Fractional CMO services
Senior marketing leadership without another full-time executive.
Growing companies often reach an awkward point. There is plenty of marketing happening, but no one owns the whole picture. The founder is still making channel decisions. A capable team is waiting for clearer priorities. Several agencies are doing decent work in different directions. Reporting is abundant. Confidence is not.
A fractional CMO gives the business experienced marketing leadership at the level it needs now. Blackthorn can set direction, create the operating rhythm, guide teams and partners, and help leadership make better decisions without adding a full-time executive role before it makes sense.
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What Casey can own
Marketing strategy tied to company goals, customer needs, and revenue priorities
Annual and quarterly planning, budgets, roadmaps, and performance expectations
Channel and investment decisions across SEO, content, local, paid media, CRM, brand, and digital experience
Agency and vendor selection, scopes, performance reviews, and day-to-day direction
Team structure, role clarity, hiring priorities, and leadership support
Executive reporting that explains what happened, why it matters, and what should change
Cross-functional alignment with sales, product, operations, technology, and customer teams
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Strategy that survives contact with the organization
A marketing plan is only useful if the business can execute it. Casey’s background spans digital strategy, client services, agency leadership, operations, technology, and organizational planning. That makes it easier to see when the marketing idea is sound but the ownership, process, budget, or team structure will keep it from happening.
Blackthorn does not stop at the recommendation. We help decide who owns the work, what support they need, how progress will be measured, and where leadership needs to remove a blocker.
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This is not an extra layer of meetings
A good fractional CMO should reduce confusion, not add ceremony. The engagement is designed around the gaps that exist. Some companies need a steady executive partner a few days each month. Others need an intensive planning period, interim leadership through a transition, or oversight of one major initiative.
You should expect direct recommendations, clear tradeoffs, and an honest answer when the smartest move is to fix the basics before funding another campaign.
Who is this for?
A good fit for
Established companies with a marketing team but no senior marketing executive
Founder-led businesses where marketing decisions have outgrown the founder’s available time
Organizations coordinating multiple agencies, freelancers, or channel owners
Companies preparing for growth, repositioning, a new site, a major launch, or a leadership transition
Marketing leaders who need temporary executive capacity for a specific program
Organizations that aren't quite ready for an FTE
How engagements begin
We start by understanding the business, current performance, team, partners, budget, and the decisions that feel hardest to make. From there, Casey recommends a practical scope. If a narrower SEO, content, local, or AI search engagement would solve the problem more efficiently, she will say so.
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