Field Notes

Short answers to specific questions.

Each Field Note is a single question answered directly—the kind of answer a senior practitioner gives when a buyer asks something they need to understand before they hire. Written by Steve Ice, principal. The full essay library lives at Writing.

All Field Notes

How much does a marketing consultant cost?

Marketing consultants typically cost $150 to $400 an hour or $3,000 to $10,000 a month. The range reflects the seniority of the judgment, not the hours logged.

Marketing consultant vs. agency: which do you need?

A marketing consultant advises and decides; a marketing agency executes. The test is the deliverable: a consultant hands you a decision, an agency the work.

Fractional CMO vs. marketing agency: the difference

A fractional CMO owns the strategy and the decisions; an agency executes the work. One sits on your side of the table, the other is a vendor you direct.

When should you hire a fractional CMO?

Hire a fractional CMO when marketing has outgrown coordination but cannot justify a full-time executive, and decisions are getting made by default.

What does a fractional CMO do?

A fractional CMO sets and owns a company’s marketing strategy and holds it accountable, part-time—they decide, direct, and measure rather than do the hands-on production.

How much does a fractional CMO cost?

A fractional CMO typically costs $5,000 to $15,000 per month in the US. The range reflects seniority, hours, and authority far more than any published rate.

Do you need to trademark your logo?

No, trademarking a logo is not legally required—copyright protects it automatically. Registration is an optional business decision about protecting the brand the logo stands for.

What are the types of logos?

The standard logo types are the wordmark, lettermark, pictorial mark, abstract mark, combination mark, and emblem. Which type fits is a positioning decision, not an aesthetic one.

How much does a logo cost?

A logo costs from under $50 to $50,000 or more. The range reflects what is being bought—a file, a considered mark, or the brand decision the mark expresses.

What is an online marketing audit?

An online marketing audit is the same assessment the industry now more often calls a digital marketing audit: one exercise, two names. Insist on the full digital scope rather than a website-only review.

How do I choose a digital marketing agency?

Choosing a digital marketing agency adds two filters to the general agency evaluation: measurement tied to business outcomes rather than platform metrics, and ownership of your ad accounts, analytics, and tags.

What does a marketing consultant do?

A marketing consultant is a senior outside advisor a business hires to diagnose its marketing and recommend what to change: strategy, positioning, channel priorities, budget, and measurement.

What is integrated media?

Integrated media is the discipline of designing brand communications so that the visual, written, and technical elements work together as a single system rather than as separate channels.

What is a fractional CMO?

A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who provides chief marketing officer-level strategic direction and accountability to a business on a part-time, ongoing basis instead of as a full-time hire.

What is a B2B marketing strategy framework?

A B2B marketing strategy framework is the structured set of decisions that defines how a B2B business positions itself in its category, who it sells to, what marketing programs it runs to reach those buyers, and how those programs reinforce each other.

What is a content marketing audit?

A content marketing audit assesses the substance and performance of a business’s published content: editorial quality, search-engine outcomes, audience engagement, and how the content connects to the marketing programs that distribute it.

What does a website marketing audit cover?

A website marketing audit covers the marketing performance of a website specifically: technical SEO foundations, on-page editorial substance, conversion-path integrity, analytics tracking, and the integration between the site and the marketing programs that depend on it.

How much does a marketing agency cost?

Marketing agency cost in the United States typically ranges from $1,500 to $15,000 per month for established small and mid-market businesses, with project fees running $5,000 to $50,000 or more depending on scope.

What is a marketing audit?

A marketing audit is a structured assessment of a business’s current marketing program: what is in place, what is producing results, where the gaps are, and what should change.

What is a digital marketing audit?

A digital marketing audit assesses a business’s online marketing infrastructure and performance: the website, search visibility, email program, paid digital acquisition, social presence, analytics setup, and the integration between them.

How do I choose a marketing agency?

Choosing a marketing agency comes down to three filters most buyers are not taught to apply: the budget floor below which the agency cannot deliver well, whether the work comes from the people in the pitch, and whether the agency will say so when the engagement is wrong.

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