The Fractional CMO Playbook: What Ours Looks Like and Why It Works

May 21

Written By Kat

If you’ve made it this far in our Fractional CMO series, first of all—bless your business-savvy little heart. Second, you’re probably wondering, “Okay, cool… but what does working with a Fractional CMO actually look like?”

Like, is it strategy in a Google Doc and a wave goodbye? Do you get check-in calls once a month and a Pinterest mood board of your ‘brand vibe’? Or is it just another agency sticking you in a tiered package and ghosting you when shit hits the fan?

Spoiler: not with us, babe.

Let’s break down exactly what the Ivy House Fractional CMO playbook looks like—because this ain’t your average marketing engagement. This is big-picture strategy, hands-on support, and all gas, no brakes growth for your business.

**First, What Makes Our Playbook Different?**

Most agencies give you deliverables. We give you direction. And then we deliver the damn thing.

We don’t just tell you to “be more consistent on social” or “optimize your funnel.” We look at your entire brand—from your goals to your visuals to your tone of voice to your TikTok strategy—and create a fully integrated, actually executable marketing ecosystem.

Basically, we turn your “I’ve been winging it” chaos into a revenue-generating, lead-converting, audience-obsessed brand machine.

Here’s what that looks like.

Phase 1: Foundations Setup (AKA Let’s Clean Up the Mess)

Before we build anything, we audit everything. No stone left unturned. No polite head nods while we let your outdated website or janky funnel slide. This phase is brutally honest—in the best way.

We dig into:

What’s working (so we can double down)
What’s flopping (so we can burn it down)
What the hell your actual goals are
What your customer journey should look like
Your current branding, messaging, and offers
All your digital platforms: social, email, ads, website

Then, we get our strategy hats on and craft a custom plan based on your business, not a recycled template.

You walk away from Phase 1 with:

A brand strategy that doesn’t suck
A marketing roadmap with key dates and campaigns
Clear positioning and messaging
A full marketing audit with specific fixes
Our “you’ve got this” energy (free of charge)

**Phase 2: Growth Mode (AKA Let’s Get Sh*t Done)**

This is where most agencies flounder. They throw ideas around, but when it’s time to actually implement? Crickets.

Not us. We take the plan we built and make it real—with our team of execution pros.

We take over your:

Social media strategy + management
Content creation (we’re talking video, photos, copy, all of it)
Ads (Google, Meta, and more)
Email marketing + automation
Landing pages + website touchpoints
Overall brand experience—online and off

We’re not just here for the brainstorm. We’re here for the build-out, the testing, the refining, the “holy shit, this actually worked” moment. That’s our favorite part.

Phase 3: Expansion (AKA Time to Blow It Up)

Once the machine is running smoothly, it’s time to scale.

We help you:

Launch new offers or products
Expand into new markets or audiences
Invest in bigger campaigns
Optimize for even higher ROI
Build long-term assets (email list, content library, evergreen funnels)

All while keeping your brand on point across every platform. This is where things start to snowball—in the best possible way.

The Ivy House Difference

Let’s keep it 100: You’re not just hiring a marketing strategist. You’re hiring a creative, experienced, fuck-the-rules kind of agency with the talent (and receipts) to back it up.

We’re photographers, designers, copywriters, ad strategists, and social media experts. We’ve built brands from the ground up. We’ve revived ghost-town social accounts. We’ve made boring industries sexy. And we actually care about your results.

We’re not trying to scale to 1,000 clients and churn you out like factory-line content. We go deep, not wide. Quality over quantity. Relationship over retainer. Strategy over static.