Fractional chief marketing officer · Marketing
Your agencies and freelancers each follow their own idea of the marketing plan.
A business past its earliest stage often has marketing activity, an agency here, a social media person there, but nobody senior deciding what should actually happen and why. The owner ends up making marketing calls between everything else they run, or the activities pull in different directions with nobody accountable for the whole.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A fractional chief marketing officer (CMO) gives a growing business senior marketing leadership, without the cost of a full-time hire. The role sets direction, manages agencies or a small team, and reports to the owner. GullySales provides this as an ongoing, part-time arrangement, reviewed and reported on the same enquiry-based basis as our other work.
A fractional CMO sits above the day-to-day execution. The role sets the strategy, briefs and checks the people or agencies doing the work, and reports to the owner in plain terms on what is working. It suits a business that needs this judgement regularly, but not every day.
This is different from a marketing audit, which is a one-time diagnostic. A fractional CMO is an ongoing role, reviewing performance and adjusting direction month after month as the business changes.
The problem
Does this sound like your business?
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“The owner makes every marketing decision between everything else they run”
Marketing calls get made in spare moments, without the time to properly weigh options, because nobody senior owns the function.
“Agencies and freelancers pull in different directions”
A social media freelancer, an ad agency and a website developer each work to their own idea of the strategy. Nobody has set one for all of them to follow.
“There is marketing spend but no clear plan behind it”
Money goes out every month across four or five activities. Ask what the plan behind it is and nobody in the room can answer.
“A full-time marketing head feels premature”
The business needs senior marketing judgement, but not five days a week of it, and a full-time salary does not yet make sense.
What we do
Everything that is included.
Each deliverable, and what it gets you. Nothing here is an extra.
Marketing strategy and roadmap
A clear plan setting direction for the months ahead, agreed with the owner.
Agency and freelancer management
Briefing, reviewing and holding accountable anyone else working on your marketing.
Budget oversight
A view across all marketing spend, checked against the plan rather than approved activity by activity.
Leadership reporting
A plain report to the owner on what is working, what is not, and what is changing next.
Scheduled strategy time
Agreed days or hours each month for direction-setting and decisions, rather than an unclear, always-on arrangement.
How the result is measured
- Marketing plan progress against agreed milestones
- Enquiries and orders traced to marketing activity
- Spend against the agreed budget and plan
- Agency or freelancer performance against brief
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Who it is for
This is written for you if these sound familiar.
- Growing businesses with marketing spend and activity but no senior person owning the outcome
- Owners currently making marketing decisions themselves without the time or background to do it well
- Companies working with multiple agencies or freelancers who need someone to coordinate and hold them accountable
- Businesses not yet ready to hire a full-time marketing head but past needing only execution
- Companies planning a significant change, such as a new product line or market, needing senior direction through it
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- Very early-stage businesses where the priority is getting any marketing activity running at all
- Companies wanting hands-on daily execution rather than direction and oversight
- Businesses unwilling to give a fractional CMO real authority to set direction and hold others accountable
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Your brief
You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.
After the brief
A conversation and a written scope
We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
The numbers this work is meant to move, such as enquiries, quotations, orders, visits or renewals, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is a reply, a follow-up, a page, a listing or the handover between marketing and sales.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
How the work runs
- 1
Understand the business
We start with your goals, current marketing activity and how decisions are currently made.
- 2
Audit the existing setup
We review current spend, agencies and activity to see what is working and what has no clear owner.
- 3
Strategise a direction
A marketing plan and roadmap are set, agreed with you as the owner.
- 4
Implement and manage
The plan is put into action, with agencies and freelancers briefed and managed against it.
- 5
Measure and report
Progress is reported to you, in plain terms, with adjustments made as the business changes.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with your brief and a conversation.
Option 1
The conversation on its own
A call after you send your brief. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix that matters most, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How many days a month does this involve?
Will this person manage our existing agencies?
How is this priced?
Is this a long-term arrangement?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
By industry
Fractional chief marketing officer, written for your industry.
Related services
Often bought with this, or instead of it.
Read before you buy
- Agency, freelancer or in-house: a plain comparison for a business spending modestlyWhat an agency, a freelancer and an in-house marketer are each good at for a business with a modest budget, where the hand-offs between them fail, and how to combine two without paying twice.
- When a fractional CMO makes sense for a company with no marketing headA full-time marketing head is the wrong first hire for many firms. Judge the choice by decisions waiting and hours of real work, not by title, and know when a fractional CMO is not the answer.
- Outsourced marketing department or in-house hire: what each really costs youA salary is the visible cost of an in-house marketer. This post lists the hidden costs on both sides, tools, management time and ramp-up, and gives a ledger to compare them with your own figures.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.