Bringing Structure and Strategy to a Founder-Led Team

Afloat, a gifting marketplace platform, had a marketing team in place but no clear direction. Marketing was heavily founder-led, which resulted in inconsistent messaging, reactive campaigns, and constant rework.

As their fractional CMO, I brought structure, leadership, and stability to both the team and the function. I implemented departmental processes, clarified roles, and streamlined workflows so the team could focus on results. A significant part of my role involved employee management—coaching team members, reallocating their time to higher-impact activities, and helping them grow into their roles. With a solid foundation in place, we were able to expand our efforts into strategic campaigns, SEO-driven content, targeted emails, partner marketing, and events—all without adding headcount.

At the same time, I focused on driving growth for the business. I launched and tested paid campaigns to evaluate messaging and market potential, giving us clarity on what resonated with customers and where to invest next. Beyond campaign testing, I developed GTM plans to grow both within existing markets and into three new geographic regions, complete with launch activities and budget allocation. While pivots prevented the expansion from going live, the strategies positioned Afloat with a clear path to scale.

Highlights:

• Transformed a reactive, founder-led function into a structured, strategy-driven marketing team

• Expanded marketing efforts into paid campaigns, SEO content, strategic emails, partner marketing, and events without adding headcount

• Built GTM plans for existing markets and three new geographic regions, positioning Afloat with a clear path to scale