Fractional CMO vs Agency vs In-House: What Actually Works at $5–$20M in Revenue?

If you’re in the $5–$20M revenue range, you probably don’t lack “marketing activity.”

You’ve likely:

• Hired at least one agency (maybe several)

• Tried a few in-house marketers

• Had a founder or COO playing part-time CMO

But you still have questions like:

• “Do we just need a better agency?”

• “Is it finally time to hire a full-time CMO?”

• “Should we bring in a fractional CMO to clean this up?”

This post breaks down fractional CMO vs agency vs in-house from the point of view of a company in that $5–$20M band—not a startup and not a big enterprise.

You’ll see where each model shines, where it breaks, and what usually works best at your stage.

Short Answer: Who Wins When?

If you don’t want the whole breakdown, here’s the quick version:

• Under ~$5M:

  • A good specialist agency + one strong generalist in-house is usually enough.

• $5–$15M:

  • A fractional CMO directing 1–2 agencies and a small in-house team is often the sweet spot.

• $15–$20M and up:

  • Either:

    • Full-time CMO + select agencies, or

    • A higher-commitment fractional CMO (2–3 days/week) acting as CMO while you prove the case for a full-time hire.

The “wrong” setup usually shows up as one of these:

• Agencies doing “activities” without a real strategy

• A burned-out internal marketer trying to manage everything

• Founders stuck in the weeds of Google Ads and creative approvals

Let’s break each model down.

Option 1: Marketing Agency

What a Good Agency Is Actually Built to Do

Agencies are optimized to:

• Execute channels and tactics (Ads, SEO, email, creative, social)

• Bring specialist skills you won’t hire full-time yet

• Provide capacity: media buyers, designers, copywriters, editors, etc.

They are not usually built to:

• Own your P&L or margin targets

• Decide what markets to enter, what products to prioritize, or how to price

• Fix your internal data/measurement mess end-to-end

When Agencies Work Best

Agencies work well when:

• You already have a clear positioning and strategy

• Your internal team can give direction and guardrails

• You know what success looks like and can hold them accountable

In the $5–$20M range, that often looks like:

• A good performance agency running Meta/Google/retargeting

• A lifecycle or email agency owning flows and campaigns

• A content/SEO partner supporting you on the organic side

Signal it’s working: your agencies can point to clear performance metrics, and you can map those back to business outcomes, not just “impressions and clicks.”

When Agencies Don’t Work

Agencies are a poor fit when:

• You ask them to “own growth” without giving them control over pricing, product, or budget trade-offs

• You don’t have a single person internally who can synthesize the advice from multiple agencies and say, “Here’s the plan”

• You’re changing direction every month—new offers, new audiences, new “urgent ideas” from the leadership team

In other words, agencies struggle when there is no CMO-level owner they can plug into.

Option 2: In-House CMO or VP of Marketing

What You Get With a Full-Time CMO

A true CMO or senior VP of Marketing is designed to:

• Own strategy, budget, and team

• Report directly to the CEO and sit on the leadership team

• Make trade-offs across brand, performance, product marketing, and sales enablement

• Hire and manage agencies and internal staff

Done well, your CMO becomes the “single owner” of:

• “What are our growth targets this year?”

• “What’s the plan to hit them?”

• “Who is doing what, and how will we measure it?”

When a Full-Time CMO Makes Sense

For most $5–$20M companies, a full-time CMO usually makes sense when:

• You are committed to multi-year growth and already investing heavily in marketing

• You’re ready to build an internal team (not just one or two hires)

• You can afford a CMO-level salary, bonus, and equity—and you have the scope of work to keep them engaged

If you’re at the higher end of this band (say $15–$20M+), or you’re planning aggressive expansion (new markets, new product lines), this can be a good move.

Where In-House Can Go Wrong

Common issues:

• You hire too junior (“Head of Marketing” who’s really a senior manager) and expect them to act as CMO

• You hire someone strong in one area (e.g., brand or performance) and expect them to be great at everything

• You don’t give them the budget or authority to change things, but still hold them responsible for revenue

Result: your CMO feels like a “powerful intern” and eventually you’re both frustrated.

In many $5–$10M firms, it’s simply too early for a full-time CMO, and what you really need is fractional strategic leadership plus execution support.

Option 3: Fractional CMO

What a Fractional CMO Actually Does

A fractional CMO (done well) gives you:

• Senior-level strategy and leadership

• Budget planning and channel mix decisions

• Oversight of agencies and internal team

• KPIs, dashboards, and decision frameworks

… without the full-time cost of a C-suite hire.

Practically, that can look like:

• Weekly or bi-weekly strategy sessions

• Quarterly planning and 90-day roadmaps

• Leadership on campaign priorities, testing plans, and resourcing

• Coordination between your agencies, in-house people, and leadership team

Most importantly, a fractional CMO is accountable for making everything add up:

“Here’s your revenue target, here’s what we’re spending, and here’s the mix we’re using to get there.”

When a Fractional CMO Works Best

Fractional CMO is usually the best fit when:

• You’re in that $5–$20M band with real revenue and real complexity

• You have some mix of agencies and internal staff, but no one truly leading them

• The CEO or founder is still making a lot of marketing calls but doesn’t want to live in Google Ads or approvals forever

• You know something is off—CAC too high, tracking broken, lots of activity but unclear ROI—and you need a grown-up, data-driven view

This model is especially strong if:

• You sell DTC/ecommerce and/or healthcare / tech services

• Channels are already in motion (Meta, Google, email, content) but feel fragmented

• You want decision support, not just more tactics

Where Fractional CMOs Are Not a Fit

A fractional CMO is not ideal if:

• You’re looking for a do-everything execution arm (they should lead, not be your only implementer)

• You’re pre-product-market-fit and still changing the core offer every few weeks

• You have zero internal or external marketing resources—no agency, no marketer, no coordinator

In those cases, you probably need either:

• A specialist agency first, or

• A strong marketing manager plus freelancers—then a fractional CMO once there’s more to orchestrate.

How to Choose: A Simple Decision Framework

Here’s a practical way to think about it if you’re in the $5–$20M range.

Question 1: Who owns the growth number?

• “No one really does” → You likely need a fractional CMO or CMO-level leader.

• “Our agency kind of does” → You probably need someone internal (fractional or full-time) to own the strategy and hold agencies accountable.

• “A senior marketing leader already does, and it’s working” → You’re closer to a full-time CMO / VP model.

Question 2: What’s broken right now?

• “We don’t have a strategy, everything is reactive”→ Start with fractional CMO to build a strategy and 90-day roadmap.

• “We have a strategy but poor execution”→ You may need better agencies or in-house talent, under the guidance of a fractional or full-time CMO.

• “The data is a mess; we don’t trust our numbers”→ You need CMO-level thinking plus analytics cleanup—often a project-based engagement leading into fractional.

Question 3: What can you realistically invest?

Quick rule of thumb for many companies in this band:

• Specialist agencies: 5–15% of revenue (depending on growth goals)

• Fractional CMO: typically a few days per month or per week, often less than the fully loaded cost of a full-time senior hire

• Full-time CMO: salary + bonus + benefits + equity; think in the high five or low six figures annually plus team and agency costs

Ask yourself:

“Would I rather spend this full-time CMO budget on a fractional CMO + 1–2 excellent agencies + 1–2 focused internal hires?”

In many $5–$15M businesses, the answer is yes—at least for the next 1–3 years.

Example: A $10M Brand With “Too Many Pieces”

Here’s a typical pattern I see:

• Revenue: ~$10M

• Channels: Meta, Google, email, some SEO content, maybe affiliates

• Team:

  • One internal “Head of Marketing” who’s actually doing execution

  • 1–2 agencies (media + email, maybe PR)

• Problems:

  • CAC creeping up

  • Inconsistent creative testing

  • Messy tracking (GA4 doesn’t match Ads Manager, attribution fights)

  • Leadership unsure where to invest the next $500K

In that situation, the best path is usually:

1. Bring in a fractional CMO

2. Run a fast diagnostic: what’s working, what’s broken, what are the margins?

3. Build a 90-day growth roadmap: channel mix, budgets, KPI targets

4. Clean up measurement and reporting so the CEO can see what’s happening

5. Keep agencies that are performing, replace or refocus the rest

6. Clarify the internal role(s): who does what, and what will we hire next?

Only after that foundation is in place does a full-time CMO hire make sense—and at that point, you’re hiring into a much cleaner, more attractive environment.

So… Which Should You Choose?

If you’re a $5–$20M company wondering where to go next:

• If you have no strategy, just “random acts of marketing,” and everyone is guessing:→ Start with a fractional CMO to set the strategy and fix the foundation.

• If you have a solid CMO/VP already but struggle with execution bandwidth:→ Keep them, and invest in specialist agencies and better internal talent.

• If you’re at the top end of this range and already see the need for a full marketing org:→ A fractional CMO can bridge you into a full-time CMO hire and help you define the role, team, and budget.

How I Work With $5–$20M Brands

This is exactly the space I live in: companies that are beyond startup mode, but not yet big enough to justify a full marketing department and C-suite stack.

Typically, an engagement looks like:

1. Growth Diagnostic Call

   • We walk through your current numbers, channels, and goals.

2. 90-Day Growth Roadmap

   • A clear, prioritized plan: what to do first, where to invest, what to pause.

3. Fractional CMO Support

   • Ongoing leadership to align your team, agencies, and budget around the plan.

If you’re trying to decide between agency, fractional CMO, and in-house, we can talk it through with your actual numbers and constraints. Let's talk today.