Fractional CMO

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Philosophy

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THE CASE FOR FRACTIONAL

What you get that a full-time hire,
a marketing manager, or an agency cannot

Enterprise pattern recognition,
without the enterprise price tag

Hiring a full-time CMO in Canada means $250K–$350K in total compensation, six to twelve months to hire, and another six months before they’ve learned your business. I’ve held VP and Director-level marketing roles at TELUS, Bell Canada, SMART Technologies, Veriforce, Userful, and TEC Canada. That cross-industry experience is available to your team from day one — not month nine.

30+
years at VP & Director level

Strategy in 30 days,
not six months of onboarding

B2B buyer behavior is changing faster than most companies can react to. An engagement with Optivus delivers a complete ICP, positioning architecture, and demand generation plan in the first 30–45 days, while competitors are still posting job listings.

30–45
days to strategic clarity

An agency executes. A fractional CMO
makes the agency accountable.

Most B2B companies paying an agency without a strategic marketing leader are funding activity that isn’t connected to a revenue goal. A fractional CMO sets the strategy, writes the brief, owns the ICP and positioning, and ensures everything your team or agency executes is pulling toward the same pipeline target. Modern tools then compress delivery by 40–60%.

40–60%
faster strategy-to-execution
Industries Served B2B SaaSProfessional Services Industrial TechnologyManufacturing DistributionEngineering Specialty ConsultingEnergy Services

Straight answers

What you actually want to
know before reaching out.

What is a fractional CMO, exactly?

A fractional CMO is a senior chief marketing officer who embeds part-time on a monthly retainer - typically 2–3 days per week. They own strategy, GTM architecture, and team leadership without the cost of a full-time hire. For PE-backed B2B companies doing $15M–$60M, a fractional CMO delivers the same strategic depth at 20–30% of full-time CMO cost.

How much does a fractional CMO cost in Canada?

Retainers typically run $6,000–$12,000 per month, depending on scope and days per week. A full-time CMO in Canada runs $250,000–$350,000 in total annual compensation - before equity and the 6–12 months it takes to recruit one. Optivus retainers deliver the same strategic depth at a fraction of that cost, with no long-term obligation.

How is this different from hiring a marketing consultant?

A consultant delivers advice and leaves. A fractional CMO takes ownership. They embed into your leadership team, manage people, own pipeline targets, and are accountable to revenue - not billable hours. The difference is execution accountability versus advisory. Dean acts as your CMO, not an outside expert.

When is the right time to hire a fractional CMO?

When marketing has outgrown founder-led execution but a $300K full-time hire isn't justified. Signs: revenue between $15M–$60M, inconsistent pipeline, marketing budget spent without a coherent strategy, or a GTM rebuild needed after a PE transaction, pivot, or acquisition. If two of these apply, it's time.

How fast does a fractional CMO deliver results?

Strategic output - clear ICP, positioning, prioritized channel plan - in the first 30–45 days. Pipeline impact follows in 60–90 days. At Veriforce, MQLs scaled from 30 to 803/month. At TELUS, structured GTM built a $989M revenue pipeline.

Does Optivus serve companies outside Calgary?

Yes. Based in Calgary, Alberta, Optivus serves B2B companies across Western Canada - Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon - and nationally. Engagements are primarily remote with optional on-site. Qualification is company stage ($15M–$60M B2B revenue, PE-backed) and fit, not geography.

Written by Dean Reid - Fractional CMO & VP Marketing, TEC Canada · 25+ years B2B executive leadership at TELUS, Veriforce, SMART Technologies & more · LinkedIn ↗

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

The terms are often used interchangeably. A fractional CMO works a defined fraction of their time on retainer, typically serving multiple clients simultaneously and bringing cross-industry perspective. A part-time CMO usually implies a dedicated employee at reduced hours. Fractional CMOs offer more flexibility, faster engagement start, and lower total cost.

The sweet spot is PE-backed B2B companies doing $15M–$60M in annual revenue that have outgrown founder-led marketing but can't yet justify a $250K–$350K full-time CMO. This includes professional services, B2B SaaS, manufacturing, engineering firms, and distribution companies with complex sales cycles that need senior marketing judgment tied to pipeline outcomes.

Yes. Dean functions as the de facto marketing leader - managing in-house team members, briefing agencies, integrating with sales, product, and customer success, attending leadership meetings, owning the marketing budget, and reporting to the CEO or board. This is embedded operational leadership, not an advisory relationship.

Deep experience across B2B SaaS, telecommunications, enterprise technology, professional services, and executive peer communities. Dean has held VP and Director roles at TEC Canada, Userful, Veriforce, TELUS, SMART Technologies, Bell Canada, and PricewaterhouseCoopers across 25+ years.

You're ready if: (1) revenue is $15M–$60M and marketing is still founder-led; (2) pipeline is unpredictable; (3) budget is being spent without a coherent GTM; (4) you've hired marketers but lacked the senior leadership to deploy them; or (5) you're entering a new market or post-acquisition. If two apply, a 30-minute discovery call costs nothing.

Still have questions? A discovery call is 30 minutes - no pitch, no pressure.

BOOK A FREE DISCOVERY CALL
Offering 01 Fractional Leadership

Fractional CMO for
B2B Growth

Senior marketing strategy - without the $300K salary, full-time politics, or 12-month onboarding

Who This Is For

B2B companies doing $15M–$60M who've outgrown startup marketing

You've scaled on word of mouth, founder-led sales, and hustle. But that engine is sputtering. Marketing feels reactive - a mix of random activities with no strategy tying them together. Your team executes. No one is setting direction. The result: inconsistent messaging, a pipeline that's hard to predict, and a CEO still making every marketing decision because no one has given them a reason not to.

You know you need senior marketing leadership. You also know a full-time CMO at $250K–$350K isn't the right move - not yet. What you need is fractional: all the judgment, none of the overhead. That's the exact gap this engagement fills.

"You don't need a full-time CMO. You need senior judgment, a proven go-to-market framework, and someone who has built B2B demand generation engines before - without the $300K salary. That's what I bring."

The Problem with Junior-Led Marketing

Activity without strategy costs more than you think

When marketing is led by execution rather than strategy, companies spend real money on content that doesn't convert, ads that reach the wrong buyers, and events that generate business cards instead of pipeline. The hidden cost isn't what you spend - it's the compounding revenue you're not generating because your go-to-market is misfiring.

A fractional CMO stops that leak. You get a senior mind that has built demand generation engines, owned positioning end-to-end, and aligned marketing to revenue - embedded part-time in your business, accountable to your growth outcomes.

What's Included

Strategy ownership, not more deliverables

  • Full positioning and messaging framework - built for your specific buyer, not your org chart or founder's ego
  • Go-to-market strategy with channel priorities ranked by realistic ROI - so the team knows exactly where to spend first
  • Demand generation engine design - ICP to pipeline, with clear attribution from marketing activity to revenue
  • Sales and marketing alignment - one narrative from first digital touch to closed deal, so reps stop rewriting the story
  • Monthly strategy day with your team + weekly CEO check-in - maintaining momentum between sessions
  • AI-generated playbooks, campaign briefs, and content frameworks ready for your team to execute against
  • Board-ready marketing dashboard - clear evidence of what's working when your investors ask
  • Quarterly growth review - a strategic reset that keeps the plan honest and the team focused
AI-Powered Execution

Every engagement is powered by AI - which means faster strategy development, richer deliverables, and execution-ready assets your team can use immediately.

  • Claude drafts positioning statements, messaging hierarchies, and ICP profiles from discovery sessions - cutting strategy time from weeks to days
  • ChatGPT and Copilot turn strategy frameworks into campaign briefs, email sequences, and landing page copy for junior staff to refine
  • AI analysis of your CRM, pipeline reports, and customer feedback surfaces the insights that make monthly strategy days sharper
  • A custom prompt library means your internal team generates on-brand content independently - compounding value beyond the engagement
Why Optivus

VP-level experience. Fractional availability.

Dean is a revenue engine builder and GTM & RevOps leader who turns fragmented commercial operations into unified, high-velocity growth systems. He modernizes strategy across SaaS, telecom, and enterprise tech-aligning Marketing, Sales, Product, and Success into a single, integrated growth engine. He pairs strategic clarity with hands-on execution, deploying demand generation, product-led growth, and account-based strategies to create predictable pipelines and strengthen retention. Dean injects analytics, attribution modeling, a modern growth stack, and AI across the customer lifecycle to multiply output, increase efficiency, and compound revenue.

Frequently Asked Questions

A fractional CMO owns your marketing strategy rather than executing tactics. On a typical month, that means one full strategy day with your team to set priorities and review performance, weekly check-ins with the CEO or COO to stay aligned on business goals, and regular async input on decisions, campaigns, and content. The day-to-day execution stays with your internal team or agency - the fractional CMO provides the strategic direction, the messaging architecture, and the judgment calls that junior staff can't make on their own.

Most clients see meaningful strategic output - a clear ICP, a refined positioning statement, a prioritized channel plan - within the first 30–45 days. Pipeline impact typically follows in 60–90 days as the strategy flows into execution. The 3-month minimum commitment exists precisely because marketing strategy needs time to compound. Companies that commit to 6–12 months see the most significant growth impact.

A marketing agency executes. A fractional CMO strategizes - and holds your agency accountable. Most B2B companies that engage agencies without a strategic marketing leader find they're paying for activity that isn't connected to business goals. A fractional CMO sets the strategy, writes the agency brief, evaluates the output, and ensures everything from content to paid media is working toward the same pipeline target. Think of it as the brain that tells the hands what to build.

Yes. While based in Calgary, Alberta, Dean works with B2B companies across Canada and North America. The fractional CMO model is inherently remote-friendly - strategy sessions, weekly check-ins, and deliverable reviews all work seamlessly online. Canadian companies particularly benefit from working with a fractional CMO who understands the Western Canada B2B market, the Alberta business environment, and the specific dynamics of founder-led companies in this region.

Free Diagnostic

Where is your GTM engine actually leaking revenue?

Seven questions, sixty seconds, no email required. A direct read on which part of your go-to-market motion breaks down first.