Fractional CMO for Contractors

Fractional CMO
With the Execution
Already Included.

Most fractional CMOs hand you a strategy deck and a list of vendors to hire. You get a plan, but nobody to run it. Our fractional CMO service includes the strategy and the execution. Brand planning, content creation, social media, SEO, web performance, and reporting. All included. One point of contact. No gaps.

Scope Comparison
What's Included
Primate CMO+
Brand Strategy
Content Writing
Social Media
Graphic Design
SEO Execution
Web & PageSpeed
Exec Reporting
Typical CMO
Brand Strategy
Content Writing
Social Media
Graphic Design
SEO Execution
Web & PageSpeed
Exec Reporting
$5,000
CAD/Month · CMO+
VS
$10K–$20K+
CMO + Vendors
Strategy + Execution Included
$5,000 CAD/Month
20 Years in the Trades
One Core Contact
$5K
Per Month, Strategy + Execution
2–4x
Less Than CMO + Vendor Stack
20
Years Embedded in the Trades
1
Point of Contact. No Execution Gap.
The Short Version

What Is a Fractional CMO?

CMO stands for Chief Marketing Officer, the person responsible for leading a company's marketing strategy. "Fractional" means part-time or contract-based instead of a full-time employee. A fractional CMO gives you experienced marketing leadership on a monthly retainer, without adding a salaried position to your payroll. You get someone who sets the direction, builds the plan, and keeps your marketing moving forward, on a schedule and budget that fits your business.

The problem with most fractional CMO engagements is that they stop at strategy. You get a plan, a brand audit, a quarterly roadmap, and maybe some vendor recommendations. But the actual work, writing the posts, building the graphics, updating the website, implementing SEO fixes, managing the social accounts, still needs to be done by someone else. That usually means hiring an agency or a handful of freelancers on top of the CMO retainer, which adds cost and complexity.

That is the gap our Fractional CMO+ model fills. We provide the strategic direction and we do the work behind it. Content, social media, SEO, web updates, reporting, and performance support are all included in one engagement. No separate vendors. No coordination overhead. One person who builds the plan and executes it. The "+" means the execution is already built in, so you are not paying for strategy that sits in a slide deck waiting for someone to act on it.

How It Compares

Three Options.
One Clear Difference.

Typical Fractional CMO
Strategy-only retainer
$5K–$13K
CAD per month
Brand Strategy
Included
Content Writing
Separate vendor
Social Media
Separate vendor
Graphic Direction
Separate vendor
SEO Implementation
Separate vendor
Web & PageSpeed
Separate vendor
Executive Reporting
Included
Trades Experience
Generalist
~
Onboarding
60–90 days
Vendors to Manage
You find the vendors
~
Proven Portfolio Results
Depends on vendor
CMO + Agency Stack
Strategy retainer + separate execution vendors
$10K–$20K+
CAD per month combined
Brand Strategy
Via CMO retainer
~
Content Writing
Via agency, extra cost
~
Social Media
Via agency, extra cost
~
Graphic Direction
Via agency, extra cost
~
SEO Implementation
Via SEO retainer, extra cost
~
Web & PageSpeed
Via web dev, extra cost
Executive Reporting
Included
Trades Experience
Generalist CMO + generalist agency
~
Onboarding
60–90 days + agency ramp
Vendors to Manage
2–4 vendors
~
Proven Portfolio Results
Depends on vendor
Primate CMO+
Strategy + execution included
$5,000
CAD per month flat
Brand Strategy
Included
Content Writing
Included
Social Media
Included
Graphic Direction
Included
SEO Implementation
Included
Web & PageSpeed
Included
Executive Reporting
Included
Trades Experience
20 years in the trades
Onboarding
Days, not months
Vendors to Manage
One core contact
Proven Portfolio Results
Documented results available

Pricing shown as estimated CAD market ranges. Primate CMO+ is priced per company. Portfolio and multi-company engagements are quoted based on scope and number of brands. Contact us for a custom proposal.

What's Included

Everything a Fractional CMO Delivers.
Plus Everything They Don't.

🎯
Brand Strategy & Planning

Positioning, messaging, competitive analysis, and a growth roadmap built for your specific market. Not a templated plan. A strategy built from your actual business, your actual market, and your actual numbers.

✍️
Content & Copywriting

Blog posts, service pages, social captions, project highlights, recruitment content, and seasonal campaigns. Written in your brand voice with your industry terminology. No generic freelancer copy.

📲
Social Media Management

Ongoing management of Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Branded graphics, engagement-driven copy, consistent scheduling, and performance tracking. This is the work most fractional CMOs explicitly exclude. We include it.

📈
SEO Implementation

Not just an audit or a keyword list. On-page optimization, meta data, internal linking, image compression, schema markup, and the technical fixes that actually move rankings. 20 years of trades SEO experience.

Web & PageSpeed

Website updates, design improvements, mobile optimization, and technical maintenance. We maintain PageSpeed scores at 95+ and handle Core Web Vitals. When performance issues show up, they get addressed quickly instead of waiting in a developer queue.

🖥️
Executive Reporting

Monthly and quarterly reports covering reach, engagement growth, traffic, SEO rankings, PageSpeed, and content output. Board-ready reporting for ownership, leadership teams, and PE investors.

01
The Real Cost of a Traditional Fractional CMO

A fractional CMO in Canada typically costs $5,000 to $13,000 per month depending on scope and hours. That covers strategy, planning, and oversight, but usually not the hands-on work. If you want someone to also write the content, manage social media, handle SEO implementation, and maintain the website, those are separate retainers. Adding even two or three of those execution layers can bring the total to $10,000 to $20,000+ per month across multiple vendors. Our program covers the strategy and the execution at $5,000 CAD, with no additional vendors required.

Monthly Cost Comparison (CAD)
Primate CMO+ · Strategy + Execution
$5,000
Fractional CMO · Strategy Only
$5K–$13K
CMO + Execution Vendors
$10K–$20K+
Honest ranges · Same scope · No inflated comparisons
02
One Contact. Every Deliverable.

The traditional CMO model creates layers: a strategist, a content agency, a social media freelancer, a web developer, an SEO retainer. Each one needs onboarding, briefing, invoicing, and coordination. Our model eliminates all of that. Strategy, content, social, SEO, web, and reporting all come from the same person who built the plan. Nothing gets lost in translation. Nothing sits in a queue.

Single Point of Contact
CMO
Strategy
Content
Social
SEO
Web Dev
Reporting
One vendor · One invoice · Zero handoffs
03
Built for PE Portfolio Companies

Private equity firms acquiring trades companies need to professionalize the brand, standardize marketing across the portfolio, and demonstrate measurable growth without disrupting operations. A typical PE fractional CMO engagement runs $15,000 to $50,000+ per month with execution billed separately. Our program delivers the same scope at $5,000 CAD per company. One vendor. One invoice. Zero onboarding delay.

Portfolio Brand Management
🌡️
HVAC Co
Active
Electrical
Active
🔧
Plumbing
Active
🏗️
GC Firm
Active
🔥
Welding
Active
🏠
Roofing
Active
$5,000 CAD/month per company · Consistent brand across portfolio
Who This Is For

Fractional CMO Services Built for Companies That Do Real Work

🏢
PE Portfolio Companies

Multi-brand management at scale. Consistent brand, standardized reporting, and measurable growth across every acquisition in the portfolio.

🔧
Commercial & Industrial Trades

HVAC/R, electrical, mechanical, construction, welding. Fractional CMO services built by someone who has spent 20 years inside your industry.

📍
Multi-Location Operations

Unified brand presence across every branch and region. Local relevance with corporate-level consistency and reporting.

📈
Growth-Stage Companies

Generating revenue but leaving opportunity on the table. Senior marketing leadership and execution without the $200K in-house hire.

How It Works

From First Call to Active Execution in Days

01
Discovery

We learn your business, your buyers, your competitors, and your goals. No templates. A strategy built from your actual market and your actual numbers.

02
Strategy & Roadmap

Brand positioning, content calendar, SEO targets, social media plan, and reporting structure. Everything scoped and scheduled before any work begins.

03
Execute

Posts go live. Content gets published. SEO gets implemented. Website gets updated. No waiting for a third-party agency to pick it up.

04
Measure & Report

Monthly performance reports covering reach, engagement, traffic, rankings, and content output. Executive-ready data, not vanity metrics.

05
Refine & Scale

Data drives the next cycle. What performs gets amplified. What doesn't gets cut. Continuous improvement, not set-it-and-forget-it marketing.

Why Primate Web FX

Fractional CMO for Contractors Across Canada and the USA

Whether you need fractional CMO services for a trades company, marketing leadership for a commercial contractor, or brand management across a PE portfolio, our Fractional CMO+ program delivers strategy and execution in one engagement. No separate agencies. No freelancer coordination. One person who builds the plan and does the work.

With 28 years of experience and 20 years embedded in the trades industry, we understand how commercial and industrial buyers evaluate companies. We know the difference between residential lead generation and commercial brand credibility. We know why a controls division needs different messaging than a service department. That context is built into every post, every page, and every report we deliver.

A traditional fractional CMO engagement in Canada costs $5,000 to $13,000 per month for strategy alone. Add the execution layer, content, social, SEO, web, and reporting, and the total can reach $10,000 to $20,000+ per month across multiple vendors. Our program delivers the same scope at $5,000 CAD per month. One engagement. One invoice. One person who knows your industry and does the work.

If you are evaluating fractional CMO options for a trades business or PE portfolio, contact us for a side-by-side breakdown. We will show you what is included, what is excluded, and where the real cost differences are. No pitch. Just numbers. You can also explore our contractor SEO services and custom website design to see the depth of work behind every engagement.

Ready to Compare

Get a Side-by-Side
Before You Decide.

Tell us what you are evaluating and we will build you a direct comparison showing scope, cost, and deliverables. Strategy plus execution at a fraction of the traditional CMO model.

No commitment required · Canada · USA · Caribbean · Response within 1 business day