A marketing director for your business, without the salary

I'm Liam, I run Gate Digital. Most small businesses can't justify a full-time marketing director, so marketing ends up split between whoever has a spare hour, a bit of agency here, a freelancer there, and nobody actually owning the whole thing. That's where I come in. I take on the lot, the way a marketing director would, and I do the work as well as the thinking.

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175+Projects managed
10+ yearsIn digital marketing
5+Countries worked in

What this actually looks like

Most small businesses can't justify a full-time marketing director's salary, so marketing ends up split across whoever has a spare hour, an agency handling one channel, a freelancer handling another, nobody actually owning how it all fits together.

An outsourced marketing director is one experienced person who owns the whole picture, the way an in-house hire would, without the headcount cost.

With Marketing Partner, that's a single point of ownership across Google Ads, SEO, and how the budget's split between them, rather than treating them as two separate services fighting for the same customer. Whatever's already running gets audited before anything changes, so decisions are based on what's actually happening in your accounts, not a guess dressed up as strategy.

This is usually where clients end up after working together on one channel first. See Google Ads or SEO for those on their own if that's a better starting point for you. But it's not a requirement, if you already know you want one person owning the lot from day one, we can start there. See how I work for what the first few weeks look like.

You'll hear this called a few different things: outsourced marketing director, fractional marketing director, freelance marketing director. They're all pointing at the same idea, one experienced person owning your marketing instead of it being split between an agency, a freelancer and whoever's got a spare hour this week. The fractional version is covered in general terms by the Chartered Institute of Marketing. In practice, the label matters less than the accountability: you're not buying a job title, you're getting one person who answers for the whole picture.

Budget split is one of the most common blind spots when marketing is handled piecemeal. Google Ads and SEO end up competing for the same pot with nobody deciding which one deserves more this quarter, it just gets split evenly or by habit. An outsourced marketing director looks at both together and moves the budget toward whichever is actually earning its place, month to month, not once a year. This works the same whether the business is a sole trader who's outgrown doing it themselves or a company with a small internal team that needs someone senior to answer to, scale changes what gets prioritised first, not how seriously it gets handled.

None of this is a fixed package, what gets prioritised, how the budget's split, how often you hear from me, gets shaped around your business. And there's no minimum commitment beyond a month's notice, same as every other service here, so it costs nothing but a conversation to find out if it's the right fit, whether you're in Hartlepool or anywhere else across Teesside.

What that looks like

  • We agree what your business needs to grow, not a list of services for the sake of it.
  • I own your Google Ads, your SEO, and how they work together.
  • I'm the person your team comes to with anything marketing, the same as an in-house director, just without the headcount cost.
  • You get straight answers and real numbers, every month. You always know what's working and what we're changing.
  • I audit what's already running before I change anything, so decisions are based on what's happening in your accounts, not a guess.

Who it's for

Businesses that have grown past doing marketing in spare moments and want one trusted person steering it. Usually people I've already run ads or SEO for, who've seen how I work and want to hand me more.

How it works

The Marketing Partner option starts at £1,000 a month. There's no long lock-in, and we scope it around your business, not a template. Most people come to this after we've worked together on one service first, once they've decided they'd rather I just ran it all. If you're only weighing up one channel first, see what Google Ads alone typically costs.

This is the premium option, priced for what it buys you: full-time attention from someone with 10+ years of experience, not a slice of a junior's time. See the FAQ for the fuller reasoning.

How it starts

01

We talk about what's needed

Not a sales pitch. I want to understand your business, what's working, what isn't, before I say what the plan should be.

02

Audit everything that's running

Every account gets the same scrutiny, whether it's mine already or coming over from somewhere else.

03

One plan, not two separate ones

Google Ads and SEO stop being disconnected efforts and become one plan, with a budget split that makes sense for your business.

04

Monthly check-ins, not annual ones

Real numbers, real conversations, adjusted as we go, not a strategy locked in January and reviewed in December.

Marketing Partner questions people actually ask

How is this different from just hiring you for one service?

With one service, I own that one channel. With Marketing Partner, I own the whole picture, how your budget's split across channels, what's working together and what's fighting for the same customer. It's the difference between someone running your ads and someone actually thinking about your marketing.

Do I need to already be a client to start with Marketing Partner?

No, most people come to it after working with me on one thing first, but that's not a rule. If you already know you want one person owning the lot, we can start there.

What if I already have someone doing part of this, like a social media person?

That's fine, I'll work around what's already in place, or have a straight conversation with you about where the overlap or gaps are. I'm not precious about doing every single thing myself if something's already working.

Can I scale down to a single service later?

Yes. No long lock-in either way. If your needs change, we change the scope, that's true whether you're moving from one service up to Marketing Partner, or back down.

Ready to hand it all over?

Let's talk about what your business actually needs.

Let's talk