B2B Fractional CMO for Tech & SaaS | Hankering Collective
Fractional CMO

B2B fractional CMO for tech & SaaS companies

Your marketing needs a leader.
Maybe not a full-time one yet.

Hankering Collective gives B2B technology, SaaS, and services companies a senior marketing leader on a part-time basis. Someone who has run marketing at scale leads your go-to-market and coaches your team, and you skip the full-time executive salary.

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In plain terms

A fractional CMO is an experienced marketing executive who works with your company part-time. You get a senior leader's judgment for the hours you need, without making a full-time executive hire. Hankering Collective provides that leadership to B2B technology, SaaS, and services companies whose marketing has outgrown what the team can lead on its own.

The role

How companies use a fractional CMO

Fractional CMO work looks different from one company to the next. Some clients hand over the whole marketing function. Others want a senior strategist working beside their team, or a few hours a month of advice from someone who has held the seat. Each is a sound way to use a fractional CMO, and the right one depends on where your marketing is today.

At Hankering, the B2B fractional CMO is Val Schein. She has spent more than fifteen years leading B2B marketing in-house, including global go-to-market at accesso, a public B2B tech company, where she kept the brand and GTM intact through six acquisitions and ran programs across 32 countries.

The decision

Fractional CMO, full-time CMO, or an agency?

Most companies find us after something stops working. Sometimes a junior marketing hire shows there was never a real foundation. Sometimes the referrals and founder-led selling that built the company start to slow down. Either way, there's usually plenty of effort and nobody senior steering it.

In every version, the need is the same: senior judgment applied consistently over time. A fractional CMO fits the moment when the marketing problem is really a leadership problem, and the company is between ten and roughly a hundred people. The common options stack up like this.

OptionWhat you getBest whenRough cost
Fractional CMO Senior strategy plus team leadership, part-time and ongoing You need marketing led well, but not 40 hours a week of it A monthly retainer, a fraction of a full-time salary
Full-time CMO A dedicated executive, all-in on your company Marketing is large and complex enough to fill the seat every day $250K–$400K plus equity and benefits
Marketing agency Execution capacity in a specific channel or skill The strategy is already set and you need it produced Per-project or monthly, scoped to the work

The failure pattern is hiring an agency to solve what is really a strategy problem. Agencies execute against a plan. When the plan itself is the gap, more execution just produces more of the wrong thing, faster. A fractional CMO sets the plan first, then makes sure whoever executes it stays pointed in the right direction.

How it works

How a fractional CMO engagement works

Some companies want an outside read on their go-to-market before they commit to anything. Others already know what is broken and need someone to lead the fix. You can come in at whichever stage fits.

  • Get a diagnostic. For when you want a clear read first. The $650 Lite Diagnostic reads your go-to-market from public signals. The $3,000 Full Diagnostic adds internal context and a pillar-by-pillar assessment, and the Lite fee counts toward it if you upgrade within 30 days.
  • Build the plan and fix the biggest gap. When the problem is defined, a Strategy and Roadmap engagement builds the plan and starts on the most urgent fix.
  • Bring in fractional CMO leadership. For companies that need a senior leader in the seat now. If we have already worked together on a diagnostic or roadmap, the retainer picks up right where that work left off.

Retainers are scoped per engagement with a three-month minimum. Pricing reflects the hours the role requires. Full detail on every tier lives on the services page.

By industry

Fractional CMO work, tuned to your market

Good marketing leadership travels across industries. What changes is who you are selling to and the language that market takes seriously. These are the markets Hankering knows best.

Startups
Building the marketing foundation before the first full-time hire, without wasting early runway.
SaaS
Pipeline, retention, and positioning for recurring-revenue businesses past product-market fit.
Proptech & real estate tech
Marketing to a slow-moving, relationship-heavy industry that still buys on trust.
Sales tech
Standing out in a crowded category where every competitor claims the same outcome.
AI companies
Explaining a fast-moving product in words buyers use, so they can tell you apart from the last ten AI tools they saw.
Track record

Results Val has delivered

TAAPD

"Most agencies silo these functions, but Hankering works the way founders think, everything connected and building toward the bigger picture."

Paul Heddings · Co-Founder, TAAPD Read the TAAPD story →
Humankind

500%

more leads at Humankind. Val reset the paid media agency relationship with new creative and sharper targeting, and cost per lead dropped by more than $500.

Read the Humankind story →
Hoffman

$50M

in pipeline at Hoffman, from an expansion and win-back campaign Val led across LinkedIn ads, content, webinars and events. It reached 500+ opportunities.

Read the Hoffman story →
Questions

Fractional CMO FAQ

What is a fractional CMO?
A fractional CMO, sometimes called a part-time or outsourced CMO, is an experienced marketing executive who works with a company part-time. The company gets a senior leader's judgment for the hours it needs, without making a full-time executive hire.
What does a fractional CMO do?
A fractional CMO leads a company's marketing on a part-time, ongoing basis. Depending on what the company needs, that can mean owning the whole marketing function, working as a senior strategist beside the team, or advising a few hours a month. The work usually covers go-to-market strategy, direction for the team and budget, and marketing's contribution to revenue.
How much does a fractional CMO cost?
Fractional CMO engagements are structured as a monthly retainer, scoped to the hours the role requires, and typically cost a fraction of a full-time CMO salary of $250,000 to $400,000 plus equity. At Hankering, retainers have a three-month minimum. Companies that want to see the thinking first can start with a $650 Lite Diagnostic.
What is the difference between a fractional CMO and a full-time CMO?
A full-time CMO is a dedicated executive on payroll, usually $250,000 to $400,000 a year plus equity and benefits. A fractional CMO brings senior experience for part of the week on a monthly retainer. For B2B companies of 10 to 100 people, marketing often needs senior judgment but not forty hours a week of it.
What is the difference between a fractional CMO and a marketing agency?
An agency provides execution capacity against a plan that already exists. A fractional CMO sets the plan, leads the people, and owns the outcome. When the real gap is strategy, hiring an agency tends to produce more of the wrong work rather than fixing the problem.
How quickly can a fractional CMO start?
Fractional CMO work can start as soon as the scope is agreed. If you want a diagnostic first, a Lite Diagnostic takes five to seven business days and a Full Diagnostic takes two to three weeks.
Who is Hankering Collective's fractional CMO?
Val Schein, founder of Hankering Collective, leads every engagement. She brings more than fifteen years of in-house B2B marketing leadership, including global go-to-market at accesso, a public B2B tech company, through six acquisitions. She works with technology, SaaS, and services companies. Connect on LinkedIn.

Not sure which tier fits?

Start with a conversation. Tell us where you are and what's not moving — we'll tell you honestly where we think the most leverage is.

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