Fractional CMO
Danny Daley, founder of Circulate, working inside your business. Marketing leadership from someone who connects the dots between your channels, your agencies, your sales team and the numbers.
A good fractional CMO doesn’t just tell you what to do, they read the work that comes back and know straight away whether it’s earning its budget.
The executive scope
Growth leadership and roadmap ownership
The marketing roadmap, owned: priorities, dates and owners, updated as the commercial picture changes rather than once a year.
Multi channel acquisition strategy
Outbound, inbound, search, LinkedIn, events. Which channels earn budget, which do not, and how they fit together into one pipeline.
Positioning, messaging and go to market
Who you are for, what you say, and how sales and marketing say the same thing to the same buyer.
Agency, partner and team oversight
One owner for every supplier and internal marketer. Clear briefs, useful feedback, and a view on whether the work is earning its budget.
Budget allocation and ROI accountability
Where the money goes, what it returns, and a written monthly report the board can read without a translator.
Marketing systems and lead data
CRM, lead scoring, attribution and tooling set up so every lead has a source and every source has a number.
AI Visibility Report
Free. Eight questions. About two minutes.
64%
Your AI visibility score
C
- AI answersDoes ChatGPT name you when buyers ask?
- Google AI OverviewsAre you cited, or is a competitor?
- Competitor shareWho AI recommends instead of you.
- Your fix listThe three things worth fixing first.
Trusted by
Does AI recommend your business?
Your buyers ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI before they ever reach your site. If you’re not in those answers, the enquiry goes to a competitor. Our free check shows you where you stand.
- An instant score: answer eight quick questions and see where you stand straight away.
- Five AI tools: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews.
- A personal report: our team sends your findings within one working day.
- No hard sell: free, with no obligation.
Free, confidential and no obligation to proceed.
Trusted by leading brands
Case studyIRIS Audio
Read the case study IRIS Audio. One marketing plan across five lead sources.
An AI voice isolation company with several partners each running its own channel. Danny stepped in as fractional CMO, defined who IRIS sells to and put every lead source on one plan, with a weekly rhythm across the partners.
Who it suits, and who it does not
Who it suits.B2B businesses turning over £2m+
You’ve got happy customers and good results, but you’re struggling to get that story in front of buyers. You’re paying agencies and freelancers, and nobody has time to check what you’re getting back. And something has made it urgent: new investment, a tough question from the board, a slow quarter or a marketer who’s left.
Who it does not.Consumer brands, early startups, or not ready to act.
Businesses that mainly sell to consumers. Startups still working out what they sell and who to. Anyone who wants a CMO’s name on a slide but won’t act on the advice, or won’t share sales numbers, including the deals you lost.
These guys are the real deal – what you want from your digital agency. They do not just listen and action, they will push you further, not the other way around (which makes a refreshing change from previous agencies). You will know there is an actual passion behind helping you grow your digital presence. I personally enjoy working with each member of their team and would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
Three stages to owning the marketing direction
01
Diagnose and decide
We look at why you win and lose deals and where your best leads come from. We talk to your customers and review your team, agencies and tools. You get a clear written plan and a decision on what happens next.
02
Agree and build
We agree how you describe what you do and put it everywhere: your website, sales material and outreach. We create the proof buyers look for, like case studies. Any changes to agencies or the team come with clear costs.
03
Launch and prove
Campaigns go live and the proof gets published. You can see which work brings in which leads. The board gets a simple report, and next quarter is planned and budgeted.
Our expertise
Google Search
When your audience moves from AI answers to deeper research, we make sure your brand dominates the traditional results page.
Technical SEO
Our Technical SEO expertise helps you maximise the reach of your website in organic search through improved crawling and indexation of high-quality content.
Data Insights
We define exactly who your search presence is built for, so every decision that follows is designed to attract people capable of engaging, converting and driving real business value.
AI Search
We build content around real questions and clear, authoritative answers, structured so AI models recognise, trust and recommend your brand.
Social Search
Social Search makes your brand genuinely searchable and discoverable in the places modern audiences now turn to for answers, recommendations and inspiration.
Digital PR
Stories the press actually wants, and the links and brand mentions that follow, supporting SEO growth and long term brand value at the same time.
Conversion
We analyse behaviour, remove friction and tighten your funnels so more visitors convert. Higher sales, higher ROI and a website that works as hard as your marketing.
Frequently asked questions
What does a fractional CMO actually do?
The job a full time CMO would do, part time: strategy, budget, positioning, the team and the agencies, with a weekly rhythm and a monthly written report. One named person, Danny Daley, not a rotating team.
Why this, rather than a career CMO?
Because the work gets inspected. Danny has run Circulate since 2014, so he knows what good agency output looks like, what it should cost and where budget usually leaks. A career CMO can direct a supplier. Fewer can read the work that comes back, and that is where the value is.
Is this a way of selling us Circulate?
It is a fair question, so it is written into the agreement. Circulate may be recommended for delivery and you are under no obligation to appoint us. Any larger piece of work goes to a competitive process with at least two other suppliers, Circulate is held to the same reporting as everyone else, and Circulate is reported on in exactly the same way as everyone else.
How much of your time do we get?
Two options. A weekly strategic call, one on site day a month and a quarterly face to face roadmap session, or a fortnightly call with one on site day a quarter. Both include priority WhatsApp access Monday to Friday, and travel and expenses are included. The right option is scoped to your business, so there is no price list.
What is the minimum term?
Three months, then rolling. Below three months there is only time to diagnose, and the point is to decide and get moving.
What do you need from us?
Access to revenue data, closed won and closed lost, the analytics and marketing accounts, and a leadership team that will act on a recommendation within a few days. Without those, accountability is a pose.
Start with a free strategy session
We’ll look at what you rank for, where competitors are winning instead, and what is worth fixing first. No charge, and the findings are yours either way.
Latest insights
The differences of working with a permanent & fractional CMO
Fave songThunderstruckAC/DC · The Razors Edge, 1990
The differences of working with a permanent & fractional CMO
Fave songThunderstruckAC/DC · The Razors Edge, 1990
How do you know if you’re ready for a fractional CMO?Fave songThunderstruckAC/DC · The Razors Edge, 1990
How do you know if you’re ready for a fractional CMO?
Fave songThunderstruckAC/DC · The Razors Edge, 1990
What is a Fractional CMO?Fave songThunderstruckAC/DC · The Razors Edge, 1990
What is a Fractional CMO?
Fave songThunderstruckAC/DC · The Razors Edge, 1990