Thread no. 02
Nine Lives, One Budget: Do You Need a Full-Time CMO in 2027?
The line item nobody questions
We've officially entered 2027 planning season and all over the world, in multiple 2027 budget sheets, there's a single cell that reads "Hire CMO (Q1)". For most scale-ups, with 50 to 200 people, it's also going to prove to be one of the most expensive cells in that budget, and yet, one of the least examined.
I've built marketing functions from the ground up as a full-time Marketing leader and as a fractional one, so I've sat on both sides of this decision. Cats may get nine lives, but your runway probably only gets one. So before that cell gets signed off, here's the honest maths.
What a full-time CMO really costs
A London-based CMO on a £140,000 salary can cost a scale-up around £240,000 in year one, before you've offered a single share option. The salary is the number everyone sees. The rest of that cost hides in payroll, National Insurance, pension contributions and recruiter fees (cue the finance team's quiet sighs).
| Cost | How it's calculated | Year one |
|---|---|---|
| Base salary | UK CMO median is around £147,000; London scale-ups commonly pay £120,000 to £150,000 | £140,000 |
| Bonus | Often 20% or more of base at CMO level | £28,000 |
| Employer National Insurance | 15% on earnings above £5,000 | £20,250 |
| Pension and benefits | Estimate for employer pension, health cover and equipment | £10,000 |
| Executive search fee (one-off) | Typically 25% to 33% of first-year pay | £42,000 |
| Total | £240,000 |
Then there's equity. A senior hire will reasonably expect a meaningful option grant, which is the most expensive currency a startup has.
The costs that never make the spreadsheet
But the bigger costs aren't in the table at all. They're actually the time and risk involved with a full time hire and the entire process.
Time. A senior team member search typically takes months. Add a pretty normal three-month notice period and a ramp-up period, and a "Q1 hire" can easily be doing their best work by the summer. That's two quarters of 2027 plus the end of 2026, without any senior marketing leadership. That means no clear structure or direction in the meantime.
Tenure. CMOs at VC-backed companies stay a median of 2.6 years, the shortest of any ownership type. In software, the average is closer to 27 months. So you may be paying a search fee, an equity grant and a ramp-up period for a little over two years of output.
Fit. A scale-up's marketing needs change fast. The leader who's perfect for building the function at 30 people isn't necessarily always going to be the one you need at 150. A full-time hire locks in one shape of leader for a business that's still changing shape, and where 'one size fits all' doesn't really apply anymore.
What fractional costs (yes, including ours)
At The Red String Club, our top tier leads your entire marketing function for £96,000 a year, about 40% of that full-time year one. No search fee, no National Insurance, no pension contributions, and we can start work in days, not months.
| Tier | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Growth Diagnostic, Curious cat | A deep look at what's working, what isn't, and what to do next | £2,000, credited toward a retainer |
| Launch Sprint, Claws, sharpened | A focused 4 to 6 week push on one big priority | From £4,000 |
| Growth Partner, The popular one | Ongoing senior strategy and leadership | £4,500 a month (£54,000 a year) |
| Growth Partner Plus, The cat that got the cream | Around two days a week running the whole function | £8,000 a month (£96,000 a year) |
The real advantage though, isn't in the price alone, it's in the flexibility of it all. You can scale up for a launch, scale down after it, and change course when the business does, without a restructure.
When you should hire full-time
Fractional isn't always the answer, and anyone who says it is for certain, probably has a retainer to sell. (We do too, which is why I'll be honest.) Hire a full-time CMO when:
- You need someone in the building five days a week, leading a team of 10 or more
- Marketing is your primary growth engine and needs constant, daily judgement calls
- Your board or investors expect a permanent marketing leader in the leadership team
- You know exactly what 'shape' of leader you need for the next three years
If you're unsure about that last one, that might be your answer. For many startups and scale-ups, going fractional first is the smarter move. You get senior marketing leadership now, a functioning marketing operation, and a clear understanding of what your eventual full-time hire actually needs to do.
And a good fractional CMO shouldn't just build a function around themselves. They should build one that's ready for the next person, if that's what the business requires. At The Red String Club, that means getting the strategy, positioning, processes, priorities, KPIs and team structure in place, then helping you define the role, recruit the right person and hand over the reins.
What it really means is that when your permanent CMO or marketing lead does arrive, they're not walking into a mess that takes months to detangle. They're walking into a function built to move, from day 1. Think of it as marketing leadership with an exit strategy. A bit like Hinge, 'designed to be deleted', except the happy ending is a marketing team that no longer needs you in the room.
Before you sign off that cell
So, if "Hire CMO (Q1)" is in your 2027 plan, spend £2,000 before you spend £240,000. A Growth Diagnostic tells you what your marketing actually needs, whether that's a full-time leader, a fractional one, or something else entirely. If you go on to work with me, the full fee is credited toward your retainer.
Book a Growth Diagnostic with me and let's talk it through.
A CMO by Monday. No 6-month search required. Clear positioning. Connected marketing. Commercial results.
Sources
- CMO Salary UK, Full-time and Fractional 2026 (UK CMO median salary)
- CMO Salary UK 2026 (bonus as a share of base)
- Employer National Insurance 2026/27, PayFit (15% above £5,000)
- Executive search fees, Kitalent (25% to 35% of first-year pay)
- Findem x CMO Huddles CMO Tenure Study, via Bizcommunity (VC-backed CMO tenure)
- Digiday: Average CMO tenure has shrunk by over a third (software CMO tenure)
That's the end of this thread.
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