Fractional CMO in Chicago who joins your team for 90 days and fixes how you win clients
Kirill Samarits works as a fractional CMO in Chicago for companies that have a marketing team, or an agency, but no senior marketing leader. He joins your leadership team for 90 days, spends 18 working days inside the company, sets the direction, leads the team and hands it back with a system that runs without him. The engagement starts at $45,000.
- 90 days
- 18 working days, about 1.5 a week
- From $45,000
What does a fractional CMO do?
Takes responsibility for marketing results at senior level, part-time, without joining the payroll. In Kirill's case for 90 days, with four jobs:
Sets the direction
Strategy, targets and a budget split tied to sales, leases, pipeline or commissions.
Leads the team and the agencies
Briefs, reviews and a weekly marketing meeting, so every piece of work points at one target.
Fixes how clients are won
Positioning, acquisition channels, the handoff to sales and a CRM that tells the truth.
Reports to the owners
One dashboard and a cost per qualified lead that the owners actually read.
How the 90 days work
Kirill takes the marketing seat for 90 days, with 18 working days inside your company, then hands it back.
Weeks 1 to 3
Take the seat
Kirill joins your leadership meetings, reviews the numbers, the team, the agencies and the spend, and agrees one business target with the owners.
Weeks 4 to 7
Set the direction
Strategy, budget split and channel plan, and a definition of a qualified lead that sales signs off. Agencies are briefed or re-briefed.
Weeks 8 to 10
Lead the team
A weekly marketing meeting, reviews of real work, and training on briefs, reporting and AI tools, with the first results measured against the target.
Weeks 11 to 13
Hand back the seat
Playbooks, the weekly rhythm and one dashboard are handed over with a plan for the next two quarters, plus a job description if you need a full-time CMO.
The same 90 days, written for owners who want a problem fixed rather than a role filled, are on the marketing consultant in Chicago page.
What stays when Kirill leaves
The goal is a team that runs without him. At the end of the 90 days the company keeps:
- A positioning document the whole company uses, from the website to proposals.
- An acquisition plan with a cost per qualified lead the sales team agrees with.
- One dashboard the owners actually read.
- A weekly operating rhythm, briefs and approval steps the team already runs.
- Playbooks for recurring work, including the AI workflows that stuck.
- A plan for the next two quarters, and a job description for a full-time CMO if you need one.
How much does a fractional CMO cost in Chicago?
Kirill's 90-day engagement starts at $45,000, about $15,000 a month. MarketerHire's June 2026 rate guide puts fractional CMOs at $10,000 to $20,000 a month.
90 days, 18 working daysFrom $45,000
The final price is confirmed once the scope is agreed.
Tell Kirill what isn't workingIncluded
- 18 working days inside your company, in person in Chicago or remotely
- Strategy, targets and the budget split
- Leading your marketing team and agencies
- Positioning and acquisition plans
- Playbooks, a weekly rhythm and one dashboard
- A plan for the next two quarters and, if needed, a CMO job description
Paid separately
- Media spend, paid directly to the ad platforms
- Production by an agency or freelancers: websites, video, photography
- Software subscriptions
Kirill founded and leads TERAMOK, and he says so at the start. The plan is written so your own team, your current agency or any competent agency can run it. If execution capacity is missing, TERAMOK can take on the work.
Fractional CMO, agency or full-time CMO?
Each solves a different problem. An agency makes things; a full-time CMO runs a large department for years; a fixed 90-day engagement sets the direction and ends with your own people running the system.
| Kirill as fractional CMO | Marketing agency | Full-time CMO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main job | Set the direction, lead the team, fix acquisition, hand over a system | Produce and run campaigns | Build and run a large department |
| Time | 90 days, 18 working days inside the company | Ongoing retainer | Full-time, after a recruiting process |
| Cost | From $45,000 for the 90 days | Monthly fee plus production | Salary, benefits and a long hire |
| Ends with | Your team running it without him | Work that stops when the retainer stops | Long-term ownership |
Kirill as fractional CMO
- Main job
- Set the direction, lead the team, fix acquisition, hand over a system
- Time
- 90 days, 18 working days inside the company
- Cost
- From $45,000 for the 90 days
- Ends with
- Your team running it without him
Marketing agency
- Main job
- Produce and run campaigns
- Time
- Ongoing retainer
- Cost
- Monthly fee plus production
- Ends with
- Work that stops when the retainer stops
Full-time CMO
- Main job
- Build and run a large department
- Time
- Full-time, after a recruiting process
- Cost
- Salary, benefits and a long hire
- Ends with
- Long-term ownership
Who should hire a fractional CMO?
Companies whose marketing has outgrown the owner's spare time, but not yet a full-time executive.
Who this is for in Chicago
- Companies with a marketing team of one to ten people and nobody senior to set direction.
- Companies with an agency but no marketing leader to judge whether it's working.
- Companies launching a new project, product or service without a written plan.
- Companies about to hire a head of marketing that want the role and systems defined first.
Signs it's time
- Marketing spend is growing, but nobody can say which part of it produces clients.
- The agency reports impressions and clicks, and sales says the leads are poor.
- The team is busy every week, and the pipeline looks the same as last quarter.
- The website no longer describes what the company actually sells.
- The company doesn't show up when buyers ask Google or AI assistants for firms like yours.
Kirill's specialties are construction, real estate development, architecture and B2B companies; see real estate marketing and architecture marketing. It isn't a fit for companies that need someone to post on social media every day, large companies that already have a CMO, or anyone looking for guaranteed results.
What Kirill brings to the role
He has run the agency side and the owner side, so he knows where marketing work drifts and how to hold it to a business number.
Kirill Samarits is a marketing executive and entrepreneur with 13+ years in marketing, based in Chicago and Athens. He founded TERAMOK in 2019 and leads it as CEO, with a 17-person team across Chicago and Athens. He founded BUY GREECE® in 2024 and grew it to 200,000 visitors, 91% of them from organic search, and founded FOS AI, which sets up AI workflows and trains teams in property, construction and trade businesses. More about Kirill Samarits and his career.
- 22 of 48units reserved before groundbreaking for a Chicago development after a seven-month pre-construction campaign. Reservations are not completed sales. Read the case study.
- +693%Google Search impressions in 90 days for a Chicago developer, with clicks up 103%.
- 104leads in the first 28 days for a 44-unit Miami development, July 2026, on about $1,000 of media spend; 41 warm after screening.
- 2 of 3luxury homes listed at $5.8 million each sold within six months in the United States, through SEO and performance-marketing landing pages.
- 90%of TERAMOK clients renew after the first year. YPERIA Properties is in its fourth year; MIA Developments, Loyal Group Realty and MART Construction in their third (TERAMOK client records, October 2026).
Results from the TERAMOK team, TERAMOK-reported and not independently audited; clients under NDA. Dashboards and dates are on TERAMOK's results page. None of this is a guarantee for your business.
Chicago, specifically
Central Time
Work runs on Chicago hours.
In person or remote
The 18 working days can be in your Chicago office or remote. Kirill also works from Athens, so dates are agreed at the start.
A close-knit market
Chicago business communities reward fewer, better-targeted campaigns and direct relationships.
Questions about hiring a fractional CMO
What does a fractional CMO do?
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who works for a company part-time and takes responsibility for marketing strategy and results without joining full-time. The role covers setting strategy against business targets, deciding the budget and channel mix, leading the marketing team, managing agencies, defining how success is measured and reporting to the owners. Kirill Samarits works this way for Chicago companies for 90 days at a time, spending 18 working days inside the company, and focuses on fixing client acquisition, positioning and the team's systems.
How much does a fractional CMO in Chicago cost?
MarketerHire's June 2026 rate guide puts fractional CMOs at $10,000 to $20,000 a month. Kirill Samarits's 90-day engagement starts at $45,000, about $15,000 a month, for 18 working days inside your company. Media spend and production by an agency or freelancers are paid separately.
How many days a week does Kirill work as your fractional CMO?
18 working days across the 90 days, about a day and a half a week on average, scheduled with you at the start. The days can be in person in Chicago or remote.
How long does the engagement last?
90 days. In the first weeks Kirill takes the seat and agrees the target, then sets the direction, leads the team and hands back the system. If you want him to stay involved after the 90 days, that is agreed separately.
What happens when Kirill leaves?
The company keeps everything it needs to run without him: a positioning document, an acquisition plan with an agreed cost per qualified lead, one dashboard, the weekly operating rhythm, briefs and approval steps, playbooks for recurring work and a plan for the next two quarters. If the company needs a full-time marketing leader, Kirill writes the job description and can help interview candidates.
Will a fractional CMO replace our marketing team?
No. The point is to make the existing team more effective: clear priorities, better briefs, fewer approval loops, tools that save time and reporting that shows what works. Kirill Samarits leads and trains the team and any agencies; he doesn't replace them. If a role is missing, he helps define it and hire for it.
Can a fractional CMO work with our existing marketing agency?
Yes, and often that's the point. Kirill Samarits can lead strategy, set targets and review the work of an existing agency, freelancers or in-house team without replacing them. He briefs the agency, agrees how results are measured, and reports to the owners on whether the spend is working. If execution capacity is missing, TERAMOK, the agency he founded, can take on the work, and he discloses that relationship at the start.
Which industries does Kirill Samarits work with?
His specialties are construction, real estate development, architecture and B2B companies, which is where most of his published results come from. Professional services and trade businesses in Chicago are a fit when the problem is the same: a marketing team that's busy and a pipeline that isn't growing. He is the Founder & CEO of TERAMOK, founded in 2019, and the founder of BUY GREECE® and FOS AI.
Does Kirill Samarits work with Chicago clients in person?
Yes. Kirill Samarits is based in Chicago and Athens, and Chicago engagements run on Central Time. The 18 working days can be in person in Chicago or remote, with dates agreed at the start.
How is success measured in a fractional CMO engagement?
Against the business target agreed in the first weeks: qualified pipeline and clients won for a B2B or service company, reservations or contracts for a developer, signed leases for a rental building, shortlists and commissions for an architecture practice. Kirill Samarits agrees a definition of a qualified lead with the sales team, tracks cost per qualified lead weekly and reports progress to the owners. Followers, clicks and impressions are tracked but aren't treated as results.
When should a company hire a full-time CMO instead of a fractional one?
A full-time CMO makes sense when marketing has become a large, permanent department with several in-house staff, a significant ongoing budget and daily decisions that need a senior person present. Before that point, a fractional CMO usually gives the same level of judgement at a lower fixed cost. Many companies use a 90-day engagement to build the strategy, team and measurement first, and then hire a full-time leader to run what already works.
Put a senior marketing leader in the seat for 90 days
Tell Kirill about your company, what isn't working and your timeline.
Contact Kirill