⎯ HOW WE WORK TOGETHER
Real
Marketing
Leadership.
Three Ways In.
Marcus Hermens embeds as your Fractional CMO — the strategic leader your team has been missing. He owns the function, runs the team, and makes marketing something you can finally measure against revenue.
Pick My Brain
Half-Day Strategic Consult & Personalized Plan
The Popular Engagement
Fractional CMO - On Demand Executive Leadership
Advisor Option
Support, Strategy & Executive Experience
⎯ THE DIFFERENCE
Marketing Leadership,
Not Just Marketing
Advice.
Consultants hand you a document. Agencies execute what you tell them. A Fractional CMO builds the strategy, owns the accountability, and sits in the leadership meetings where the real decisions happen.
That's what Marketing Mason does. Marcus embeds into your team — attending the stand-ups, challenging the plan when it needs challenging, and driving a marketing operation that doesn't depend on you to function.
The deliverable isn't a slide deck. It's a marketing function that runs without you in the middle of it.
“The deliverable isn’t a slide deck. It’s a marketing function that runs without you in the middle of it.”
⎯ THE ENGAGEMENTS
Engagement Options
Every engagement starts with a real conversation — not a pitch.
Some start with the Consult to confirm the fit before committing to ongoing work.
FRACTIONAL CMO
Half-Day Strategic Consult
In four hours, you'll know exactly where your marketing is breaking, what to fix first, and what to stop spending money on.
You come with your biggest marketing problem. Marcus brings the CMOx Functional Marketing® framework and 20+ years of operator experience. Four hours later, you leave with a clear diagnosis — what's working, what's broken, what to stop — and a prioritized 90-day roadmap you can hand directly to your team.
- Pre-session intake: company context, team structure, current challenges
- 4-hour working session (in-person preferred; virtual available)
- Live marketing audit against the CMOx Functional Marketing® framework
- Prioritized 30/60/90-day action roadmap
- Channel and offer diagnosis — what's working, what's not, and why
- Written summary delivered within 72 hours — alignment and explanation call within 1 week
- Complimentary 45-minute check-in call within 30 days
Engaged Fractional CMO
Marcus sits in the CMO seat. He owns the strategy, runs the team, and is in the room when decisions get made — not on the outside looking in.
This is the full engagement. Marcus operates as your Chief Marketing Officer — sitting in leadership meetings, owning the plan, managing your team and vendors, and building the systems that make marketing something you can scale without adding executive headcount. Most clients recoup the engagement cost within the first 60 days by stopping what wasn't working.
- Fractional CMO embedded in your leadership team
- 2 days per quarter on-site (additional available)
- Leadership meeting attendance
- Marketing team leadership, mentoring, vendor management, and hiring support
- 12-month agile marketing plan with quarterly KPI reviews
- Full CMOx Functional Marketing® implementation
- Channel strategy: paid, organic, email, content, social, web, etc.
- Attribution setup and revenue reporting
- SOP library and team training
- Unlimited Slack/email access for your leadership team
CMO Advisor
Senior strategic oversight for companies with marketing leadership in place — and a gap between where that leader is and where they need to be.
You have a capable internal marketing leader or team — but they're operating without an executive-level voice in their corner. Marcus provides strategic direction, challenges the plan, and is available when the team needs to pressure-test a decision, validate a hire, or navigate a pivotal moment. The perfect option for when you want to make sure what you've put in place runs true.
- 90-minute strategy session per month
- Marketing leadership mentoring
- Review of marketing plans, campaigns, and key initiatives
- On-demand support access (48-hour response)
- Quarterly business review and KPI analysis
- Framework access: CMOx templates, SOPs, tools
⎯ HOW IT WORKS
From the First Conversation
to the Functioning System.
Every engagement starts with a diagnostic. No assumptions, no recycled playbooks. Marcus figures out what's actually going on before recommending anything.
Assessment
Take the free readiness assessment. 3 minutes. You'll see where you stand before we ever talk.
Discovery Call
A 45-minute conversation about your company, your team, and what's actually blocking your growth. No pitch. Just diagnosis.
Engagement Proposal
A clear scope, timeline, and investment — matched to what you actually need. No inflated scope, no upsell pressure.
Embedded Execution
Marcus starts inside your business — building the plan, leading the team, and driving the kind of momentum that compounds.
I don't start with a playbook.
I start with your business.
The plan we build is specific to your team, your market, and what you're actually trying to accomplish— not what worked for someone else.”
— MARCUS HERMENS
FARCTIONAL CMO + MARKETING MASON
⎯ COMPARE SIDE BY SIDE
How The Options Stack Up.
Fractional CMO vs. Agency vs. Full-Time Hire vs. DIY
| Fractional CMO | Full-Time CMO | Agency | DIY / Internal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strategic Leadership | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Embedded in Team | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Revenue Accountability | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Cross-Industry Experience | ✓ | ✗ | Varies | ✗ |
| Cost | $10K/mo | $250K–$400K/yr | $5K–$25K/mo | Time + Opportunity |
| Speed to Impact | 30 days | 3–6 months | Ongoing | Uncertain |
| Scalability | ✓ | ✓ | Limited | Limited |
| AI-Enabled Operations | ✓ | Varies | ✗ | ✗ |
⎯ COMMON QUESTIONS
Straight Answers.
How is this different from hiring a marketing consultant?
Consultants advise. Marcus operates. The difference is accountability — he owns the outcome, attends the leadership meetings, and is measured by the same things your business is measured by.
Do I need to have a marketing team in place?
No. Some clients have a team of five, some have a single marketing coordinator. Marcus works with what you have, identifies gaps, and helps you hire or restructure as needed.
What industries do you work in?
B2B services, healthcare and orthopaedics, technology, professional services, and specialty manufacturing. Marcus has also led marketing in energy, wellness, and music/events industries.
What size company is this best for?
Companies doing $5M–$100M in revenue. You need enough going on to justify senior marketing leadership, but not so much that you need a full department-head salary on payroll.
How long does an engagement typically last?
The Engaged CMO requires a 6-month minimum. Most clients extend to 12–18 months. The Advisor track is more flexible. The Consult is one session with a 30-day follow-up included.
What if we're not a good fit after the first month?
That conversation happens before you sign, not after. The discovery process is designed to identify misalignment early. Marcus doesn't take engagements he doesn't believe will work — and he'll tell you directly if that's the case.
“It’s the easiest and fastest way to figure out where you stand”
⎯ NEXT STEPS
Not Sure Which
Option Fits?
Take the 7-minute readiness assessment. You'll get a personalized tier recommendation and a clear picture of what working together looks like — before any commitment.
Ready now? Book the call directly →