A full-time marketing director costs $130,000 to $220,000 a year in base pay, plus payroll taxes, bonuses and benefits
A part-time director bills only for hours worked, usually a few thousand dollars to the low five figures a month
Part time marketing director: senior strategy without a full-time payroll line
A part time marketing director leads your strategy and puts it into action for a set number of hours or days a month. You skip the cost of a full-time executive, which in the US often runs $130,000 to $220,000 a year in base salary alone. We match a leader with more than 15 years of experience within 24 hours, and you pay only for the hours they actually work.
Free, no obligation. A senior project manager walks you through the analysis.
Free analysis in 24 hours
Send us your website. Within 24 hours, you'll get a written analysis comparing your marketing with your competitors'.
Key takeaways
The short version
Before you read on
- You get a leader with 15+ years of experience for part of the month, without paying a full-time salary of $130,000 to $220,000 a year.
- It fits companies of 5 to 50 people that have a marketing budget but no one senior to steer it.
- We name your director within 24 hours, drawing on leaders whose track record we checked before they joined.
- A senior project manager with 15+ years in marketing approves every stage with you and settles scope questions.
- US market rates range from $200 to $350 an hour for light involvement up to five figures a month for bigger time commitments.
Worth knowing
How the part-time director model works for a growing company
Rather than hire a permanent executive, you bring in a seasoned marketing leader for a fixed number of hours or days a month. That gets you someone who has spent a decade or more running ad budgets, teams and campaigns, without a $130,000 to $220,000 salary plus bonuses and benefits. You'll also hear this called a part time CMO, an outsourced CMO or a virtual CMO. The title changes, the idea doesn't.
We're not an ad agency. Within 24 hours of our first conversation, a senior project manager with 15+ years in marketing matches one director to your company based on your industry and the skills you need. You pay for real working time. That project manager reviews every stage with you, from the first audit to the strategy rollout, and steps in whenever scope or pace drifts from what you agreed.
This setup usually works for companies of about 5 to 50 people that have a marketing budget and want to spend it well but have no one on the team who can build a strategy, hold agencies accountable and track results. If you need a broader executive role, take a look at our fractional CMO page.
Side by side
A full-time hire or a few days a month: which costs less
Hiring a senior leader takes 2 to 4 months, and you can still end up with the wrong person
We name a matched leader within 24 hours, based on skills they have shown and experience in your industry
When a salaried director quits, the strategy leaves with them and you're back to hiring from scratch
You can raise or lower the hours month to month as your needs change
Working through an agency leaves you little say over who actually runs your strategy
One named expert leads the strategy, and we checked their portfolio and references before they joined
Who it's for
Which companies a fractional marketing director suits
This model pays off in specific business situations, not at every company.
Companies of 5 to 50 people with no senior marketer
The team runs campaigns and social media, but nobody sets strategy or measures the work against business results.
Startups after a funding round
They need a leader to build the marketing plan and brand positioning before they hire a department of their own.
Companies parting ways with an agency
Someone has to take over campaign oversight, size up the work done so far and pick new vendors.
A seasonal jump in scale
Before a major campaign or a push into a new market, the company needs senior experience for a few months, not forever.
Owners with budget but no time
Leadership can't supervise marketing, and a full-time director still doesn't make financial sense.
Step by step
What the first weeks look like
Step 1
A conversation about needs
In a free consultation you lay out your goals, your marketing budget and how many hours a month you need.
Step 2
A director matched in 24 hours
The project manager names a leader with more than 15 years of experience relevant to your industry, along with samples of past work and an hourly rate.
Step 3
Scope and work plan
With the senior project manager, you settle the hours, the priorities for the first weeks and how reporting will work, and get the terms down in writing.
Step 4
Work in stages, each one signed off
The director delivers the agreed stages (audit, strategy, rollout), and you review each one with the project manager, who checks the substance.
Worth knowing
Part-time and interim chief marketing officer rates in 2026
These ranges reflect the US market, vary by provider and depend on how many hours are involved and how much responsibility comes with the role.
Advisory, a few hours a month
About $200 to $350 an hour for 8 to 15 hours a month. Strategy reviews, a second opinion on key decisions, oversight of an agency or an in-house team.
Part of the week, 1 to 2 days
About $5,000 to $12,000 a month for 30 to 60 hours. Building the strategy, managing the marketing team and reporting to the board.
Interim, full time for a fixed period
About $12,000 to $25,000 a month for full-time hours over 3 to 9 months, say while you build a marketing department from the ground up.
In short
The engagement in three figures
24 hours
to match a marketing director to your company
15+ years
of experience behind the senior project manager on your account
Portfolio
reviewed before we accept a marketing director
What you can count on
What keeps the engagement safe and on track
Going through us isn't the same as hiring a freelancer you tracked down yourself.
Portfolio
A leader checked before day one
A director joins only after we've reviewed their portfolio and references and talked through the budgets they've actually managed.
24 hours
Matched to your industry and size
We pick your director for your sector, company size and marketing budget, not because they happen to have hours free.
15+ years
A project manager watching quality
A project manager with more than 15 years in marketing oversees every engagement and settles any point in dispute.
Hours worked
You pay only for work done
There's no monthly subscription on top. You pay for the hours your director actually puts in.
Checklist
Signs you really need a marketing leader
Before you commit, see whether any of these sound like your company.
Checklist
- Your marketing team gets tasks done, but nobody owns the strategy or sets priorities
- You spend more than $10,000 a month on ads, and nobody ties that spend to business results
- An agency or freelancers work with no one thinking strategically about marketing above them
- Leadership makes marketing calls blind, with no data and no plan for the next few quarters
- You're growing and need a marketing function in place before your first full-time leader starts
- A full-time director at $130,000 to $220,000 a year is more than your current needs justify
FAQ
Questions companies ask us
Short answers. The free analysis call covers anything specific to your company.
01How much does a part time marketing director cost?
In the US, rates start at $200 to $350 an hour for a few hours a month and go up to $5,000 to $25,000 a month for one or two days a week or an interim role. We set the exact rate after the consultation, based on your industry and how much responsibility the role carries.
02How does an outsourced marketing director differ from a marketing agency?
An agency handles defined jobs like campaigns, content or ads and makes a margin on managing them. An outsourced marketing director builds the strategy, supervises whoever carries it out and owns the results, the same as a salaried leader would, just for part of the week.
03How fast can I hire a marketing director through you?
Usually within 24 hours of the free consultation, we introduce you to your matched director, along with work samples and their rate. Most clients have their first conversation with that person the same week.
04Can the director agree to confidentiality and non-compete terms?
Yes. Your agreement can include confidentiality clauses and a ban on working for direct competitors in your industry for as long as the engagement runs. We settle the exact terms with you before the project starts.
05What happens if the director does not meet expectations?
You review each stage with the project manager, so any gap between what you expected and what you got shows up early, not a quarter later. The project manager can also suggest a change in scope or match you with a different leader, who gets the full project history.
06Can I change the number of hours during the engagement?
Yes. Hours and responsibilities are both flexible, and you can adjust them month to month as your needs shift, like ahead of a seasonal campaign or after a slow quarter.
Free analysis
See where your marketing stands, then decide what to do next
Send us your website. Within 24 hours, you'll get a written analysis comparing your channels with your competitors', plus a call with a senior project manager who has run marketing for 15+ years.
- Analysis within 24 h
- No obligation
- PDF covering 5 competitors
- Team picked by your PM