Senior marketing leadership pays for itself in the first quarter by making decisions that were being avoided. Here is what that looks like week by week, because the value is in the sequence rather than the job title.
The first three weeks are evidence gathering. The last ten deals won and lost, what the wins had in common, who else was shortlisted, and how each buyer found you. That pattern is worth more than any template, and it usually contradicts the story the website tells.
Weeks four to six are the proposition. Most stalled B2B marketing is not under-resourced. It is unclear. Rewriting who you are for and the problem you solve, in the buyer's own words, changes conversion on assets you already own before a euro of new spend.
Weeks seven to twelve are one channel, resourced properly
Sampling five channels produces five inconclusive experiments. One channel funded to a level where it can actually work produces a yes or a no. Which channel depends on where your buyers already pay attention, and the answer for a professional services firm looks nothing like the answer for a software company.
Cycle length decides the measurement window. The median B2B SaaS sales cycle is around 84 days, so the first quarter should be judged on qualified conversations, message resonance and pipeline created rather than closed revenue. Judging it on closed revenue at day 90 kills strategies a month before they land.
Why part-time works for this
The work above is judgement, not hours. It needs someone senior in the room for the leadership and sales meetings, reachable between them, and accountable for a number. It does not need that person at a desk five days a week. Excel Recruitment's 2026 Sales and Marketing Salary Guide puts an Irish head of marketing at €85,000 to €120,000 base, before employer PRSI of 8.9 to 11.15 percent, pension auto-enrolment of 1.5 percent and recruitment fees of 15 to 20 percent. One to three days a week buys the same seniority against a smaller commitment.
Funding may cover part of it
Enterprise Ireland's Digital Marketing Capability support runs to €35,000 for eligible companies, and Local Enterprise Office grants cover smaller pieces of work. Eligibility rules change, so check current terms before budgeting around them.
Where to go next
The part-time marketing director page sets out how the days are structured and what accountability looks like. Professional services firms should read marketing for professional services. To pressure test your own situation first, start with where marketing can drive your next stage of growth, and see fractional CMO versus agency versus in-house for the comparison.