Leadership
Fractional CMO
Positioning, go-to-market planning and the commercial judgement that decides where the budget goes.
- Strategy and positioning
- Budget and channel decisions
- Managing agencies and juniors
- Reporting that means something
Fractional CMO · NZ & Australia
Your marketing team of one — without the compromise.
Senior marketing leadership, part-time. AI does the heavy lifting.
A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who runs your marketing part-time, usually one to two days a week. I'm Liam McIlveen. I do that for businesses in New Zealand and Australia that have outgrown founder-led marketing but aren't ready for a six-figure hire.
Clients
Brands marketed in-house
What I do
Three things, done properly.
Not a consultant who leaves a slide deck. I set the direction, then do the work or manage whoever does.
Delivery
Outsourced marketing
The whole function handled end to end, the way an in-house marketing manager would run it.
- Campaigns and content
- Email and lifecycle
- Website and landing pages
- Launches and PR
Systems
CRM and AI
The plumbing underneath: a CRM your team actually uses, and AI built into how the work gets done.
- HubSpot and Pipedrive
- Marketing automation
- Reporting pipelines
- AI in the workflow, not as a gimmick
Free marketing scorecard
Find out where your marketing is actually leaking.
Ten questions, about three minutes. You see your scores on the screen straight away, across the five things that move revenue.
Take the scorecard 10 questions · 3 minutes · report by emailHow it works
Four steps to absolute clarity.
- 01
Discovery
I spend the first month listening — to you, your team and your customers — before changing anything.
Weeks 1–4 - 02
Strategy
A plan with priorities, owners and numbers attached. Short enough that you'll actually read it.
Month 1 - 03
Execution
The work gets done: campaigns, content, systems. I do it or manage whoever does.
Ongoing - 04
Partnership
Monthly reporting against the funnel, and the direction adjusts as the business does.
6–12 months+
Who it's for
If you're the one still making every marketing decision, that's the gap.
Sound familiar
- Established revenue, roughly $500K to $10M
- No marketing team, or one junior doing everything
- Managing agencies without a clear strategy
- Founder or GM still writing the copy at 10pm
Common questions
Frequently asked questions.
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A fractional CMO is a senior marketing leader who works with your business part-time — usually one to two days a week. You get the strategic experience of a marketing director without the full-time salary, benefits and overhead. It suits businesses that have outgrown founder-led marketing but aren't ready for a six-figure hire.
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Monthly retainers, scoped to how much of the function you want handled. A full-time marketing director in NZ or Australia costs $140K–$200K plus KiwiSaver or super before any marketing budget; a fractional arrangement is a fraction of that, because you are buying a day or two a week rather than five. The only published price on this site is the $750 marketing audit. Book a call for a retainer number.
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An agency works on your business from the outside, delivering campaigns as a vendor. I work inside your business as part of the leadership team — I sit in your meetings, understand your commercial goals, manage your tools and make decisions alongside you. The relationship is deeper and more accountable.
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The sweet spot is businesses with established revenue — typically $500K to $10M — that need marketing leadership but can't justify or attract a full-time senior hire. If you're a founder or GM still making every marketing decision yourself, or managing agencies without a clear strategy, that's the gap I fill.
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The first month is listening — to you, your team and your customers — before anything changes. Then I write a short plan with priorities, owners and numbers attached. After that I embed in the operation: the weekly call, the meetings that matter, the campaigns, the content, the CRM, and a monthly report against the funnel. Most engagements run six to twelve months or longer.
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Yes, both. Deftly Limited is New Zealand registered; Australian clients are invoiced in AUD. Every engagement is remote-first — video calls, shared tools, async between them — so it makes no practical difference which side of the Tasman you are on. On-site visits happen where they earn their cost, agreed in advance and charged at cost.
Start here
See where your marketing is leaking.
Ten questions, about three minutes, and a written report in your inbox. No sales call attached.
