Fractional marketing leadership for founders and European SMEs: a clear strategy, the right channels and growth processes you can measure — without hiring a full-time CMO.
companies that already chose this method
take the 2-minute test
Five questions, a score, and a personalised report with concrete next steps. No theory — just an honest picture of your marketing maturity.
Question 1 of 5
Do you have a documented, repeatable marketing process?
Services
External marketing leadership, part of your team, a few days a month. Strategy, KPIs, governance of the team and partners.
Learn moreFocused projects: positioning, audits, editorial planning, channel selection, measurement setup. Across Europe or fully remote.
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Who you'll work with
Fractional CMO with hands-on experience in 21 countries (16 in the EU), across sectors ranging from B2B manufacturing to SaaS, from food to fashion. Since 2018 I have helped SMEs and scale-ups unite marketing and sales into a single measurable growth plan, with the accountability of a CMO but without the cost of a full-time hire. I hold a degree in Business Administration and Management, and work in a hybrid model between Veneto and remote. Expert-Vetted on Upwork.
From the blog
The EU offers 450 million people and 23 million companies, but many buying cultures. How to prioritise countries, localise the value proposition and build a European go-to-market strategy that works.
The real scale of Italy's economy, regional differences, the role of SMEs and how to structure entry: a practical guide for international B2B companies.
Eight organisational signs that a B2B company needs senior marketing leadership, plus how to structure the first 90 days of a fractional mandate.
The method
Most small and medium businesses do not have a tooling problem — they have a direction problem. Content gets published without a clear audience, channels are opened because "everyone uses them", agencies are asked to generate leads before anyone has defined what a good lead looks like. The result is marketing that costs money, occupies people and cannot be connected back to revenue.
The work always starts from the same place: understanding what the company really sells, to whom, and why a buyer should choose it over a competitor. From there the message is decided, the two or three channels worth investing in are selected, and everything else is switched off. Fewer activities, done properly, measured.
A review of positioning, active channels, available data and the skills already in the company. We look at what has been done over the last twelve months, what it cost and what it produced. The goal is an honest picture, not a slide deck: by the end of the audit it is clear where opportunities are being lost and which levers are realistically available.
Through a quarterly roadmap: a few priorities, each with an internal owner, a deadline and an indicator. The plan covers the message to use, the content to produce, the channels to invest in and the measurement setup. The people inside the company know every week what to do and why.
Fractional marketing leadership stays alongside the team: recurring meetings, review of the numbers, coordination of agencies and suppliers, coaching of internal people. The stated goal is to make the company autonomous, not dependent on the consultant.
the projects speak
Massimo played a key role in helping us gain a deeper understanding of the Italian market and successfully launch a dynamic co-marketing campaign with an international company.
Massimo demonstrated strong market analysis skills, offering highly valuable strategic insights. His collaboration with our international team was flawless and contributed significantly to the success of our projects.
Massimo is an extraordinary person, a marketing expert with an endless supply of ideas. Highly recommended.
The questions founders ask most often before starting a structured marketing engagement.
A fractional CMO is part-time marketing leadership: someone who joins your team for a few days a month and takes responsibility for strategy, priorities and results. A classic consultant delivers an analysis or a plan and then leaves; fractional leadership stays inside the process, guides the internal people, coordinates agencies and freelancers and answers for the numbers quarter after quarter.
When a company needs senior judgement but not a full-time executive: revenue between 5 and 50 million, a small marketing team or one made up of executional profiles, and a budget that does not yet justify a permanent leadership hire. Fractional leadership gives access to the same level of experience at a fraction of the cost and with a far shorter ramp-up.
With a handful of indicators chosen before the work starts and connected to the P&L: qualified leads, acquisition cost, conversion rate along the funnel, average customer value and sales cycle length. Impressions, followers and likes are supporting signals, not goals. Measurement is set up at the beginning precisely so that, three months in, it is possible to say what worked and what should be stopped.
The setup is hybrid: in-person meetings where they add value — mainly in Northern Italy — and remote work for everything else. That makes it possible to support European SMEs and companies selling into foreign markets, keeping a steady weekly rhythm without unnecessary travel overhead.
It starts with a 30-minute intro call to understand the context, the commercial objectives and what has already been tried. If there is a fit, an audit follows on positioning, channels, data and team, and from it comes a quarterly roadmap with priorities, owners and indicators. No commitment is asked for before the audit.
Book a free 30-minute intro call: a straight conversation about your goals.
YouTube Shorts
Quick takes on marketing, positioning and growth — straight from my YouTube channel.