Fractional Marketing Director Cost and What the Role Covers
You know your marketing needs an owner, but a full-time director's salary is hard to justify. A fractional marketing director is one experienced person who runs your marketing part time: the plan, the budget, the vendors, the ad accounts and the monthly report to you.
Instead of a full salary, you pay for a slice of a director. At Hickey Media that's consulting, sold as a 10-hour block for $1,500, or a director role scoped per company with a monthly fee.
Below is what the role includes, what it costs, when it beats a full-time hire and how to hire one without a long contract.
- A fractional marketing director owns your plan, budget, vendors, ad accounts and reporting, part time.
- Hickey Media consulting is sold as a 10-hour block for $1,500. Director roles are scoped per company.
- MarketerHire's 2025 guide puts fractional CMO retainers at $5,000 to $10,000 a month.
- In my experience, the role takes 8 to 20 hours a week with one or two paid channels.
- Ad spend is never part of the fee. You pay it to the platforms directly.
What does a fractional marketing director do?
A fractional director does the same job as a full-time director in fewer hours. The hands-on work is either done by the director or handed to people the director manages.
Most weeks cover six things:
- Plan: what we're trying to produce this quarter (booked calls, signed clients, a launch) and what gets spent to get there.
- Budget: how much goes to Google Ads, Meta, video, events and tools, and what gets cut when a channel falls short.
- Vendors: the web developer, the video editor, the agency if there is one. The director writes the brief and judges the work.
- Accounts: Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, Google Business Profile, Search Console and the CRM. Someone on your side has to own the logins and the settings.
- Reporting: one page a month to the owner with spend, leads, booked calls, what changed and what's next.
- The phone: checking that leads get called back. A director who doesn't watch that step is reporting on half the funnel.
The role usually doesn't include social media management, design or copywriting unless those are scoped too. Some fractional directors do the design and video themselves. Others don't, so ask. At Hickey Media, I do both myself.
What does the work look like week to week?
I've been in marketing since 2006, and the week in this role includes the list above plus things nobody puts in a job description. Most of it is small fixes that keep leads moving.
That means fixing a form that stopped sending. It means sitting in on a sales call to hear how prospects describe the problem, or getting a vendor to resend the right file size.
I shoot and edit the video myself on a Sony camera. The turnaround is faster, and the director should know what the work costs to make.
Most of the value comes from being the one person who can look at the Google Ads account, the CRM and the phone log in the same hour and say what's happening. If those three stay with three different vendors, you've hired a consultant and called them a director.
A free 15-minute call with Blake by phone or Zoom about your goals and whether we're a fit. No pitch deck, and nothing to fill out before the calendar.
How much does a fractional marketing director cost?
It varies by scope and by who you hire. Here's the range I can source and the one I can state for myself.
| Item | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Hickey Media consulting | $1,500 per 10-hour block, or a single call from $350 | Advice and hands-on work, paid up front, no retainer |
| Hickey Media director role | Scoped per company, monthly | A set number of hours per week, the duties above, reporting to the owner |
| Market range, fractional CMO | $200 to $350 per hour, or a $5,000 to $10,000 monthly retainer | Figures from MarketerHire's 2025 pricing guide, described there as industry averages without a named survey source |
| Full-time CMO | $288,684 per year | Same MarketerHire guide, same caveat |
Source: Hickey Media pricing; MarketerHire 2025 pricing guide
MarketerHire's 2025 pricing guide doesn't say where its numbers came from, so treat them as a rough bracket. The "CMO" label also pushes the price up.
My view: most smaller companies don't need a chief marketing officer. They need a director who will log in to Google Ads.
Ad spend isn't part of any of these numbers. You pay it to the platforms directly. The rest of my rates are on the pricing page.
When does a fractional director beat a full-time hire?
A fractional director wins when you have enough marketing to need a decision-maker but not enough director-level work to fill 40 hours a week. For most technology companies and law firms I talk to, in my experience, that holds until they're running paid search, Meta, video, events and a content program at once, with staff under the director.
It's the right choice when:
- Your marketing is run by the owner at 9 p.m.
- You've had agencies and nobody on your side could judge their work.
- You need someone who can build the campaign, not only plan it.
- You can't justify a six-figure salary plus benefits for a role you're not sure about yet.
It's the wrong choice when:
- You need someone in the building every day, in every meeting, managing a team.
- The job is mostly production (daily posts, weekly emails, constant design). That's a coordinator or an agency, and a director billing by the hour is an expensive way to get it.
- You want a name on the org chart for an investor deck. If the title is the point, hire the title.
How many hours a week does a fractional director need?
In my experience, it takes 8 to 20 hours a week for a company with one or two active paid channels, a website that needs ongoing work and a few vendors. Under 8 and you're buying advice, not a director. Over 20 and you're close to a full-time hire and should price one.
Blake's experience for a company with one or two paid channels.
The hours aren't even. Launch months run heavy. A quiet month mid-campaign is mostly reading reports and listening to calls.
How do I hire a fractional marketing director?
Scope the role before you price it, then start small. A short paid test tells both sides more than a long proposal.
- 01ScopeList the channels, vendors, tools and the number the owner wants on the report
- 02AskWho owns the accounts, what's the term, who does the work
- 03TestStart with 10 hours of consulting to check the fit
- 04Run a quarterSet the plan, run it, read the results, then go month to month
The questions are mostly the ones you'd ask an agency, so my list of 12 questions to ask a marketing agency applies here too.
Starting with hours instead of a retainer tells both sides whether the fit is right before anyone commits to a monthly role. A good first use of those hours is a marketing audit, so you both start from the same facts.
What to do next
- Write down every channel, vendor and tool you pay for today.
- Pick the one number you want on the monthly report, such as booked calls.
- List who holds admin access on each ad account and your CRM.
- Book 10 hours of consulting and spend the first ones on an audit.
FAQ
What's the difference between a fractional CMO and a fractional marketing director?
Mostly the title and the price. A CMO sits at the executive level and usually manages a team. A director owns the plan, the accounts and the vendors, and does more of the work.
Does a fractional marketing director run the ads?
It depends on who you hire. I run the Google and Meta accounts myself. Some fractional directors manage an agency that runs them, so ask before you sign.
Can a fractional director replace an agency?
Sometimes. If the agency's value was judgment and reporting, a director can replace it and may do the execution too. If the agency's value was volume of production, you'll still need production help.
How long should a fractional engagement last?
Long enough to see a full cycle: set the plan, run it for a quarter, read the results, adjust. Three months is a fair first test, then month to month.
Book a free call
Before you scope a director role, book a free 15-minute call with Blake by phone or Zoom. Consulting is sold in 10-hour blocks, and director roles are scoped per company. Want an outside look first? Request the free Buyer Test.
