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Contact our support team and we’ll guide you every step of the way.
FOR FRACTIONAL CMOSYou sold them strategy. Now ship it before they ask twice.
The execution team fractional CMOs don't have. SEO, websites, funnels, CRM and email, built under your name, on your timeline.
QUICK ANSWERS
The two questions everyone asks first.
What is an outsourced CMO?
An outsourced CMO, also called a fractional CMO, is a senior marketing leader hired part-time to set strategy and direct marketing for a company that does not need or cannot afford a full-time CMO. They typically work with several clients at once, on a monthly retainer.
What does an outsourced CMO do?
An outsourced CMO sets marketing strategy, defines positioning and messaging, chooses channels, sets budgets and KPIs, and directs the team or agencies who execute. They are hired to think and to lead, not to build. Most do not personally build the CRM, write the email flows or ship the funnel. That execution gap is the most common reason fractional CMO engagements stall.
WHAT YOU ACTUALLY DO ALL DAY
You were hired to be the senior mind.
Now you’re also the implementation team.
Fractional CMO sounds great on a LinkedIn headline. The reality is messier.
You walk into a CEO meeting with a sharp 90-day plan. They sign. They expect senior strategy and shipped infrastructure inside a quarter. They’re paying you $8K to $15K a month and they want to feel every dollar of it.
So you start the week running pipeline reviews and you end it debugging a HubSpot workflow at 2am because the freelancer you hired didn’t understand lead scoring.
The role you sold isn’t the role you’re running. And every fractional CMO eventually has the same realization:
The strategy was the easy part. The execution is what’s killing the business.
Three Ways To Handle Execution. None Of Them Work.
The math on a fractional CMO practice doesn’t work without a delivery team. You need leverage, not more hours.
THE FIX
We are the delivery team you don’t have to hire.
Stepwise is built to plug into fractional CMO engagements. You stay senior. You stay strategic. You stay billable for the thinking. We become the implementation arm that turns your 90-day plan into shipped infrastructure. Instant turnaround on US timezone, no offshore handoff delays.
Your client thinks you have a team because you do. They just don’t know it’s us.
You stop debugging at 2am
Every CRM build, automation, funnel, and email sequence on your roadmap moves to our queue. You scope. We build. You review. The 2am Zapier spiral ends.
You take on more clients without hiring
The reason most fractional CMOs cap at three clients is delivery, not demand. With Stepwise behind you, the cap is your strategic capacity, which is the part you actually want to sell more of.
You raise your rate without working more hours
You’re charging strategic-mind prices and delivering implementation-team work. With us, the implementation is handled. The strategic mind is all your client sees. Your rate justifies itself.
HOW IT ACTUALLY RUNS
A 90-day plan that actually ships in 90 days.
With the actual building included. You sell a strategist. You deliver a strategist plus a build team. Your client gets the version of fractional CMO they hoped they were buying.
Days 1-14 · Foundation
You
COMPASS-style diagnostic, audience research, positioning calls, strategy doc.
Us
CRM cleanup or migration. Reporting dashboard. Source-of-truth pipeline.
Days 15-45 · Build
You
Messaging, copy direction, channel strategy, KPI definition.
Us
Funnel build. Email sequences. Automations. AI workflows. Form and capture logic.
Days 46-90 · Optimize
You
Pipeline reviews, content strategy, hire planning for the in-house team you'll eventually need.
Us
A/B tests, CRO cycles, automation refinement, monthly performance ops.
THE WORK
The infrastructure your engagement letter promised.
Website Building
Marketing sites and landing pages in Webflow, Framer and WordPress.
Webflow, Framer, and WordPress
SEO
Full-program: technical, content, links, local, programmatic, reporting.
- Technical, content, links, local, programmatic
Sales Funnels
Lead-gen, webinar, high-ticket application, quiz, calculator. CRO cycles.
- Lead-gen, webinar, quiz, application funnels
CRM Automations
HubSpot, GoHighLevel, ActiveCampaign, Pipedrive, Zoho, Salesforce. Lead routing, scoring, nurture, dashboards.
- Lead routing, scoring, nurture, dashboards
AI Automations
GPT first-response agents, AI qualification, call summarisation, follow-up drafting.
- GPT agents, qualification, call summarisation
Via Our Partner Network
Video, graphics and creative design run through partners we have vetted and managed for years.
Video EditingGraphicsCreative Design
INVISIBLE BY DESIGN
Invisible by design.
We work in your tools, your branding, your tone. Our team never appears on a client call, in an email signature, or in any deliverable.
Your client thinks you have a great team. You do. They just do not know we are it.
One hundred percent white-label. NDA on every engagement.
PricingBuilt for one to five active
client engagements.
Most fractional CMOs we work with run two to four clients at a time. Our pricing is structured to match. If you’re starting with one client, the Builder tier ($1,500/mo) covers it. Two to three clients usually fits Growth ($2,800/mo). Four-plus typically lands on Scale ($5,500/mo) or a custom setup. Or test us first with a $750 pilot block, no retainer commitment.
Selected
In-House Hire
Perfect for slow-growth teams with long-term hiring budgets.
Senior Specialist$85,000
Mid-level Operator$55,000
Tools & Infrastructure$8,000
Shipped3-4 months in
Recommended
Stepwise
Great for growing teams needing advanced automation & speed.
Full CRM & Funnel Team
All major platforms
Infrastructure
First build
FAQ
Questions fractional CMOs ask.
What is an outsourced CMO?
A senior marketing leader hired part-time to set strategy and direct marketing for a company that does not need or cannot afford a full-time CMO. Also called a fractional CMO. They usually serve several clients at once on a monthly retainer.
What does an outsourced CMO do?
They set marketing strategy, define positioning, choose channels, set budgets and KPIs, and direct the people who execute. They are hired to lead, not to build.
What is the difference between a fractional CMO and an outsourced CMO?
Nothing meaningful. The terms are used interchangeably. ‘Fractional’ emphasises the part-time arrangement, ‘outsourced’ emphasises that the role sits outside the company.
Should I hire an outsourced fractional CMO?
If you have revenue but no senior marketing leadership, and you need direction rather than more execution, yes. If your problem is that nothing gets built, a CMO alone will not fix it. You need a CMO and a delivery team.
How much does an outsourced CMO cost?
Typically $4,000 to $15,000 a month depending on scope and seniority. That buys strategy and direction. It does not usually buy execution, which is the gap Stepwise fills.
Do fractional CMOs execute the work themselves?
Most do not, and most were never meant to. The role is strategic. Execution stalls when there is no team to hand the plan to. That is the most common reason these engagements fail.
What does Stepwise do for a fractional CMO?
We build what you sold. SEO, websites, funnels, CRM, AI automation and email. Under your name. Your client never knows we exist.
Will my client know I'm using an execution team?
Not from us. NDA on every engagement. We never join a call, send an email, or put our name on a deliverable.
How many client engagements can I run with Stepwise?
Built for one to five active engagements. Partners running more scale up a tier.
How fast is the first build?
Five to ten days from brief.
What if you miss a deadline?
That build is free. It is in the contract.
Can I cancel?
Any month, thirty days notice. And if the first month does not click, full refund.
Twenty minutes. Bring your worst-running engagement.
We’ll look at the bottleneck on your most painful client and tell you whether Stepwise can fix it. If we can’t, we’ll send you to who can.
Book the fit call