What does a marketing director do?
A marketing director sets a company’s marketing plan and budget, directs the people who carry out the work, and answers to the owner for the result.
This guide is written for an owner who is deciding whom to hire. It covers three titles that owners ask about together: the marketing manager, the marketing director and the chief marketing officer, or CMO.
Each role is described as it works in an owner-led business, where the marketing team is small. The descriptions are Firefly’s own account, and step one also gives the U.S. government’s two descriptions of the occupation with their sources.
Firefly is a fractional CMO practice, and it fills the director’s role for part of the week. It therefore has an interest in how owners choose.
The four steps, in order
- Learn what each title covers
Each title names a different level of the marketing work.
- Compare the three roles
The roles differ on who sets the plan, who runs the daily work and who answers for the result.
- Decide which one you need
The level a business needs follows from what it lacks today.
- Choose full-time or part-time
A marketing director can be a full-time employee or a part-time arrangement.
1. Learn what each title covers
The marketing work of a business is done at three levels: the tasks, the daily running of the campaigns and the leadership.
The first four rows give the usual titles, and the last two give the U.S. government’s descriptions of the occupation.
- Marketing coordinator or assistant
- A coordinator or an assistant carries out the tasks, such as writing posts, sending emails and updating listings.
- Marketing manager
- A marketing manager runs the campaigns and the channels from day to day. A channel is a route to customers, such as advertising, search or email. In an owner-led business the manager usually does much of the work personally.
- Marketing director
- A marketing director leads the marketing. The director sets the plan and the budget, directs the staff and the agencies, and answers to the owner or the partners for the result. Some firms call the same role head of marketing or VP of marketing.
- Chief marketing officer (CMO)
- A CMO is the executive who answers to the owner or the board for all of the marketing. In a larger company the CMO is a member of the executive team, and the marketing directors report to the CMO.
- How the U.S. government lists the titles
- O*NET is the U.S. Department of Labor’s database of occupations. It lists marketing director, marketing coordinator and brand manager among the job titles reported for one occupation, which it calls marketing managers. That classification therefore does not separate a marketing manager from a marketing director.
- How it describes the duties
- O*NET describes that occupation as planning, directing or coordinating marketing policies and programs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics states that marketing managers estimate demand and identify potential markets for products and services, and that they may develop pricing and other strategies. Its list of duties for advertising, promotions and marketing managers includes directing the hiring and the daily activities of the staff.
Titles vary from one firm to the next. An owner should therefore ask each candidate what the person was responsible for in the last role.
We read these two sources on 8 October 2026.
- 11-2021.00 – Marketing Managers O*NET OnLine, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration · updated 2026, read 8 October 2026
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · last modified 27 August 2026
2. Compare the three roles
Owners ask how the marketing director differs from the marketing manager, and how the director differs from the CMO.
The table under the two comparisons sets all three roles side by side.
- Marketing director vs marketing manager
- A marketing manager runs the campaigns and the channels from day to day. A marketing director sets the plan and the budget that the manager works to. The director also answers to the owner for the result of all the marketing.
- Marketing director vs chief marketing officer
- In a company that has both, the marketing director leads the marketing department and reports to the CMO. The CMO is a member of the executive team and answers to the owner or the board. In a business with one senior marketing person, the two titles carry the same responsibilities.
- Head of marketing and VP of marketing
- Some firms use these titles for the role that this guide calls marketing director.
Our page on the fractional marketing director sets the titles director, head of marketing, VP of marketing and CMO side by side.
The three roles, side by side
| Question | Marketing manager | Marketing director | Chief marketing officer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sets the plan | The manager works to a plan that the owner or a director has set. | The director writes the marketing plan and sets its priorities. | The CMO writes the marketing plan with the owner or the board, as part of the plan for the whole business. |
| Who decides the budget | The manager spends the budget that each campaign has been given. | The director decides how the budget is divided between channels. | The CMO decides how the budget is divided, and proposes its size to the owner or the board. |
| Who runs the daily work | The manager runs it, and usually does much of it personally. | The director directs the manager, the staff and the agencies who run it. | The CMO directs the directors and the managers who run it. |
| Who answers for the result | The manager answers for the campaigns and the channels that the manager runs. | The director answers to the owner or the partners for all of the marketing. | The CMO answers to the owner or the board for all of the marketing. |
| The business it fits | The role fits a business that runs campaigns every week. | The role fits a firm whose most senior marketing person leads a small team or several agencies. | The role fits a company that has an executive team and a marketing department. |
3. Decide which one you need
The level to hire at follows from what the business lacks today.
Each row describes a situation and names the role that fits it.
- Tasks are not getting done
- The business knows what it wants to post, send and update, and nobody has the time to do it. A marketing coordinator or an agency fits this need.
- The campaigns need someone to run them
- The business advertises and emails its customers every week, and the owner is running the campaigns personally. A marketing manager fits this need.
- Nobody decides where the budget goes
- The business has a marketing budget, and it has staff or agencies to carry out the work. No senior person decides where the budget goes or answers for the result. A marketing director fits this need.
- Marketing has its own department
- The company has an executive team and a marketing department with its own managers. A chief marketing officer fits this need.
- One location and a small marketing budget
- A business at this stage is usually too early for a marketing director or a CMO. Five free steps come first, and the page linked under this list describes them.
A marketing director needs people to carry out the daily work. They can be your own staff, an agency or both.
Our page Too early for a fractional CMO? lists five free things a business can do before it hires a senior marketer.
If the choice is between an employee and an agency, our guide to in-house marketing vs an agency compares the two with a fractional CMO.
4. Choose full-time or part-time
A marketing director can be a full-time employee.
The role can also be filled for part of the week by a fractional marketing director, who is also called a part-time CMO or a fractional CMO.
- A full-time marketing director
- A full-time director is an employee on a salary with benefits. This arrangement fits a business that needs a marketing head for forty hours a week.
- What the occupation is paid
- The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $166,790 for marketing managers in May 2025. Half of the people in the occupation earned less than that amount and half earned more. The occupation includes people with the title marketing director, and the figure is not specific to small businesses.
- A fractional marketing director
- A fractional marketing director leads the marketing for a set number of hours each week under a monthly agreement. The business pays a monthly fee and carries no salary, benefits or payroll taxes for the role.
- What the part-time hours go on
- The hours go on the plan, the budget, the direction of the staff and the agencies, and a weekly report. The staff and the agencies carry out the daily work between those hours.
- What part-time does not give
- A part-time director is not present all week. A business that needs a marketing head for forty hours a week should hire one full-time.
Our pages on the fractional marketing director and the part-time CMO describe the part-time arrangement in full.
Our page on what a fractional CMO costs lists published salary figures for a full-time CMO, each with its source.
The wage figure comes from the first page and the job titles from the second. We read both on 8 October 2026.
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · last modified 27 August 2026
- 11-2021.00 – Marketing Managers O*NET OnLine, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration · updated 2026, read 8 October 2026
Where a part-time marketing director fits
Firefly fills the director’s role for part of the week. The person is Saad Afsar, and a standard engagement is about five hours a week.
Saad writes the marketing plan, decides how the budget is divided, and directs your staff and your agencies. He answers to you for the result. Your coordinator, your manager or your agency continue to carry out the daily work.
The engagement and its terms are the same whether you call the role a fractional marketing director, a part-time CMO or a fractional CMO.
Firefly considers a business ready at two or more locations and roughly $5,000 a month in marketing spend. Our guide on how to hire a fractional CMO lists what to ask each candidate.
- Rate
- $100 an hour
- Standard engagement
- $2,000 a month
- Time
- About five hours a week
- Minimum term
- Three months
- Fee for the minimum term
- $6,000
Results from fractional CMO engagements
Each result is measured in the client’s own system, over the period shown.
- Two Boots New York pizza, since 1987 +12% same-store net salesyear over year · Toast POS
- YYZ Law Aviation and travel law, Toronto 4.3× organic search clicksover three years · Google Search Console
- Boqueria Spanish tapas, multi-city US +73% private-events revenueyear over year · Tripleseat
- Paperchase Accounting and CFO advisory, NYC and London +69% website visitsyear over year · Google Analytics
Questions and answers
What does a marketing director do?
A marketing director sets the marketing plan and the budget, directs the staff and the agencies who carry out the work, and answers to the owner for the result. In a smaller firm the marketing director is usually the most senior marketing person.
What is a marketing director?
A marketing director is the person who leads a company’s marketing. Some firms call the same role head of marketing or VP of marketing.
What is the difference between a marketing director and a marketing manager?
A marketing manager runs the campaigns and the channels from day to day. A marketing director sets the plan and the budget that the manager works to, and answers to the owner for the result of all the marketing.
What is the role of a chief marketing officer?
A chief marketing officer is the executive who answers to the owner or the board for all of the marketing. A CMO’s responsibilities are the marketing plan, the budget, the direction of the marketing staff and the agencies, and the result.
Is a marketing director the same as a CMO?
In a company that has both, the marketing director reports to the CMO. In a business with one senior marketing person, the two titles carry the same responsibilities.
Does a small business need a marketing director?
A business needs a marketing director when it has a marketing budget and people to carry out the work, and no senior person decides where the budget goes. A single location with a small marketing budget is usually too early for one.
How much is a marketing director paid?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $166,790 for marketing managers in May 2025. That occupation includes people with the title marketing director, and the figure is not specific to small businesses.
Can a marketing director work part-time?
Yes. A fractional marketing director leads the marketing for part of the week under a monthly agreement. Firefly’s standard engagement is about five hours a week for $2,000 a month, and the minimum term is three months.
Book a call, or write first
You can book a discovery call on Saad Afsar’s calendar.
If you prefer to write first, send a few details in the form and Saad will reply within 24 hours.