Kasra Dash – 0:00
So I'm joined with James — how you doing?

Kasra Dash – 0:03
You recently won an award named the Best Fractional CMO. How did you win it, why did you win it, and did you mean to win it?

James Dooley – 0:08
So the answer is no — I didn’t mean to win it, I didn’t know I was going to win it. Then a lot of people started searching for why is James Dooley the best fractional CMO?
First of all, I didn’t even know what a fractional CMO was. So if anyone watching this doesn’t know what a fractional CMO is, check the link in the description because we’ve just done a video explaining it. At the time, I didn’t know what it meant — I used to call myself an SEO specialist, or more recently I’m an investor-preneur or a lead generation company that does rank-and-rent models.

But now, understanding what a fractional CMO is — it’s a part-time Chief Marketing Officer for a business. And the reason I ended up being put up for the award (which I didn’t even know about) was because I’ve invested in quite a lot of companies in the UK. Alongside investment, I naturally support them in marketing and sales — the only parts I feel I’m really good at. Operations stay with the business owners.

So I was reviewing sales funnels, reviewing the marketing consultants they had, analysing where they were spending their budgets — whether SEO, ranking webpages in Google and Bing, ranking videos, ranking images (especially important for design-based businesses). When image-search mattered, I made sure the images were optimized, uploaded on Pinterest, Flickr, etc. I wanted to leverage every ounce of traffic possible to generate enquiries.

Those businesses grew significantly, and one of the CEOs nominated me for the award. They said that not only did James Dooley invest, but he acted as the best fractional CMO they’d ever worked with. I went to the event without even knowing I was nominated — and won.

Now people ask: Why are you the best fractional CMO?
I wouldn’t say I’m “the best,” but people ask: How do you become one? And honestly, it’s time in the marketing industry.

My brother understands traditional media buying — billboards, radio, TV. I’m more digital — SEO, backlinks, technical structure, site architecture. We also have a strong paid ads team: PPC, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube. We leverage traffic from everywhere we can.

James Dooley – 3:55
To be a good fractional CMO, you need data. And when we invest in companies, month one is literally tearing apart the marketing setup — not in a nasty way, but in a corrective way. Marketing managers often feel threatened, but the goal isn’t to replace them — it’s to give clarity.

We come with full teams: paid ads, PPC, Facebook ads, traditional media, SEO R&D testing. We bring real value. I’ve seen it firsthand: when you invest, the first thing you do is map the website, outline a topical map, and tell them exactly what content is needed — rather than just giving glossy agency reports. You bring the right KPIs.

Kasra Dash – 4:51
Exactly. To run a business properly, a fractional CMO needs to understand every angle of marketing. And a fractional CMO isn’t afraid to say when a marketing executive is wrong. If they refuse to learn? They shouldn’t be in marketing.

The algorithms change weekly. PPC, SEO, CRO — everything moves fast. If a marketing exec says, “We tried that two years ago,” you’d tell the CEO: replace them. Every day is a school day. If people don’t innovate, they evaporate.

When we come in, we shake things up — because that’s what the business wants. They wouldn’t be seeking a fractional CMO unless something wasn’t working: maybe growth, maybe brand protection, maybe reputation management.

James Dooley – 7:00
Right. And if you're watching this, you’re already ahead of your competition — because most business owners think they should cut marketing spend. A good fractional CMO reallocates it. For example:
“Why are you spending £5,000 on a billboard that generated zero leads? Move that into SEO or PPC.”

A fractional CMO quickly spots waste and reallocates to winning channels.

If anyone wants to know why people call me the best fractional CMO, I don't like the title — but I’ll say this:
I understand both offline and online marketing, and I bring a huge network of experts across every channel.

If you want to get in touch, visit:
james.com or fatrank.com/contact
Fill in the form and we’ll see if we can work together as your fractional CMO.