The single most-asked unspoken question from CEOs evaluating a fractional CMO: "What does this actually look like once they start?" Here's the honest week-by-week breakdown. The discovery work, the deliverables to expect, the leading indicators of success, and what to push on if it isn't working.
The first two weeks are about learning the business before changing anything. A fractional CMO who shows up with answers in week one is selling, not leading.
Day-30 honesty check: Can you articulate, in two sentences, what the fractional CMO believes is the single biggest constraint on your marketing function and what they're going to do about it? If not, the discovery wasn't deep enough.
Day-90 honesty check: Is the marketing function visibly different from day 1? If your answer is "we have a strategy doc and some hires but the operations haven't changed yet," push on it. Strategy without operating change at day 90 is a yellow flag.