The Importance of Strategic Marketing
Cittadina offers fast-growing startups senior-level marketing leadership without the full-time overhead. A Fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) brings strategic clarity, cross-functional alignment, and commercial focus at a stage where most companies are still “making do” or feel like they can “only” afford junior marketers, agencies, or founder-led execution.
While many startups wait until Series B or beyond to hire a full-time CMO, that delay can limit growth, slow down execution, and reduce credibility with investors and internal teams. A Fractional CMO helps bridge the gap—developing marketing infrastructure, messaging, and go-to-market strategy aligned to your business goals.
Strategic marketing leadership doesn’t have to wait. A Fractional CMO helps founders move from reactive, piecemeal marketing to a cohesive, proactive plan that’s ready to scale.
Cittadina specialises in supporting scale-up tech companies with hands-on, embedded marketing leadership. Led by Margaret Sherer—former Google and Microsoft marketer turned startup advisor and agency founder—get in touch for a conversation or scroll down to learn more.
“There are too many ways in which I would recommend working with Margaret for one page. She makes a great fractional CMO is a master of the marketing craft and quickly gets to the heart of the value in a proposition and how best that can be communicated. She is then adept at constructing a wide and tailored marketing mix against agreed KPIs and tangible ROI. That's the boring bit :-). Above all, she's great fun to work with.”
Rob Griffin, CEO & Founder | Miracl
Why You Might Need a Fractional CMO
Most early-stage companies can’t afford—or don’t yet need—a full-time Chief Marketing Officer. But the gap between a junior marketer and a strategic leader can hold you back. You need someone who can set direction, align teams, and turn ideas into action.
No strategic direction or marketing roadmap
Founders spread too thin across marketing tasks
Agency output feels disconnected from business goals
Fundraising coming up—but your story isn't ready
Growth channels not scaling as hoped
When a Fractional CMO Makes Sense
A Fractional CMO gives you a senior leader on your terms—flexible, focused, and fully embedded in your team. When you are going through a growth phrase or reframing phrase is ideal for a Senior, Strategic voice can lead you through that phase.
Preparing for Seed or Series A/B/C
Launching into a new market
Rebranding or pivoting product focus
Managing multiple stakeholders (board, sales, product)
Hiring or building a marketing team
Needing to prove ROI or traction for investors
PHASE 1: STRATEGY THAT CONNECTS
Margaret starts every engagement with a deep immersion phase—typically one month—designed to align your marketing with the business outcomes that matter most. This isn’t about building a deck that sits on a shelf.
It’s about creating a strategic plan that gets your prospect from A to B—clear, practical, and grounded in how your product fits into your customers’ lives.
Expect workshops, interviews, audits and a focused delivery that clarifies:
Your sales process
Who you’re selling to
The ‘so what’ of your product
The Gap in materials currently needed
How to measure what matters
This phase ends with a Go-To-Market Marketing Strategy, typically including a Content Plan, that you can keep. Together we discuss a roadmap and what to prioritise in execution.
PHASE 2: TURNING THE PLAN INTO ACTION
With strategy agreed, we shift into delivery—typically beginning with a 6-12 month engagement focused on consistent progress, measurable output, and momentum.
The first step is filling the potholes: the obvious gaps in team, process, content that helps sales, and infrastructure that are slowing you down.
From there, Margaret leads or supports implementation ranging from:
Working with Sales supporting their content and campaign needs
Working with your in-house stakeholders
Briefing designers and copywriters
Launching campaigns
Refining messaging
This phase is hands-on, fast-moving, and always aligned to business goals. Our clients often continue beyond the initial contract, but we start with a timeline that creates accountability and clear deliverables.
With 18+ years in marketing—spanning big tech and entrepreneurship—Margaret Sherer brings deep expertise in scaling businesses. After a corporate career at Microsoft and Google and earning an MBA from Cranfield, she launched Cittadina Marketing in 2015, a one-stop shop for digital marketing that helps businesses evolve from scrappy to strategic.
Margaret has worked with hundreds of companies, guiding startups from Seed to Series C, helping them scale through focused, holistic marketing strategies. As a Fractional CMO, she builds scalable marketing infrastructure, aligning strategy with business objectives through achievable, results-driven programmes. From LinkedIn Lives to automated email nurture flows, analytics frameworks to content strategies, she has executed high-impact campaigns that drive real growth.
Beyond consulting, Margaret served as an advisor and educator, sitting on Advisory Boards for the University of Westminster and the University of Surrey and mentoring startups like Littledata. She has guest lectured at Cranfield, Westminster, and Greenwich and co-hosts the hit marketing podcast, The Margeteers.
Margaret understands the growing pains of fast-growth companies and the psychology of first-time founders and serial entrepreneurs. Get in touch today to get started with a meaningful marketing leader.