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What Is A Fractional Marketing Director?

Posted
September 1, 2023
7
mins read

What Is A Fractional Marketing Director? 

If you are a business owner, you know how important marketing is for your success. Marketing helps you attract, engage, and retain customers, as well as increase your brand awareness, reputation, and revenue. However, you also know how challenging and dynamic marketing is in the digital age.

Marketing requires constant innovation, adaptation, and optimization to keep up with the changing needs and preferences of your target audience and the evolving trends and technologies in the industry

That’s why you need a Fractional Marketing Director to lead your marketing efforts and ensure they are aligned with your business goals and vision. A Marketing Director is a senior member of your marketing team who oversees all aspects of marketing, from strategy and planning to execution and measurement.

Can a Fractional Marketing Director Actually Make Your Marketing More Profitable?


A Marketing Director is responsible for creating and implementing a comprehensive marketing plan that covers everything from branding and positioning to content and campaigns.

A Marketing Director also manages and mentors your marketing team, ensuring they have the skills, resources, and direction they need to succeed.

However, hiring a full-time Marketing Director  can be costly and risky for many businesses, especially small and medium-sized ones. According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a Marketing Director or CMO in the US is $174,573 per year, not including bonuses, benefits, and other expenses.

Moreover, finding and retaining a qualified Marketing Director can be difficult, as there is a high demand and low supply of experienced marketing leaders in the market.

Additionally, hiring a full-time Marketing Director may not be necessary or feasible for your business if you only need an executive-level expertise on a part-time or project-based basis.

That’s where a Fractional Marketing Director comes in. A Fractional Marketing Director is a marketing expert who works with your business on a fractional or contract basis, providing you with the same level of expertise and leadership as a full-time employee without the commitment or cost of hiring one.

You get the best of both worlds: a seasoned marketing professional who can help you grow your business, and a flexible agreement that suits your needs and budget.

In this post, we will show you how a Fractional Marketing Director can make your marketing more profitable in 2023 and 2024 by using their expertise and experience to help you with the following:

  • Setting SMART marketing goals and objectives
  • Developing a realistic and flexible marketing budget
  • Choosing the right marketing channels and tools
  • Creating a consistent and compelling brand identity
  • Providing strategic leadership and guidance for your marketing efforts

Let’s dive in.

Setting SMART marketing goals and objectives

One of the first things that a Fractional Marketing Director can do for you is to help you set SMART marketing goals and objectives that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

A Fractional Marketing Director can help you define what you want to achieve with your marketing, how you will measure your progress and success, what resources and actions you will need to take, how your goals align with your business vision and mission, and when you will accomplish your goals.

By setting SMART marketing goals and objectives, you can have a clear direction and focus for your marketing efforts, as well as a way to track and evaluate your performance.

For example, let’s say you want to increase your website traffic by 50% in 2023. A Fractional Marketing Director can help you break down this goal into SMART objectives such as:

  • Increase organic traffic by 30% by optimizing your website for SEO
  • Increase social media traffic by 15% by creating engaging content
  • Increase email traffic by 5% by building an email list
  • Measure your traffic using Google Analytics or other tools
  • Allocate your budget according to your priorities
  • Implement your plan using a content calendar
  • Review your results monthly and adjust accordingly

By setting SMART marketing goals and objectives with the help of a Fractional Marketing Director, you can have a clear roadmap for achieving your desired outcomes.

Developing a realistic and flexible marketing budget

Another thing that a Fractional Marketing Director can do for you is to help you develop a realistic and flexible marketing budget that reflects your marketing goals and objectives, as well as the current market conditions and trends.

A Fractional Marketing Director can help you allocate your marketing budget wisely and efficiently, taking into account factors such as your target audience, your competitors, your industry, your product or service, your value proposition, your branding, your marketing channels and tools, etc.

A Fractional Marketing Director can also help you adjust your marketing budget as needed, depending on the results of your marketing campaigns and the changes in the market.

For example, let’s say you have a total marketing budget of $100,000 for 2023. A Fractional Marketing Director can help you distribute this budget across different categories such as:

  • Content marketing: $30,000
  • Social media marketing: $20,000
  • Email marketing: $10,000
  • SEO: $15,000
  • PPC: $15,000
  • Branding: $5,000
  • Miscellaneous: $5,000

A Fractional Marketing Director can also help you monitor your spending and ROI using tools such as Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Mailchimp, Hubspot, and even get you your own custom Customer Relationship Management software.

That same Fractional Marketing Director can also help you revise your marketing budget as needed, for example, by reallocating funds from low-performing channels to high-performing ones, or by investing in new channels or tools that emerge in the market.

By developing a realistic and flexible marketing budget with the help of a Fractional Marketing Director, you can optimize your marketing spend and ROI.

Choosing the right marketing channels and tools

A third thing that a Fractional Marketing Director can do for you is to help you choose the right marketing channels and tools that suit your marketing goals and objectives, as well as your target audience.

A Fractional Marketing Director can help you select the most effective and efficient marketing channels and tools that will help you reach, engage, and convert your customers.

A Fractional Marketing Director can also help you optimize your marketing channels and tools by using data-driven marketing and analytics to test and improve your marketing campaigns.

Some of the marketing channels and tools that a Fractional Marketing Director can help you with include:

  • Content marketing: creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content that attracts and retains your customers. Some of the tools that a Fractional Marketing Director can help you with include WordPress, Medium, HubSpot, etc.
  • Social media marketing: using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok etc. to connect with your customers and promote your brand. Some of the tools that a Fractional Marketing Director can help you with include Buffer, Hootsuite, Sprout Social, etc.
  • Email marketing: using email to communicate with your customers and prospects, build relationships, generate leads, increase sales, etc. Some of the tools that a Fractional Marketing Director can help you with include Mailchimp, Constant Contact, AWeber, etc.
  • SEO: optimizing your website and content for search engines such as Google, Bing, etc. to increase your visibility and traffic. Some of the tools that a Fractional Marketing Director can help you with include Moz, SEMrush, Ahrefs, etc.
  • PPC: using paid advertising on search engines or social media platforms to drive traffic to your website or landing page. Some of the tools that a Fractional Marketing Director can help you with include Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Bing Ads, etc.

By choosing the right marketing channels and tools with the help of a Fractional Marketing Director, you can maximize your reach and impact.

Creating a consistent and compelling brand identity

A fourth thing that a Fractional Marketing Director can do for you is to help you create a consistent and compelling brand identity that resonates with your customers and differentiates you from your competitors.

A brand identity is the way you present yourself to the world through your name, logo, colors, fonts, voice, tone, personality, values, etc. A Fractional Marketing Director can help you create a brand identity that reflects who you are, what you do, why you do it differently from others, and what benefits you offer to your customers.

A Fractional Marketing Director can also help you communicate your brand identity across all your marketing channels and touch points.

For example, let’s say you are a software company that provides cloud-based solutions for small businesses.

A Fractional Marketing Director can help you create a brand identity that conveys your value proposition of being simple, reliable, and affordable.

A Fractional Marketing Director can help you choose a name that is catchy and memorable, a logo that is simple and elegant, colors that are bright and friendly, fonts that are modern and clean, voice that is clear and concise, tone that is professional and helpful, personality that is friendly and trustworthy, values that are customer-centric and innovative, etc.

A Fractional Marketing Director can also help you apply your brand identity consistently across your website, social media profiles, email newsletters, blog posts, videos, podcasts, webinars, ebooks, case studies, testimonials, etc.

By creating a consistent and compelling brand identity with the help of a Fractional Marketing Director, you can build trust and loyalty with your customers.

Providing strategic leadership and guidance for your marketing efforts


A fifth thing that a Fractional Marketing Director can do for you is to provide strategic leadership and guidance for your marketing efforts. A Fractional CMO can act as a trusted advisor and mentor for you and your marketing team. A Fractional Marketing Director can help you plan, execute, monitor, evaluate, and improve your marketing campaigns. A Fractional CMO can also help you resolve any issues or conflicts that may arise in your marketing processes.

What Does a Fractional Marketing Director Bring to Your Business?


A Fractional Marketing Director, or part-time Chief Marketing Officer, plays a vital role in shaping your marketing strategy and overseeing your marketing department. It's an innovative solution for businesses seeking executive-level marketing guidance without the commitment of a full-time hire.

Why Choose a Fractional Marketing Director?

  • Cost-Effective: Fractional Marketing Directors provide expert leadership at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time CMO, who can demand over $200,000 annually.
  • Tailored Workload: They're an ideal fit when your business demands executive-level expertise but doesn't require a full-time executive. You get the skills you need, precisely when you need them.
  • Flexibility: Fractional Marketing Directors offer flexibility, adapting to your unique needs and working hours.

Fractional Marketing Director Responsibilities

  • Strategic Planning: Develop short-term and long-term marketing strategies tailored to your business.
  • Strategy Selection: Choose the most effective marketing strategies for your goals, whether it's SEO, content marketing, paid advertising, or other avenues.
  • Problem Solving: Tackle marketing challenges swiftly, finding innovative solutions.
  • Team Leadership: Inspire and lead your marketing department, nurturing their growth and success.
  • Talent Acquisition: Recruit and build a high-performing team for sustained results.
  • Agency Collaboration: Collaborate with external agencies, leveraging their expertise.

Your Fractional Marketing Director should possess a robust track record in marketing and management, along with industry-specific knowledge. They naturally assume the role of a leadership figure within your in-house marketing team.

Beyond leadership, a skilled Fractional Marketing Director serves as your organization's go-to marketing expert at the c-suite level, driving the achievement of your marketing objectives.

At Darling Local, our Fractional Marketing Directors work closely with your c-suite executives, leadership team, and marketing talent, ensuring alignment and a strategic focus. Contact us to explore how a Fractional Marketing Director can elevate your marketing efforts.

Do you think that a Fractional Marketing Director can add to your top line revenue? If so, and you'd like to talk, we're selectively taking on new clients. Reach out to us at hello [at] darlinglocal.com if you'd like to explore if we'd be a fit to work together.

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