Fractional CMO for Shopify & DTC Brands (~1–10M)

You do not need another media buyer.

You need someone who owns the commercial picture: channel mix, retention, measurement, creative systems, and how the team and agencies actually work together.

That is what a fractional CMO does for a Shopify or DTC brand between roughly €/$1–10M ARR.

What this role actually is

A fractional CMO is part-time marketing leadership. Not a freelancer who “does Meta.” Not an agency with a new dashboard every month.

You get senior ownership of outcomes—without the cost and risk of a full-time CMO hire before you are ready.

I embed with your team a few days a week. I work with founders, operators, and whoever is already executing. I diagnose what is broken. I set priorities. I help you resource correctly so the right people do the right work.

I do not run your ad accounts day to day. If that is what you want, hire a buyer or keep your agency. Leadership and execution are different jobs. Most brands between 1 and 10M blur them—and pay for it.

Who this is for

Shopify and DTC founders who already have some traction. Ads are running. Email exists. Someone is “doing marketing.” And yet:

• Growth has stalled or become expensive
• CAC keeps rising while contribution margin after ads looks worse
• Agencies and freelancers do not sync
• The founder is still the bottleneck for every creative and channel call
• Nobody owns the P&L view of marketing—only campaign ROAS

If you are pre-product-market fit or under ~1M with no team, this is usually too early. Fix the fundamentals first. Hire hands that ship. Leadership without something to lead is theater.

What I own vs what I don’t

I own: brand and positioning clarity, growth strategy, measurement that matches the P&L, retention and lifecycle priorities, creative systems (not every asset), team and agency direction, 30–90 day plans you can run.

I don’t own: daily media buying, endless A/B tests without a thesis, vanity reporting, “more spend will fix it” without diagnosing the leak.

The point is commercial insight. Revenue that compounds. Not a prettier Ads Manager screenshot.

How the first 90 days usually work

Days 1–30 — Diagnose. Funnel, retention, creative throughput, org gaps, how you measure success. We find the real constraints—not the loudest ones.

Days 31–60 — Prioritize. One or two levers worth proving. Resource them. Kill or pause work that burns margin without moving the business.

Days 61–90 — Prove. Ship the plan. Tie decisions to contribution margin and payback—not isolated campaign ROAS.

If the fit is right, we continue as embedded leadership. If not, you leave with a clear map. Either outcome beats another six months of guessing.

Proof that matters

As founding Head of Brand at Foodello, I built brand, content, and creative systems from early stage and supported commercial growth from €1M to €15M ARR across European markets.

That was not “more ads.” It was brand, systems, and commercial discipline working as one layer.

I bring the same bias to Shopify/DTC brands in the EU and US: diagnose first, resource correctly, own outcomes.

Fractional vs the alternatives (short version)

Model	What you get	Common failure
Full-time CMO	Full ownership, high cost	Hire too early; wrong seniority; 6–9 months to know
Agency	Channel execution	No one owns the P&L or cross-channel truth
Consultant	Advice	No ownership of outcomes or team
Fractional CMO	Senior ownership, part-time	Wrong fit if you only need a buyer

For a deeper take: fractional vs full-time and fractional vs agency.

What it costs (directionally)

Market ranges for ecommerce fractional CMOs in 2026 typically sit well below a fully loaded full-time CMO, and above a specialist contractor. Exact fit depends on scope and days per week—not a one-line price list.

If you want clear numbers for your stage, book an intro. I’ll tell you honestly whether you need me, a buyer, a retention lead—or a Growth Audit first.

More on ranges: what a fractional CMO costs.

When not to hire me

• You want someone to “just run Meta harder”
• You have no budget for execution after strategy
• You want a magic creative that fixes weak offer or weak product
• You are not ready to change how the team works

I would rather say no early than become another line item that does not move revenue.

Next step

If you are at ~1–10M on Shopify or DTC, growth feels harder than it should, and you want senior marketing leadership—not another vendor—book a short intro.

Not sure whether leadership, an audit, or a hire is the right move? Start with a Growth Audit: a teardown of brand, funnel, and systems, plus a 90-day priority roadmap you can run with or without me.