BrisTechTonic is a Bristol SEO agency that helps UK businesses get found on Google, the local map pack and the AI assistants they now ask, like ChatGPT and Perplexity. A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing leader who runs your strategy and directs delivery on a part-time basis, usually a day or two a week, for a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire. They set the plan, own the numbers and hold agencies and in-house staff to it, rather than doing the hands-on execution themselves. It suits scale-ups that have outgrown ad-hoc marketing but cannot yet justify a full-time director. Done well, it buys expert judgement without the experienced salary.
Most scale-ups arrive at the same problem. Marketing has grown into several moving parts, a website, some SEO, paid ads, maybe an agency or two and a couple of internal hires, but no one experienced is holding the whole thing together. The founder was the de facto marketing lead and no longer has the time; the team is capable but stretched; the agencies each optimise their own slice with no one setting the priorities across them. The result is spend without a strategy and effort without a scoreboard.
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The obvious fix is to hire a full-time marketing director, but that is a six-figure commitment and a long recruitment process, and at your stage the role may not be full-time work yet. You need the judgement of an experienced leader without the cost and permanence of one. That is the gap a fractional CMO exists to fill: experienced leadership on the days you need it, scaling up or down as the business does, without a permanent line on the payroll.
What the role is not matters just as much. A fractional CMO is not a freelancer who runs your ads, not an agency selling you more of its own services, and not a consultant who leaves a slide deck and disappears. The job is to set direction, own the numbers and direct whoever does the delivery, in-house or outside. If the deck goes back in the drawer the moment the engagement ends, it was advice, not leadership, and the two are easy to confuse when you are buying.
For the record, here is how we approach it. BrisTechTonic is a small, experienced team with years between us, so the person setting your strategy has actually run marketing before. That suits businesses who want a steady, experienced hand on the tiller and candour about what is working. It is a poor fit if you need someone in the building five days a week, or a large team to execute at volume. Both are reasonable needs. We are simply clear about which one this role serves.
Fractional CMO, broken down.
When a fractional CMO makes sense
The role fits when marketing has become too big and too important to run on the side, but not yet big enough for a full-time director. If you have money going out with no one experienced deciding where, agencies with no one guiding them, and no clear picture of what is actually working, that is exactly the gap this fills.
When it does not
If what you need is more hands to execute, hire or brief specialists instead; a fractional lead directs work, it does not multiply it. If the business has not yet found who it sells to and why, that is a founder problem no CMO can solve for you. Being honest about this saves you a retainer you would resent.
Strategy and the numbers →
The first thing we deliver is a plan tied to targets you can hold us to, followed by reporting that connects your marketing to real sales and revenue rather than feel-good numbers. If a part-time marketing lead cannot show you the line from what they do to the results it brings, they are managing busywork, not results.
Directing delivery across channels →
A good fractional CMO coordinates the specialists rather than pretending to be all of them. We prioritise across SEO, web, content, paid and automation, brief the people or agencies doing each, and keep them aligned to one plan instead of six competing ones.
How the engagement is shaped
Typically one to two days a week, on a rolling arrangement with a fair notice period, scaling with the business. The point of fractional is flexibility, so be wary of anyone who insists on a rigid long lock-in for a part-time role. You should be able to increase, reduce or end it as your needs change.
How you would judge us, or anyone
Ask who actually does the work, whether they have led marketing before rather than only advised on it, and how they will report. An experienced model means the person in the strategy meeting is the person doing the thinking. If there is an account layer between you and the leader, you are not buying leadership.
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What clients say about working with us.
“I've had the pleasure of working with Chris on several SEO projects for my websites in the health field. He was definitely been able to demystify things so that I felt able to make decisions with him and feel confident they were the right ones. For a non-techie, that is worth gold! I look forward to working with Chris again and warmly recommend him to anyone who - like me - is unsure about all things SEO.”
“I was recommended by my branding partner to use Chris and his team last year. I can’t recommend them highly enough. They are very responsive , easy to communicate with and great at translating techy stuff when needed. They are now an essential part of my business model”
“We've been working closely with Chris, Hannah and the team for over 12 months now. As a small company with ambitious growth plans, it was incredibly important that we made the right choice on who to trust with our SEO. 18 months later, we're totally thrilled with our experience so far and our growing online presence within our market. We'd happily recommend BTT and their services to other SMEs. Drop them an enquiry!”
Real people on your account, not a faceless agency.
You work directly with the senior people who do the work, a small Bristol team you will actually get to know, not a call centre or an account manager relaying messages.
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The way we run Fractional CMO.
Start with a discovery call
We review your current marketing, spend, channels, team and agencies before proposing anything, so the first conversation is grounded in your actual situation rather than a generic pitch. The discovery call is free and often useful even if you decide the role is not for you yet.
Agree what good looks like
We define the outcomes that matter, pipeline, revenue, cost of acquisition, whatever the business is really trying to move, and the reporting that will track them. A clear scoreboard set early is what keeps the engagement honest later.
Set the strategy and the priorities
In the first weeks we produce a plan: where growth comes from, what to fund, what to stop, and the order to do it in. The value of an experienced lead is often in what they take off the list, not only what they add.
Direct the delivery
We brief and coordinate your people and agencies, quality-check the work, and bring in specialists only where there is a genuine gap. The aim is to make what you already have work harder before spending on more.
Report and adjust
We report against the agreed numbers on a steady cadence, are candid about what has not moved, and change the plan when the evidence says to. Leadership means owning the misses as well as the wins.
Scale the role with the business
As marketing matures you may need more of us, less of us, or eventually a full-time hire. A fractional CMO should help you see that coming and, where it is right, help you make the permanent hire rather than protect the retainer.
How do we approach Fractional CMO?
Strategy before spend
The first job is a plan, not a campaign. We work out where growth actually comes from, which channels are worth funding and which to cut, and what the next two or three quarters should prioritise. Most marketing underperforms because it is busy, not because it is wrong, and a clear strategy is what turns activity into results.
Own the numbers
A fractional CMO is accountable for outcomes, not effort. We define the metrics that matter for your business, set up honest reporting against them, and answer for the pipeline rather than pointing at a dashboard. If the numbers are not moving, that is a conversation we start, not one you have to chase.
Direct delivery, do not hoard it
The role is leadership, so the aim is to make your existing people and agencies effective, not to replace them. We brief, prioritise and quality-check the work, bring in specialists where there is a genuine gap, and keep everyone pointed at the same goal instead of running in parallel.
Honest about when it fits
A fractional CMO is right when you need experienced direction more than more hands. It is the wrong answer if what you actually need is someone to do the doing, or if the business is too early to know what it is selling to whom. We will tell you which situation you are in before you commit.
Real people doing the work, and putting their name to it.
You deal with our small, experienced Bristol team directly, from the first call to every monthly report.
Meet the team →What Fractional CMO puts on your desk.
Are we the right fit for you?
Thinking of switching from another agency?
Moving your Fractional CMO to us is more straightforward than staying somewhere that is not working. You keep everything you already own, we pick up without a gap, and we can run the whole thing for you or work alongside your team and your developers, whatever suits.
A free look first
We review what your current agency has done, tell you straight what is worth keeping and where the quick wins are. No obligation to move.
You keep what's yours
Your site, content, Google Business Profile and analytics stay in your name. We work with what you already have; nothing is held hostage.
A clean handover
We map the work across, set a plain-English baseline in the first few weeks, and carry on from there. No starting from zero, no quiet ranking gap.
Three-month minimum, then rolling monthly on 30 days’ notice. No long lock-in, no exit fees.
Why take this from us?
Fractional marketing leadership only works if a real operator is in the room, not an account manager. BrisTechTonic is the trading name of Bryley Ltd, a Bristol team of experienced people with years across strategy, SEO, web, content, paid and automation, and the person who plans the role is the one who fills it. We offer it the way we would want it offered to us: honest about when the role fits and when a full-time hire or a specialist would serve you better. We would rather tell you the role is wrong for you now than sell you a retainer you will quietly resent in three months.
Leaders, not just advisers
We have run marketing, not only consulted on it, so the plan comes with the accountability to see it through. Strategy that no one owns is just a document.
Experienced practitioners only
Experienced people do the work directly. There is no account layer between you and the person setting your direction, so the judgement you buy in the meeting is the judgement you get.
Honest about the exit
A fractional CMO should work themselves toward the moment you need a full-time hire, and help you make it. We measure success by the health of your marketing, not the length of the retainer.
Fractional CMO: common questions.
What does a fractional CMO actually do?
A fractional CMO provides experienced marketing leadership part-time. They set your strategy, own the metrics that matter, and direct the people and agencies who do the delivery, rather than executing the work themselves. Think of it as the judgement and accountability of a marketing director, on the days a scale-up needs it, without the cost or permanence of a full-time hire.
How is a fractional CMO different from a marketing agency?
An agency delivers a service, usually its own, and optimises its slice of your marketing. A fractional CMO sits above that, setting the strategy and directing whoever does the work, including your agencies. The role is leadership and coordination, not delivery of one channel. Used together, a fractional CMO can make the agencies you already pay considerably more effective.
When is a scale-up ready for a fractional CMO?
Usually when marketing has grown into several moving parts with no one experienced holding them together, spend with no clear strategy, agencies with no one briefing them, and no honest read on what works. It is too early if you have not yet worked out who you sell to and why, and unnecessary if you simply need more hands to execute.
How much time does a fractional CMO commit?
Commonly one to two days a week, on a rolling arrangement that scales with the business. The value of the model is flexibility, so you should be able to increase, reduce or end the engagement as your needs change. Be cautious of anyone insisting on a rigid, long lock-in for what is a part-time leadership role.
Where does BrisTechTonic fit?
We are experienced people, suited to scale-ups that want experienced marketing leadership and candour over polish. We are a poor fit if you need someone in the building five days a week or a large team to execute at volume. We will tell you honestly whether the role suits your stage before you commit to anything.
Book the call, or see the evidence first