Advisory CMO Services for Start-ups & Scale-ups
Strategic marketing leadership without the cost of full-time engagement.
Get expert guidance tailored to your growth stage.
Advisory CMO services give you access to expert-level marketing and growth expertise - on your terms.
What is an advisory CMO?
An Advisory CMO provides high-level strategic marketing direction without being embedded full-time, ideal for start-ups needing expert oversight.
Scaling a start-up is hard enough without guessing your marketing strategy. Many founders I work with are rightly worried about wasting time and money on disjointed tactics because they lack expert direction. But they also don’t need (or can’t afford) a full-time CMO – or even a fractional CMO.
That’s where an Advisory CMO comes in.
Think of me as your on-call marketing strategist.
I can provide the high-level roadmap, messaging and Go-To-Market clarity your team needs to attract customers, without the overhead of a full-time hire.
Unlike a Fractional CMO engagement (typically a bigger commitment), advisory services focus on strategic guidance: including quarterly planning, positioning, and solving your biggest marketing bottlenecks.
So you can focus on building your business.
Who needs an advisory CMO?
1. You’re a Founder wearing the ‘CMO hat’
You may be great at product, ops or finance, but feel out of your depth in marketing. Result? Inconsistent messaging, slow growth, wasted ad spend and unnecessary stress for you.
→ I’ll build your strategy so you can stop guessing.
2. You’re preparing for fundraising
Investors want to see a scalable GTM plan, but your pitch deck’s ‘marketing slide’ is weak.
→ I’ll refine your positioning and traction story to secure capital.
3. Your team lacks strategic direction
Your marketers are talented but need high-level guidance to align with business goals.
→ I’ll be their strategic sounding board, and work with them to set business-first KPIs.
What's at stake?
Without a clear marketing strategy, even the best products get lost in the noise. And some of them spend a fortune getting lost.
I’ll work with you to ensure your brand doesn’t suffer that.
Instead, we’ll deliver the plans to make your business grow.
Advisory CMO services
The basis of an advisory CMO arrangement is that you have a specialist on call. However, there are some core services I can help you with:
- Defining and articulating your value proposition
- Nailing your brand – without spending a fortune
- Creating and refining strategy
- Getting the organisation in shape to run effective marketing
- Putting the processes in place to build repeatable, measurable success
- Ensuring execution is on point
Why choose Richard Leader?
I’ve been around in senior marketing positions for over 20 years.
A number of the brands I have worked with have become European category leaders and founders have made successful exits.
I’ve learnt so much along the way – some of the lessons quite painful. And I’m here to give you the benefit of that experience and accumulated knowledge.
Advisory CMO FAQs
How much does advisory CMO service cost?
We’ll work that out together – prices range from £500-£2,500 per month.
What do I get from an advisory CMO?
It depends on your needs and the budget but it can include an ‘on call’ service, coaching, strategy work and much more.
How do advisory CMOs deliver?
We can work in a number of ways, including:
Biweekly/Monthly strategy sessions (1–2 hours)
Audits & playbooks (e.g., messaging, funnel gaps)
Team training/Q&A (e.g., coaching your marketers)
WhatsApp/Email/Slack support for quick advice
Can an Advisory CMO help with investor pitches or funding prep?
Yes! I can refine your market positioning, traction story, and GTM strategy to impress investors. It’s a common request for start-ups pre-Seed/Series A.
What’s the difference between an Advisory CMO and a consultant?
Consultant: Project-based (e.g., “Fix our SEO”).
Advisory CMO: Ongoing relationship, like a board member for marketing, with deeper business context.
How it works
- Book some time in my calendar for a no-obligation consultation call.
We’ll chat about your circumstances and see if we mutually feel we’re a good fit to work together. - I’ll work out what route I feel is best for your business, we’ll arrange another call and iron out details including the budget, approach and commitment.
- We start working together with regular calls and updates. We’ll do a full review in 3 months.