going through restructure, merger, or leadership transition

This model works best when you need marketing to do more than just exist. You need it to drive something forward, such as a new message, a major campaign, or a better connection to the people you serve.

What We Actually Do, and Why It Works

Every engagement is a little different, because every organization is different. Some teams have no marketing structure at all. Others have great internal people who just need direction. What a fractional CMO brings is the ability to assess where you are, understand where you want to go, and build a practical, strategic path forward.

That might mean auditing your current efforts to see what is working and what is not. It might mean defining your brand, messaging, and core audience so that everything you create connects more clearly. We can lead campaigns across digital, print, social, and media. We can manage external vendors or freelancers to make sure things stay on track. We can help build reporting systems so that you are not guessing about what is effective.

What makes this model work is its flexibility. You get access to senior-level thinking and leadership without the cost, risk, or time involved in hiring a full-time executive. You can move faster. You can focus on the parts of your job that need your attention, while we focus on building the marketing function in a way that is right for you.

We are not here to run meetings for the sake of meetings. We are here to make progress.

A Partner, Not Just a Provider

Our approach is grounded in strategy, collaboration, and action. We embed with your team. We listen closely, work fast, and help build something that lasts.

When the project is done, your marketing is in a better place. You have structure. You have direction. You have progress.

That is what a fractional CMO can deliver. Want to learn more?

Set up a call or coffee with Cory.
Next
Next

Milwaukee Record Partners with Campe + Co. to Elevate Brand and Advertiser Strategy