Fractional Marketing Director NZ: Is It Right for Your Business?

If you've found yourself needing senior marketing leadership but not ready (or willing) to hire a full-time Marketing Director, you're not alone.

The fractional model has been common in finance (fractional CFO) for years. It's now well-established in marketing — and for good reason. In the New Zealand market, where top marketing directors command $150k-$250k+ and the talent pool is limited, the fractional model often makes more sense than a full-time hire.

Here's what you need to know.

What Is a Fractional Marketing Director?

A fractional marketing director (also called fractional CMO or outsourced marketing director) is a senior marketing professional who works with your business on a part-time or project basis — typically 1-3 days per week, on a monthly retainer.

They bring the same strategic capability as a full-time hire: setting direction, owning the marketing function, building strategy, managing campaigns, and driving results. The difference is that you're not paying for 40 hours a week — and neither is your competitor.

What They Actually Do

Set marketing strategy and annual roadmap
Manage (or build) your marketing team or agency relationships
Own your key marketing metrics and reporting
Lead brand positioning and messaging
Direct campaign strategy across channels
Identify growth opportunities your current team has missed
Make the decisions that need to be made — quickly

What They Don't Do

A fractional marketing director is not a hands-on execution resource. They're not writing all your content, running your ads day-to-day, or doing graphic design. They're leading the function — directing execution through your team, agencies, or AI systems.

If you need pure execution without strategy, a freelancer or agency is the right fit. A fractional director is for businesses that need someone who can think at the CMO level.

Is a Fractional Marketing Director Right for Your Business?

The model works exceptionally well in specific situations:

✓ You're scaling but not big enough for a full-time hire

You're doing $1M-$10M in revenue, marketing is becoming critical to growth, but a $150k+ salary for a Marketing Director isn't justified yet. A fractional engagement gives you that senior leadership for $3k-$8k/month — a fraction of the cost.

✓ You've outgrown your current marketing approach

You've been running campaigns ad-hoc, relying on agencies without a strategic direction, or marketing has been handled by someone who "does a bit of everything." You need someone to bring structure, strategy, and accountability.

✓ You're going through a transition

Launching a new product, entering a new market, rebranding, or recovering from a failed marketing investment. These are moments where temporary senior leadership is exactly what's needed — and a full-time hire would be premature.

✓ You want to use AI properly

In 2026, a good fractional marketing director knows how to build AI-native marketing operations — systems that use AI for content, reporting, ad management, and SEO. This is a significant leverage point that most traditional in-house hires don't bring.

When It Doesn't Work

✗ You just need execution

If you have a strategy and just need someone to run your ads, write content, or manage your socials — that's an agency or freelancer, not a fractional director.

✗ You're at early startup stage

Pre-revenue or very early stage businesses often need founder-led marketing and specific execution skills more than strategic leadership. The fractional model becomes relevant once you have product-market fit and need to scale.

✗ You can't commit to the process

Fractional marketing works when there's genuine engagement from leadership. If the MD or CEO isn't willing to have weekly check-ins, give access to business data, and make decisions together — the relationship won't produce results.

What Does a Fractional Marketing Director Cost in NZ?

Engagement Level	Scope	Monthly Investment
Advisory	Monthly strategy sessions, review	$1,500-2,500
Part-Time	1 day/week, strategic ownership	$3,000-5,000
Embedded	2-3 days/week, full function ownership	$6,000-10,000+

Compare this to a full-time Marketing Director in NZ:

Base salary: $120,000-$200,000
Employer costs (KiwiSaver, ACC, etc.): +$15,000-25,000
Tools, training, overheads: +$10,000-20,000
Total annual cost: $145,000-$245,000+

A fractional engagement at $5,000/month is $60,000/year — with no employment overhead, no onboarding costs, and the ability to scale up or down as your needs change.

Fractional Marketing Director vs. Marketing Agency in NZ

This is a comparison worth making clearly:

Factor	Fractional Director	Agency
Strategic ownership	✓ Yes	Often no
Brand continuity	✓ Deep	✗ Account managed
Who does the work	Directed by you	Often junior staff
Access level	✓ Senior, direct	Often account manager layer
Cost	$3-8k/month	$3-15k/month
Best for	Strategy + direction	Execution of specific channels

Many businesses run a fractional marketing director alongside agencies — the director provides the strategic brief and oversight, the agencies execute it. This is often the best structure for NZ businesses at the $5M-$20M revenue range. For a detailed look at how these models compare, read the AI marketing consultant vs. agency breakdown.

What Good Looks Like: A 90-Day Engagement

A well-run fractional marketing director engagement typically moves through three phases:

Month 1 — Discovery + Positioning

Audit existing marketing (what's working, what's not)
Understand the business, its customers, and its competitive position
Map positioning and messaging
Build the marketing roadmap

Month 2 — Systems + Execution Start

Launch priority channels or campaigns
Build content engine or review existing
Set up reporting and metrics
Align internal team or agency partners

Month 3 — Compounding + Optimisation

First data in — optimise based on what's working
Identify highest-ROI opportunities for next quarter
Build team capability or system capability for ongoing execution
Quarterly strategy review

By the end of month three, you know whether the engagement is producing ROI, and you have a clear direction for ongoing work.

How This Differs From the Old Fractional CMO Model

Traditional fractional CMO engagements were senior strategy — heavy on PowerPoints, light on execution. You'd get a roadmap, then be left to implement it yourself.

The 2026 version looks different. With AI systems for execution, a modern fractional marketing director can actually build the systems that run your marketing — not just design them. Content pipelines, AI-assisted ad management, automated reporting, SEO content engines — these can be built and handed off, creating compounding value beyond the engagement.

Working With Junction Media

I'm Tom Hall-Taylor — Auckland-based, working with select NZ businesses as a fractional marketing director and AI marketing consultant.

My model is different from traditional fractional CMO in one key way: I bring AI systems into everything. That means you get the strategic thinking of a senior hire and the operational leverage of an AI-native marketing operation.

I work with 3-5 clients at any one time. If you're a NZ business ready to build something that compounds, apply below.

Apply to work with Tom →