| Total cost | Pay only for needed days. No employment benefits, no long-term payroll risk. | High fixed salary + benefits, bonuses, hiring costs. | Retainer + add-ons and media fees. Cost grows over time. |
| Flexibility | Easy to scale up/down or pause. | Hard to reduce without layoffs and notice periods. | Tied to contracts and fixed scope. Changes cost extra. |
| Whose side we are on | Sits on your side. No margin on ad spend, no push to “do more” just to bill more. | Can be aligned, but affected by internal politics and job security. | Incentive to sell more campaigns and services, not to spend less. |
| Main role | Owns overall marketing plan and results. Leads team and partners. | Can own strategy, but often stuck in internal tasks and meetings. | Runs channels (ads, SEO, content), but rarely owns full plan or outcome. |
| Speed to value | Starts fast. First wins often from cutting waste and fixing basics. | Hiring and onboarding take months before impact is clear. | Can launch campaigns fast, but often on top of weak strategy. |
| Use of your team | Organises what you have: people, agencies, tools. Fills the leadership gap. | May be forced to “do everything” if team is small. | Often brings their own team and overlaps with roles you already pay for. |
| Ownership of numbers | One senior owner of revenue-related metrics. Simple reports you can read quickly. | Can own numbers if given the power and budget. Not guaranteed. | Reports on clicks and leads more than profit and cash. |
| Experience | Seen many businesses and setups. Knows what usually works and what to avoid. | Experience limited to one person’s background and previous employers. | Deep in their service line, light on wider business decisions. |
| Risk for you | Low risk. If not a fit, easy to change scope or stop. You keep plans and structure. | High risk. Wrong hire is slow and expensive to undo. | Risk of ongoing spend without a senior person checking if it pays off. |
| Best fit when… | You are growing, spend on marketing, and need senior direction without a full CMO on payroll. | You are larger, with a full team and stable budget for a permanent CMO. | You already have strong internal or fractional CMO guidance and need extra hands. |
