A fractional marketing director is a senior marketer you bring in for a set number of days a month, instead of a full-time hire. For many owner-managed businesses that’s the right size of help: someone experienced enough to set direction, without a full-time salary behind them.
People often ask what they actually get for those days. Here is what a typical month looks like.
Week one: look at the numbers
Before anything else, I review what happened last month, using your figures rather than anyone’s report. Enquiries, sales, spend, and what each channel produced. I’m looking for what moved, what didn’t, and why.
Week two: decide what matters
From that comes a short list of priorities. Not twenty ideas. Two or three things worth doing this month, with a reason for each and a way to judge whether they worked. Everything else waits.
Week three: keep everyone pointing the same way
This is the part that surprises most owners. A lot of the job is working with the people you already have: your agency, your website developer, your team. I brief them, check the work against the priorities, ask the awkward questions and make sure what’s being done is what was agreed.
Week four: report in plain English
At the end of the month you get a short summary. What we planned, what happened, what we learned and what comes next. One or two pages, readable without a glossary, built on the numbers that matter to the business.
What it isn’t
A fractional marketing director isn’t a replacement for the people who do the work. I don’t write every post or build every page. The value is in the direction, the standards and the accountability.
Who a fractional marketing director suits
- Businesses that spend real money on marketing but have nobody senior checking it works.
- Businesses that have outgrown doing it themselves.
- Businesses that can’t yet justify, or don’t want, a full-time director.
Who it doesn’t suit
If you want someone to do all the work, you want an agency or an employee. If you aren’t willing to look at the numbers, nothing I do will help much.
If you’d like to know whether it fits your business, book a call and we’ll find out in 30 minutes.
For the numbers I start with, read Why good-looking marketing reports don’t always mean more enquiries.
