When growth stalls, everyone
looks at marketing.
Let's find out what's actually happening.

If you're here, something isn't clicking. Maybe it is marketing. Maybe it's something upstream — product, positioning, process, or market fit. Maybe it's all of the above. What you need is a senior leader with enough experience to tell the difference, and enough range to help fix what's actually broken.

See if this sounds familiar Skip ahead and reach out →

My name is Tom Clemens. I'm a fractional CMO and senior marketing leader based in Minneapolis, MN — available for fractional CMO and embedded senior marketing leadership engagements with organizations ready to grow.

30+
Years of marketing that moves people — and businesses
$500M+
In revenue growth across organizations led
Builder.
Teams, revenue engines, and market categories — built from scratch

Is This You?

Most people who reach out
are dealing with one of these.

You don't have to have it figured out. Some of my best engagements started with a call that began: "I'm not even sure exactly what I need." Here's what I hear most often from founders, CEOs, and PE operators.

"We're growing, but our marketing team can't keep up."
You've outgrown your current setup but aren't ready for a full-time CMO. You need someone who can step in at a senior level, stabilize the team, and build the infrastructure to scale — without the full-time overhead.
"We have gaps and no clear owner for them."
A key person left. A new channel opened. A market opportunity emerged. You have gaps in leadership, execution, or expertise — and you need someone who can plug in fast without a long onboarding curve.
"We're too busy running the business to fix the marketing."
You know marketing needs attention. You just don't have the bandwidth to think about it strategically. You need someone to take it off your plate — own it, lead it, and bring you results instead of problems.
"We need someone while we figure out the long-term solution."
You're between leaders, between strategies, or between stages. You need a trusted operator who can hold the line and keep moving while you make the right long-term call — without losing momentum.
"Our CMO is strong but needs a strong right hand."
You have a great strategic leader but they need a senior operator who can lead the team, own execution, and drive results — without the politics or overhead of another C-suite hire.
"Everyone's talking about AI. We don't know what to actually do with it."
Your team is experimenting but nothing is systematic. You need a leader who can integrate AI into the marketing workflow in a structured, scalable way — not as a random experiment, but as a genuine operational advantage.

If any of these sound familiar — or if your situation is somewhere in between — that's exactly why this page exists. Let's talk about what's actually going on and figure out if there's a fit.

Start a conversation

Why Now. Why Tom.

The world has changed.
Experience matters more than ever.

The Experience Advantage

"In a room full of people who grew up on the internet, sometimes what you need is someone who helped build it."

Marketing teams in 2026 are younger, faster, and more tool-fluent than ever — and more paralyzed, more reactive, and more disconnected from business outcomes than they've been in years. The abundance of channels, tools, and AI capabilities has created noise, not clarity.

What's missing isn't another tactic or platform. It's the ability to look at everything happening and know what actually matters. To have navigated enough market cycles, pivots, brand crises, and recessions to stay steady when everyone else is spinning. That doesn't come from tools. It compounds over time, through experience.

30+ years across EdTech, healthcare, nonprofit, SaaS, coworking, and real estate education means I've seen this movie before — in many different genres. That's not a liability. That's the whole value proposition.

AI With Discipline

Hands-on AI integration, structured for scale. Not a productivity hack — a systematic advantage.

Most senior marketers are still catching up on AI. Most junior marketers are using it without guardrails or strategy. The result is what I call Random Acts of AI — lots of experimentation, very little compounding value.

I sit at a rare intersection: deep experience in how marketing actually works, combined with increasing fluency in how AI makes it faster, smarter, and more scalable. I've integrated AI platforms into marketing teams, deployed generative AI workflows, and built the operating structure that turns AI from a novelty into a reliable part of how the work gets done.

The goal isn't AI for its own sake. It's knowing where AI creates real leverage — and having the judgment to know where human experience still has to lead.

More Signal, Less Noise.

Experience + AI fluency + the judgment to know what's actually broken. Rare together. Exactly what this moment requires.

You can find fractional CMOs with experience. You can find marketers who know AI tools. Finding both in one person — who also brings a 30-year network of vetted channel specialists to activate on demand — is a different proposition entirely. That's what an engagement with Tom Clemens looks like.

What You Get

Not a consultant with a deck.
A leader who does the work.

Senior leadership that actually shows up — embedded in your team, accountable for results, shaped around your stage and goals. That could mean leading from the front as your fractional CMO, or embedding one level down as a trusted senior operator alongside your existing leadership.

Core Offering

Fractional CMO

Your head of marketing — embedded in the leadership team, owning strategy and execution, accountable for results. Retainer-based, 20 hours per week, typically 12+ months.

  • Marketing strategy and annual planning
  • Executive team integration and alignment
  • Team building, management, and coaching
  • Demand generation and revenue marketing
  • Brand positioning and go-to-market
  • AI integration and workflow design
  • Agency and vendor management

Embedded Senior Marketing Leader

You have a strong CMO — or you are the CMO. What you need is a senior operator who leads the team, owns execution, and drives results without C-suite overhead. One of Tom's genuine sweet spots.

  • Day-to-day marketing team leadership
  • Campaign strategy and execution management
  • Performance reporting and optimization
  • Cross-functional alignment and project leadership
  • Sprint planning and marketing operations
  • AI tool integration and team training

The right level for the right moment — and it can evolve.

Many engagements start in one role and expand as trust deepens. The engagement is always shaped around what your business actually needs — not a fixed title or predetermined scope.

Let's figure it out

How It Works

Fast enough to prove value.
Patient enough to get it right.

Most marketing organizations don't need more activity. They need more signal and less noise. The first job is figuring out which is which — and that takes the kind of listening that most outside help skips in their rush to show impact.

01

Listen and diagnose

The goal in the first few weeks isn't to change everything — it's to understand what's actually happening, earn trust, and find the early wins that prove the engagement is working. No 90-day discovery theater. Real orientation, fast.

02

Install an operating rhythm

Structure makes strategy executable. Using proven operational frameworks, we establish quarterly priorities, clear ownership, sprint-based execution, and a consistent leadership cadence. Marketing stops being chaotic and starts being measurable.

03

Build so it lasts

The goal is never dependency. We build internal capability alongside execution — including AI-integrated workflows your team can own and carry forward after the engagement evolves.

I know my way around most channels and platforms. When your engagement needs specialized depth or additional capacity, I activate a curated bench of channel specialists I've worked with, vetted, and trust with client work — not because I can't navigate the channels myself, but because the right specialist at the right moment is always better than one person doing everything.

Talk to Tom

What I've Built

Track record, not talking points.

The most important question to ask any fractional CMO: what have you actually built? Here are four honest answers — with the context, complexity, and results that matter.

Origin Story
Pioneer Online University
Director of Marketing & Events · 16 years
23 → 1,200
Employees and faculty
$3M → $500M
Annual revenue
40,000+
Alumni produced

Building the human infrastructure of an online university from 23 employees to half a billion dollars.

I joined a pioneer in accredited online higher education when it was 23 employees, 300 students, and $3 million in revenue. By the time I left it was a publicly traded company with 1,200+ employees, $500M in revenue, and 40,000+ alumni. My job was to make an online university feel real — building the event infrastructure, residential programs, and commencement ceremonies that gave students something to belong to. My 15-person team scaled to hundreds of events annually and $14M in event revenue. I also led marketing for the organization's IPO, culminating in an $80M public offering.

"Great marketing isn't just demand generation — it's building the connective tissue that makes an organization feel like something worth belonging to."
Mission-Driven Build
National Healthcare Nonprofit
VP of Marketing · $450M organization
3 builds
Simultaneous greenfield initiatives
14
Business units across the portfolio
1st
International expansion in org history

Three first-of-their-kind builds inside one organization — simultaneously, with no playbook for any of them.

As VP of Marketing at a $450M national nonprofit in the cellular therapy space, I led three greenfield initiatives at once: the organization's first international marketing expansion into Mexico, the marketing infrastructure for a brand new biotech/pharma revenue category, and a first-of-its-kind clinical trials search program that helped patients find lifesaving treatments in language they could actually understand.

"Ambiguity isn't a reason to slow down. It's an invitation to create clarity — and then move fast."
The Player-Coach Engagement
PE-Backed Education Company
Fractional → Expanded Scope · 4 years
80,000
Leads generated in 9 months
18%
Conversion rate on existing demand
$4M
Affiliate channel managed annually

When a fractional engagement earns trust and keeps expanding — this is what it looks like.

I started as a fractional marketing leader and over four years the engagement kept expanding — which is what happens when you show up and deliver.

The standout initiative was a nine-month tiger team built entirely around existing demand. Rather than chasing new traffic, we focused on what was already there — optimizing conversion paths, lead capture, and nurture sequences across multiple brands. The result: 80,000 leads at an 18% conversion rate in nine months.

I also managed a $4M affiliate marketing channel — navigating significant headwinds from algorithm changes and the rise of AI in search while maintaining performance.

Before leaving for my next engagement, I designed the post-purchase lifecycle strategy for the organization — building out the persona framework and touchpoint architecture across continuing education, professional development, and customer advocacy. The foundation was set; the execution followed.

"Stop chasing traffic you don't have. Harvest the demand you do."
Most Recent
Global Professional Certification Organization
Head of Marketing · 2025–Present
600%
Growth in enterprise leads
12% MoM
Microcredential enrollment growth
B2C → B2B
Full go-to-market transformation

Building a B2B enterprise sales engine from scratch — without breaking the existing B2C business.

Recruited to lead a major strategic transformation at a global professional certification organization, I built the B2B motion from zero: new positioning, messaging, restructured agency roster, in-house capabilities, and a sales-led go-to-market model the organization had never run. Result: 600% increase in enterprise leads — a new revenue pipeline created where none existed. Simultaneously, microcredential enrollments averaged 12% MoM growth through increased brand awareness and executive-led thought leadership campaigns.

"Build the new without breaking the existing. Run both simultaneously. That's the job in almost every engagement."

FAQ

Questions people ask before
reaching out.

These are the real questions that come up in first conversations. Honest answers — because that's how this works.

What is a fractional CMO? +
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing executive who provides part-time, embedded leadership to companies that need CMO-level expertise without the cost or commitment of a full-time hire. A fractional CMO leads marketing strategy, manages teams and agencies, and is accountable for results — typically on a retainer basis of 8–20 hours per week. Unlike a consultant who delivers recommendations, a fractional CMO owns the outcomes.
What does a fractional CMO actually do day-to-day? +
A fractional CMO develops and executes marketing strategy, leads the internal marketing team, oversees agencies and vendors, aligns marketing with business goals, and drives measurable revenue results. Day-to-day this might mean leading a weekly team standup, reviewing campaign performance, coaching a marketing manager, sitting in on a sales call, or presenting to the board.
How is a fractional CMO different from a marketing agency? +
An agency executes specific marketing functions — paid media, content, SEO, design. A fractional CMO provides strategic leadership and manages those agencies on your behalf. The fractional CMO is the brain; agencies are the hands. If your marketing lacks strategic direction and leadership accountability, adding another agency won't solve it.
How much does a fractional CMO cost? +
Fractional CMO engagements typically range from $8,000 to $20,000+ per month on retainer — significantly less than a full-time CMO at $250,000–$400,000+ in total annual compensation. Engagements with Tom Clemens are structured based on your specific situation and scope; reach out to start that conversation.
Do I need a fractional CMO or a fractional marketing director? +
It depends. If you have no senior marketing leadership, you likely need a fractional CMO to own strategy and lead the function. If you have a strong CMO in place, what you may need is a senior embedded marketing leader to lead the team and own execution. Tom is experienced in both roles and shapes every engagement around what the business actually needs — not a fixed title.
Can a fractional CMO help with AI integration in marketing? +
Yes — and in 2026 this is one of the highest-value things a fractional CMO can do. Tom Clemens has integrated AI platforms into marketing teams and applies an AI with discipline approach that builds structured, scalable AI adoption into how the work gets done. He holds an Agentic AI Intensive Certification from the Harvard Data Science Review.
How long does a typical fractional CMO engagement last? +
Most fractional CMO engagements run a minimum 6–12+ months. Marketing infrastructure takes time to build, and the compounding value of an embedded leader grows significantly after the first few months.
Why hire a Minneapolis-based fractional CMO? +
Tom Clemens is based in Minneapolis, MN and has deep roots in the Twin Cities business community after 30+ years of marketing leadership in the region. For organizations that value in-person leadership and local market knowledge, that proximity matters. Tom also works with organizations nationally and structures engagements around what works best for each client.

About Tom

Since you've made it this far —
a bit about me.

Tom Clemens, Fractional CMO Minneapolis
Tom Clemens
Fractional CMO & Senior Marketing Leader

Credentials and case studies only tell part of the story. Here's some more.

I've spent 30+ years leading marketing inside organizations from 23-person startups to $500M enterprises — across EdTech, healthcare, nonprofit, and professional services. I've built teams, revenue engines, international expansions, and market categories.

I've been doing this a long time. I consider that a feature, not a bug. Experience compounds. Knowing which fires to actually fight, how to read a leadership team, when to push and when to hold — these things don't come from tools or training programs. They come from time, and from having been in enough rooms when hard calls had to be made.

I genuinely don't need to be the CMO. Some of my best work has been one level down — leading teams, owning execution, being the operator a strong CMO needs beside them. The title matters less to me than the impact.

Recent Credentials & Certifications

Agentic AI Intensive Certification
Harvard Data Science Review · 2026
Certified Scrum Master®
Scrum Alliance · 2026
Certified Agile Leader®
Scrum Alliance · 2025
Certified Scrum Product Owner®
Scrum Alliance · 2026

The Network

You're not hiring a firm.
You're getting something better.

30+ years builds relationships. When your engagement needs specialized depth or additional capacity, I activate a curated bench of channel experts I've worked with, vetted, and trust with client work — not because I can't navigate the channels myself, but because the right specialist at the right moment is always better than one person doing everything.

Paid & Performance Media

Search, social, programmatic, and attribution specialists with real B2B and B2C track records.

SEO & Content Strategy

Organic growth experts who build sustainable pipeline — not vanity traffic.

Marketing Analytics & MarTech

Data and stack architects who help you measure what actually drives revenue.

Brand & Creative Direction

Senior brand and creative leads at the intersection of design and business outcomes.

Email & Lifecycle Marketing

Retention specialists who turn leads into customers and customers into advocates.

Affiliate & Partnership Marketing

Channel builders with deep experience in affiliate, co-marketing, and influencer programs.

Let's Talk

Tell me what's going on.
We'll figure out the rest.

You don't need a perfect brief. Just tell me what's happening with your marketing and what you wish were different. That's enough to start a conversation about whether there's a fit.

LinkedIn · No solicitations please.