If you’ve been scrolling through LinkedIn or chatting with other Kiwi business owners lately, you’ve probably noticed the term "fractional" popping up more and more.

The concept originally crossed over from the US corporate and tech world, and it simply means hiring senior-level expertise on a slice-of-time basis. While the phrase fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) gets plenty of airtime online, for most Kiwi small-to-medium businesses, "CMO" can feel a bit too grand, corporate, and detached from daily operations.

That’s why looking for a fractional marketing manager or a part time marketing manager is often the sweet spot for New Zealand businesses. It sits a step below a CMO - offering someone who can drive your high-level strategy but isn't afraid to roll up their sleeves and handle the actual execution.

Isn't Fractional just another way to say part-time?

While "part-time" and "fractional" might be used interchangeably, there is a subtle difference:

A part time marketing manager is frequently hired as an internal employee who works fewer hours to maintain standard, business-as-usual tasks.
A fractional marketing manager usually operates as an agile external partner or contractor. They bring specialised, senior-level experience to focus on growth, strategy, and scaling your business within an agreed budget.

Having lived this reality myself, I wanted to share what it’s actually like working in this space, and how partnering with a fractional marketing manager can help your New Zealand business thrive.

How I Got into the Role (and How It Evolved)

My journey into fractional marketing started with a simple word-of-mouth referral, and neither of us knew this is what the role was coined.

A local business was looking for an experienced digital marketer who could jump straight in without any hand-holding to help them prepare for a hectic peak-season campaign. However, as we started working alongside each other and analysing their digital touch points, the scope naturally widened. We ended up doing a complete full-funnel overhaul.

What started as a short-term campaign project quickly evolved into a wonderful partnership where I acted as their sole outsourced marketer for about a year, and provided additional adhoc support even to this day.

How did the hours and collaboration work?

When you aren't sitting in an office for 40 hours a week, successful time allocation comes down to teamwork, strict prioritisation and advanced planning.

The client and I agreed on a set monthly budget with a maximum number of hours, and my job was to map out our activities based on their business seasonality.

Busy Periods (Campaign launches, website upgrades) ➔ Up-weighted hours
Quieter Weeks (General maintenance, data analysis) ➔ Reduced hours
Standard period (Marketing planning, ad creation, agency management , brand work) → Standard hours

This flexibility is exactly why so many business owners and CEOs look to hire fractional marketing manager. The hours are utilised for work planning, analytics and delivery; they’re paying for real, focused output right when their business needs it most.

What Does a Fractional Marketing Manager Actually Do?

My expertise is in brand and digital strategy, and this client’s big goal was to step up their digital marketing performance.

While the client wasn't a marketer himself, he was incredibly savvy, open-minded, and willing to test new ideas. There’s a common misconception out there that to get better digital results, all you need to do is tweak your Google Ads bidding or fix your conversion tracking meta tags. While those technical pieces are definitely important, it takes a comprehensive full-funnel approach to truly move the needle. You have to look at how your brand actually resonates with real people at every single stage of their buying journey.

Together, we mapped out a strategic roadmap and two six-month marketing plans covering:

Strategic seasonal campaigns
Deep-dive analytics overhauls
Website conversion rate optimization (CRO)
We analysed exactly where users were getting stuck on the website, and tested different digital ad creatives to see which messaging and styles got better engagement and click through.

Fun Side Quests and Macarons

There were several highlights of being a fractional marketing manager. The first was collaborating with their team entirely virtually to film social media content. We set ourselves a tough content challenge and celebrated hitting our milestone by treating the team to a delivery of delicious JAIME macarons.

The second was the sheer variety of the work. I got thrown into some fun side quests, including designing double-page magazine ads, seasonal promotion with a local gin company, and floor-to-ceiling window decals. I’m appreciative that my client threw these projects my way. In a traditional, siloed role, you rarely get to touch so many different, creative sides of a business.

Wait, Entirely Virtually?

Yes, I was a virtual, fractional marketing manager!

I’m based here in Auckland, while my client was based in another city in the South Island. While I flew down to see them in person a couple of times for a photoshoot and meet the team, the day-to-day mahi was done entirely remotely.

I know some New Zealand companies still feel a little uneasy about having a marketer operate completely virtually. To be totally fair, some things are trickier from a distance - like filming social media footage. But with proactive communication, a bit of humour, and good project management, a virtual fractional marketing manager (or part time marketing manager) can absolutely build a close-knit working relationship and deliver fantastic results.

Things I Could Have Done Better

As a long-time marketer but a first-time freelancer and fractional marketing manager, the learning curve was very real.

There was a period where another client took up significantly more of my time than I had anticipated, which knocked my scheduling a bit. My client was incredibly gracious and understanding about it, but it taught me a valuable lesson about boundary management.

The dynamic of being a fractional partner is quite different from being an in-house employee. When you’re in-house, it’s easy to reshuffle internal projects if something gets delayed. But when you operate fractionally, you have to remind yourself: they are your clients, not just your colleagues. Managing expectations, timelines and setting boundaries for clients requires a much higher level of professional discipline, which is a skill I’ve loved sharpening.

Should Your Business Hire a Fractional Marketing Manager?

Naturally, I’m a bit biased, but it boils down to: what does your business need right now? We’ve previously broken down the math on whether you should hire a marketing freelancer or full-time staff, and the exact same rationale applies here.

Hiring a fractional CMO or marketing manager gives your business senior-level strategic experience at a fraction of the cost of a full-time executive salary. This frees up your cash flow so you can actually invest in your media spend, local events, and activations.

However, if your day-to-day workload requires more than 35 hours a week, or if you need someone to also work on sales and administration alongside marketing execution, a fractional role might not be the right fit. It suits fast-growing startups and small-to-medium Kiwi businesses that need clear direction but aren't ready for corporate-sized overheads.

Thinking of Becoming a Fractional Marketer Yourself?

If you’re an experienced Kiwi marketer thinking about making the leap into this world, it comes down to what you want out of your life and career.

The comment I get most from friends in corporate jobs is, "Oh, I love the flexibility you have!" While flexibility is a nice perk, the trade-off is a lack of predictability and a whole lot more business admin (taxes, invoicing, and keeping your own pipeline full).

Perhaps the biggest mindset shift is this: if you do an amazing job, you will likely replace yourself. As the business grows because of the systems you've put in place, they will eventually reach a scale where they need to hire a full-time, in-house team. Either the daily workload expands past your hours, or their budget grows enough to support a permanent hire.

For some marketers, that lack of permanent tenure makes fractional work less attractive. But if you love variety, enjoy building close relationships with passionate business owners and CEOs, and pride yourself on delivering real results, it’s incredibly rewarding. Do a great job, and you’re usually only ever one warm referral away from your next exciting project.

Every New Zealand business is unique, and figuring out the right marketing resource can feel a bit daunting. If you're keen to explore how a part time marketing manager or fractional marketing manager could fit into your growth plans, I’d love to help. Let’s grab a coffee (or a virtual chat) and figure it out together.

What It’s Like Being a Fractional Marketing Manager in New Zealand