Fractional CMO Services
Senior marketing leadership, fraction of the cost.
NexLevel Advisors provides fractional CMO services for mortgage, fintech, and financial services companies. Led by Michael Hammond — 30-year industry veteran and host of the Fintech Hunting Podcast — you get C-suite marketing strategy and hands-on execution without a full-time executive hire.
What is a fractional CMO?
A chief marketing officer, on your terms.
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who works with your company part-time — owning strategy, budget, and results like a full-time CMO, at a fraction of the cost. For mortgage and fintech companies, the model works even better: you get a leader who already knows the industry, the buyers, the compliance guardrails, and the conference circuit.
What's included
Everything a CMO does, nothing you don't need.
Engagements are scoped to your stage — from a few days a month of strategic leadership to a fully embedded marketing department.
- A senior marketing leader embedded in your leadership team — strategy, budget, and accountability
- Go-to-market and positioning strategy built for mortgage, fintech, and financial services buyers
- Demand generation programs: ABM, content, webinars, and conference marketing
- AI-powered marketing systems that scale output without scaling headcount
- Management and mentoring of your existing marketing team or agency partners
- Board- and investor-ready reporting that ties marketing to pipeline and revenue
Who fractional CMO services fit best.
Growing companies
You've outgrown founder-led marketing but a $250K+ full-time CMO isn't in the budget yet.
Post-funding scale-ups
Investors expect pipeline growth. A fractional CMO gets a revenue engine running in weeks, not quarters.
Teams in transition
Between marketing leaders? Keep momentum while you hire — or let us help you define the role.
Focused on a specific vertical? See our mortgage marketing agency and fintech marketing agency pages. Selling into lenders? Start with our guide to mortgage sales technology. Budgeting the engagement? Read what a fractional CMO costs.
How engagements work
The first 90 days, step by step.
Days 1–30
Diagnose
Interviews with sales, product, and leadership. Audit of positioning, pipeline sources, content, tech stack, and reporting. You get a written assessment with the gaps ranked by revenue impact.
Days 31–60
Build the plan
Positioning and messaging your sales team will actually use, an ICP and buying-committee map, a channel plan with budget, and the two or three metrics the whole function will be judged on.
Days 61–90
Launch and prove
Campaigns in market, conference calendar locked, content engine running, and a reporting cadence that ties activity to pipeline. From here it becomes an ongoing operating rhythm.
Case studies
What this looks like in practice.
Named engagement
Mortgage Cadence — brand and product repositioning
As Chief Marketing Officer and CEO of Mortgage Cadence, Michael Hammond led the brand and product positioning work that took the company to a new level of professionalism and industry notoriety. "Michael took our brand and product positioning to the next level of professionalism and notoriety unmatched," says Lisa Springer, CEO of Stratmor Group.
What this means for you: your fractional CMO has done this job in the CEO's chair, not just advised on it.
Typical engagement
Mortgage technology vendor — from scattered tactics to a demand engine
A common starting point: a capable product, a small marketing team, and activity that isn't tied to pipeline. The first 90 days focus on positioning the sales team will actually use, an ICP and buying-committee map for lenders, a conference and webinar calendar, and reporting that connects spend to opportunities.
What this means for you: you stop paying for random activity and start running a system.
Typical engagement
Fintech scale-up — leadership while you hire
Between marketing leaders, momentum usually dies. A fractional CMO keeps campaigns in market, mentors the in-house team, manages the agencies, and helps you define and interview for the full-time role — then hands the new CMO a plan they can run from day one.
What this means for you: no lost quarter, and a stronger hire at the end of it.
Free playbook
The Fractional CMO First-90-Days Playbook.
The exact framework we use to take a mortgage or fintech company from scattered marketing to a revenue engine — free, straight to your inbox.
- The 10-point marketing audit we run in the first 30 days
- The positioning questions your sales team must answer consistently
- How to map the lender buying committee (and who actually signs)
- The conference and webinar calendar template for mortgage and fintech
- The three pipeline metrics your board actually wants to see
Fractional CMO questions, answered.
How much do fractional CMO services cost?
Engagements are scoped monthly by the level of involvement — from a few strategic days a month to a fully embedded marketing leader. That is typically a fraction of a full-time CMO's salary, bonus, equity, and benefits, and it can be scaled up or down as your stage changes. We quote after a scoping call, not from a rate card.
How long does a fractional CMO engagement last?
Most engagements run at least 90 days, because that is the honest amount of time to diagnose, build a plan, and get programs into market. Many continue as ongoing marketing leadership; others end when a full-time CMO is hired, with a handover the new leader can run from day one.
What is the difference between a fractional CMO and a marketing agency?
An agency executes campaigns against a brief. A fractional CMO writes the brief — owning positioning, budget, channel mix, team, and accountability to pipeline — and then manages the agencies and contractors who execute. Many clients keep both, with the fractional CMO directing the agency.
Do you work with our existing marketing team?
Yes. A large part of the role is leading, mentoring, and unblocking the marketers you already have, plus managing agency and freelance partners. Where a skill is genuinely missing, we help you hire or contract for it rather than expanding the engagement.
Which industries do you serve?
Mortgage, mortgage technology, fintech, and B2B financial services, nationwide across the United States. Michael Hammond has 30 years in these markets and hosts the Fintech Hunting Podcast, so campaigns launch with industry context instead of a learning curve.
Client Testimonials
What clients say about working with Michael.
3X
Our clients have seen their lead volume triple after partnering with us. Discover how our strategies can transform your business.
Our Fractional CMO model redefines go-to-market strategies. Experience the impact without the full-time overhead.
“Michael Hammond is an outstanding leader with a positive "Can Do" lead-by-example mentality. As Chief Marketing Officer and CEO for Mortgage Cadence, Michael took our brand and product positioning to the next level of professionalism and notoriety unmatched.”
Lisa Springer
CEO of Stratmor Group
“Michael is literally a master at business strategy. He thinks outside the box when others I think pay too much attention to the obvious. He's detailed. He's creative. In my dealings with him he is always prepared and is a key player in moving the initiative at hand forward in a positive motion.”
Tony Garritano
Founder, PROGRESS in Lending
“Michael Hammond is a results driven professional executive who excels at making organizations stand out in the crowd. His vast knowledge, experience and expertise to propel companies forward in all facets of the mortgage banking industry are unparalleled.”
Kathleen Mantych
SVP Business Development
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Next step
Ready to take your growth to the NexLevel?
Book a 30-minute discovery call and let's map the strategy that moves your audience and drives your sales.