Interim CMO.
Marketing run by one accountable operator for a defined period: acquisition economics first, agencies held to a number, pricing and positioning fixed where the data says so.
Direct answer
An interim CMO runs marketing full-time for a defined period with budget authority and revenue accountability. Rates run EUR 1,200 to EUR 2,500 per day or EUR 20,000 to EUR 40,000 monthly. The first six weeks rebuild cost per acquisition and payback, then spend is cut or protected on that evidence.
Signals
Six reasons boards call.
- 01Marketing spend is growing faster than qualified pipeline.
- 02Nobody can state cost per acquisition and payback period from memory.
- 03Three agencies are active and none is accountable to a revenue number.
- 04The CMO left and the CEO has absorbed marketing on top of everything else.
- 05A new market or product launch needs senior ownership for two quarters.
- 06Pricing has not been reviewed since before the last two cost increases.
Why this page exists
I have held the seat.
Before running CEO mandates I was CMO of LeoVegas Group, with an annual marketing budget above EUR 120M and EUR 50M of incremental revenue delivered in under twelve months. That is why marketing accountability sits inside my CEO mandates rather than being outsourced to an agency deck.
For the part-time version of this role, see fractionalcmo.rent. For the permanent hire and its cost comparison, hire a CMO. Related seats: interim COO and interim CFO.
FAQ
Interim CMO. Buyer questions.
What is an interim CMO?
An interim Chief Marketing Officer runs marketing full-time for a defined period with budget authority and revenue accountability. The brief is usually to fix acquisition economics, rebuild the team or hold the function while a permanent CMO is recruited, ending on an agreed date.
When should a company hire an interim CMO instead of an agency?
An agency executes channels. An interim CMO decides which channels, at what cost per acquisition, with what pricing and what team, and can fire the agency that is not working. If nobody internally can hold agencies accountable to a number, you need the seat, not more execution capacity.
How much does an interim CMO cost?
EUR 1,200 to EUR 2,500 per day, or EUR 20,000 to EUR 40,000 per month on retainer. That is typically less than the loaded annual cost of a permanent CMO hire plus a search fee, and it can be stopped at the end of the mandate without severance.
What does an interim CMO do in the first six weeks?
Rebuilds the numbers first: spend by channel, cost per acquisition, payback period, pipeline conversion. Then kills what does not pay back, protects what does, and fixes pricing or positioning if the data points there. Brand work follows the economics, not the other way round.
Interim CMO or fractional CMO?
Interim is full-time with an exit date, right for a departure, a crisis in acquisition cost or a relaunch. Fractional is one to three days a week and ongoing, right for companies that need senior marketing judgement without a full-time salary. There is a dedicated site for that model at fractionalcmo.rent.
Next step
Marketing spend without a number.
Thirty minutes on acquisition cost, payback and what the seat really needs to be. Written scope within 48 hours.