Fractional CMO Services
for businesses facing
growth, change or marketing underperformance
Senior marketing leadership without the cost of a full time CMO
I work directly with founders, CEOs and boards when marketing is not delivering what the wider business needs from it.
Your business may have grown faster than its marketing function. Your team may be busy but lack clear direction. Your agencies may be delivering plenty of activity without a joined up strategy. You may also be investing heavily in marketing without being able to see what is creating revenue, where money is being wasted or what needs to happen next.
I can step into your business as a Fractional CMO, independently review what is holding marketing back or lead a defined transformation project to address the underlying problem.
As a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the CIM, I bring more than 20 years of senior marketing experience across financial services, technology, property, ecommerce, hospitality and other complex markets.
More than 20 years of experience | Chartered Marketer | Fellow of the CIM | UK and international experience
The problem is rarely a lack of marketing activity
By the time a business speaks to me, marketing is usually already active. The team is working hard, campaigns are running, agencies are producing reports and money is being spent.
The problem is that all of this activity does not necessarily add up to a joined up marketing function.
Without clear senior ownership, teams and agencies naturally focus on their own areas. Paid media reports on clicks. SEO reports on rankings. Social media reports on engagement. Sales reports that the leads are poor. Each part may appear busy, but nobody is providing the leadership team with a reliable view of what marketing is contributing to the wider business.
That is where the real cost begins to build. Budgets become harder to defend, leads are lost between teams, customer data becomes less reliable and decisions are made using reports that do not tell the whole story.
I look across the entire marketing function to understand where performance is breaking down. That includes the strategy, team, agencies, budget, campaigns, CRM, customer data, reporting, customer journeys and the relationship between marketing and sales.
The aim is not to produce another strategy presentation that sits untouched in a folder. It is to establish what is wrong, agree what needs to change and make sure somebody takes responsibility for moving it forward.
Marketing That Drives Measurable Impact
Not every business needs the same level of support. Some need ongoing senior marketing leadership. Others need an independent diagnosis before making a significant decision. Some already understand the problem and need experienced leadership to deliver a defined programme of change.
Fractional CMO Leadership
My Fractional CMO services give you direct access to experienced senior marketing leadership without immediately committing to a permanent Chief Marketing Officer or Marketing Director.
I can set the direction of the marketing function, support the board, lead internal teams, manage agencies, challenge budgets and improve how performance is measured and reported. I also help connect marketing more closely with sales, operations and the wider business plan.
For some clients, this provides ongoing Fractional CMO or part-time CMO support alongside an established leadership team. For others, I provide interim CMO leadership while the business recruits, restructures or works through a period of significant change.
The level of involvement depends on what the business genuinely needs. This can range from strategic oversight and board support through to an embedded leadership role with responsibility for the team, agencies, reporting and delivery priorities.
Marketing Reviews and Advisory
Sometimes it is obvious that marketing is not performing as it should, but the reason is much harder to identify.
The issue could sit within the strategy, team structure, agency relationships, budget, CRM, reporting, customer data or the way leads are managed between marketing and sales. It is often a combination of several things rather than one obvious failure.
A Marketing Function Review provides an independent assessment of the whole operation. I review the available evidence, speak with the relevant people and identify the underlying issues that are preventing marketing from contributing more effectively.
I also provide focused advisory support for specific decisions. This can include a strategic marketing consultation, a CRM and marketing data audit or support with defining and recruiting a senior marketing role.
The outcome is a practical set of priorities, clear ownership and an honest view of what should happen next. It is not a hundred-page report designed to make a fairly straightforward problem look clever.
Marketing Transformation Projects
Some problems need more than advice. If the CRM, website, reporting, data or operating processes are preventing marketing from performing properly, I can lead a clearly defined transformation project.
This may involve redesigning CRM structures and customer journeys, improving data quality, introducing useful automation, connecting systems, rebuilding reporting or leading a website transformation that better supports the positioning and commercial priorities of the business.
These projects normally begin with paid discovery or an independent review. That is important because replacing a platform or rebuilding a website will not fix a problem that has been incorrectly diagnosed.
I do not recommend technology for the sake of it, and I am not trying to sell a particular platform. The purpose is to build a more effective marketing operation that gives teams better information, reduces wasted effort and allows the leadership team to make more confident decisions.
Senior leadership across the whole marketing function
A Fractional CMO should not simply provide occasional advice or attend a monthly meeting. The value comes from taking a wider view of marketing and accepting responsibility for helping the business improve it.
Direction and priorities
I connect marketing activity with the wider objectives of the business. That means deciding what matters most, what should happen first and what the team should stop doing.
When priorities are unclear, everything becomes urgent, and the marketing calendar fills with disconnected requests. A clear direction gives the team a basis for making decisions and gives the board a better way to judge whether progress is being made.
Teams and agencies
I can lead the internal marketing team, assess capability, remove barriers and make sure people understand what they are responsible for.
Where agencies and external specialists are involved, I bring their work together around shared business objectives. Agencies should not be allowed to mark their own homework or report success only within the narrow area they have been paid to deliver.
Good suppliers should be supported and given a clear brief. Poor performance should be challenged. The business should always know who owns the overall outcome.
Budgets and performance
Marketing budgets should reflect business priorities rather than historic spending patterns, internal politics or the preferences of individual agencies.
I review where money is being invested, what evidence supports that investment and whether the business has the information needed to make a sensible decision. That does not always mean reducing the budget. Sometimes the right answer is to invest more, but with a clearer reason and better measurement.
Reporting should help the leadership team understand revenue, conversion, cost, capability and risk. It should not bury weak performance beneath traffic, impressions and engagement figures that nobody outside marketing can interpret.
CRM, customer data and marketing operations
Poor CRM adoption, unreliable customer data and disconnected systems can undermine even a good marketing strategy.
I understand the technical infrastructure underneath marketing performance, including data structures, lifecycle stages, automation, integrations, reporting and customer journeys. This allows me to challenge technical decisions and work effectively with internal specialists, agencies and software providers.
It also means I can distinguish between a genuine technology problem and a people or process problem that somebody is attempting to solve by buying another platform.
Experience that connects marketing with commercial outcomes
I have spent more than 20 years leading marketing, digital and transformation work across established businesses, complex operating environments and periods of significant change.
The results below were achieved during my wider career and involved collaboration across marketing, sales, operations, technology and senior leadership. Marketing should be accountable for its contribution, but it should not claim sole credit for outcomes created by the wider business.
More than £18 million in sales
During my leadership of a large multichannel marketing function, online and contact centre activity supported more than £18 million in sales across over 90,000 transactions.
This required more than campaign delivery. It depended on bringing together demand generation, customer journeys, digital platforms, contact centre activity, conversion and performance reporting.
£5.5 million generated within ten weeks
I created and led a major seasonal campaign that generated £5.5 million in sales over a ten week period.
The campaign combined audience insight, pricing, digital activity, creative execution and close alignment with the wider commercial operation.
Lead conversion improved by more than 35 per cent
I redesigned CRM workflows, automation and customer journeys to improve the speed and relevance of communication with prospective customers.
These changes contributed to an improvement in lead conversion of more than 35 per cent within six months and gave the business a stronger basis for managing and measuring its pipeline.
More than £150,000 removed from annual marketing costs
I identified duplicated agency expenditure, inefficient workflows and areas where the business could build stronger internal capability.
The changes removed more than £150,000 from annual marketing costs while improving control, output and the ability of the internal team to deliver.
When does it make sense to hire a Fractional CMO?
A Fractional CMO can be particularly valuable when the business has reached a point where marketing decisions have become too important or too complex to be managed without experienced leadership.
Your business may have grown beyond the structure that originally supported it. A senior marketer may have left unexpectedly. The current team may be capable but lack the authority or experience to lead the whole function. You may be preparing for investment, entering a new market, integrating an acquisition or trying to improve performance before the next stage of growth.
You may also be considering a permanent marketing appointment but remain uncertain about the level of person you need. Bringing in an experienced Fractional CMO first can stabilise the function, define the role properly and reduce the risk of recruiting the wrong person against an unclear brief.
For some businesses, an outsourced CMO provides the right long term level of support. For others, the role is temporary and ends once the function is stable, the transformation is complete or a permanent leader has been successfully appointed.
A Fractional CMO is not a replacement for an entire marketing department. I provide direction, judgement and leadership. Routine delivery normally remains with the internal team and agencies unless additional implementation work has been specifically agreed.
Independent leadership, not another marketing agency
I work on behalf of the business rather than representing a particular marketing channel, platform or delivery service.
That independence matters. I have no reason to recommend more advertising simply because I sell advertising. I do not need to defend a CRM because my agency implemented it, and I am not limited to reviewing the part of marketing that happens to sit within my own service offering.
I can challenge the strategy, the team, the agencies, the technology and the leadership decisions behind them. I can also recognise when something is working well and should be protected rather than changed for the sake of appearing busy.
Unlike a traditional strategic marketing consultant, I do not have to stop once the diagnosis has been presented. Where the engagement requires it, I can remain involved to lead the team, manage agencies, oversee implementation and help turn agreed decisions into practical change.
The business receives direct access to the person providing the advice and taking responsibility. The work is not sold by a senior consultant and then handed to a junior delivery team you have never met.
Senior enough for the board. Practical enough to make change happen.
I am Simon Larkin, a Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
I have more than 20 years of experience across marketing leadership, brand, digital, CRM, customer data, automation, customer experience, marketing operations and reputation.
My career has included senior roles in financial services, investment, property, mergers and acquisitions, technology, ecommerce, automotive, travel and hospitality. I have worked across both B2B and consumer markets in the UK and internationally.
Much of that experience has been gained in regulated, complex or reputationally sensitive environments. These are businesses where marketing needs to support growth, but poor judgement, weak governance or unreliable information can create significant commercial and reputational risk.
I am comfortable advising founders, CEOs and boards, but I also understand the systems, workflows and technical decisions beneath marketing performance. That combination allows me to ask difficult questions at leadership level and then work with the people responsible for delivering the answer.
I am based in Southport and work with businesses across the North West, throughout the UK and internationally where the scope and working arrangements are practical.
What people say about working with me
The best marketing work is built on trust, honest conversations and a willingness to challenge decisions without making the relationship difficult.
I have worked with founders, directors, commercial leaders, marketing teams, designers, agencies and technical specialists. The strongest engagements are those where people feel supported, understand what is expected of them and know that difficult issues will be dealt with directly rather than allowed to drift.
He’s approachable, thoughtful and methodical, the kind of leader who builds confidence and helps teams grow. His input brought structure, focus and real momentum to our marketing.”
He was always available to help, took pride in his work, and delivered exactly what I wanted. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him.”
He’s a great problem solver, always encouraging collaboration and confidence across the team. His guidance made a genuine difference to how we work.”
Whether it is CMO level strategy, crisis management, or website design and copywriting, his expertise is never in doubt.
Simon manages his workload and his team effortlessly and he is never afraid to get stuck in whenever help is needed. What always struck me most was his genuine nature. He always has a positive word for everyone and he really looks after his team. It was a total pleasure working with him and I cannot recommend him enough. Any company would be lucky to have him on board.”
An effective communicator and great when backs are against the wall, I'd be happy to recommend Simon to any organisation looking to take their marketing to the next level.”
If you're looking for a strategic thinker to move your business into the next arena Simon is a perfect fit.”