Part-time marketing leadership
Fractional marketing director
A senior marketing director in your business a few days a week, running the team and the plan, accountable for pipeline and revenue.
In short
A fractional marketing director (also called a part-time marketing director) is an experienced marketing leader who runs your marketing on a part-time, ongoing basis, usually one to three days a week. Unlike a fractional CMO, who sets strategy at board level, a fractional marketing director is closer to the work: owning the plan, managing the team and agencies, and shipping campaigns that move pipeline. With Action Is Now you get that execution layer from a former C-level operator, paid for outcomes rather than hours.
What is a fractional marketing director?
A fractional marketing director is a senior marketer who leads your marketing function part-time and on a rolling basis. They are in the business often enough to own the plan, hold the team to a standard and make the weekly calls that keep marketing moving, without the cost or commitment of a full-time director.
It is the right model when you have marketing activity but no senior person owning it: campaigns that start and stall, an agency nobody manages tightly, or a small team that needs direction more than another set of hands.
- Owns the marketing plan and the numbers behind it, week to week.
- Manages the in-house team, freelancers and agencies to one standard.
- Ships campaigns and reports on what they actually returned.
- Builds the system so marketing keeps running when the mandate ends.
Fractional marketing director vs fractional CMO
The two roles are often confused. A fractional CMO works at strategy and board level: positioning, the growth model, the budget case, the marketing-to-revenue ratio. A fractional marketing director works one level down, turning that strategy into a running machine: the plan, the team, the calendar and the campaigns.
Many companies need one, not both. If your problem is direction and the growth model, start with a fractional CMO. If your problem is execution and ownership, a fractional marketing director is the faster fix. Not sure which? That is the first conversation, and we scope to the problem.
| Fractional marketing director | Fractional CMO | |
|---|---|---|
| Altitude | Runs the plan and the team | Sets strategy and the growth model |
| Best for | Execution and ownership gaps | Direction and board-level decisions |
| Typical cadence | 1 to 3 days a week, ongoing | A few days a month to weekly |
| Main output | Campaigns shipped, pipeline moved | Strategy, budget case, positioning |
When to bring in a part-time marketing director
- You have a marketing team but nobody senior owns the result.
- Spend is going out the door with no clear line to pipeline.
- A full-time director is too big a cost or commitment right now.
- You need someone to manage agencies and stop the waste.
- You are between hires and cannot let marketing drift.
- You want a senior operator, not another junior pair of hands.
How the engagement works
A fast read of where marketing actually stands, in the first week.
The two or three moves that will move pipeline, ranked by impact.
Hands-on leadership of the team and the plan, embedded with you.
A function and a team that keep performing without me.
Why an operator, not an adviser
This is led by a former CMO of LeoVegas who ran a 120M euro budget and grew one market from 3M to 18M euro. The point of a fractional marketing director is not a deck. It is someone who has carried the number and will carry yours, in the room, every week.
Pricing is tied to results wherever the situation allows, so the incentive is your pipeline, not my hours. See the results behind the work.
Related services
Frequently asked questions
Is a fractional marketing director the same as a part-time CMO?
Not quite. People use the terms loosely, but a part-time or fractional marketing director focuses on running the plan and the team, while a fractional CMO works at strategy and board level. If you need both altitudes, we can scope a single mandate that flexes between them.
How many days a week do you work?
Usually one to three, depending on the stage and the workload. Enough to own the result, not so much that you are paying for a full-time hire you do not need.
Can it convert to a permanent role?
Sometimes the right answer is to hire a permanent director, and part of the mandate is helping you define and recruit that person. The goal is always a function that stands on its own.
How is it priced?
A clear monthly fee for the agreed cadence, with results-linked elements wherever the situation allows so incentives stay aligned.
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