- FRACTIONAL CMO & MARKETING STRATEGIST • WILMINGTON, NC
Your marketing is running.
But is it working?
I'm Blake Baxendell. I bring 20+ years of agency and technical marketing experience to growth-stage companies that need senior marketing leadership without a full-time CMO on payroll.
20+
Years agency experience
4,956%
ROI on client ad spend
$1K
Flat strategy session
SIGNS YOU NEED THIS
Marketing without leadership costs more than you think.
Most companies I talk to aren't short on marketing activity. They're short on direction. Here's what that looks like in practice:
Stalled Revenue Growth
You're spending on marketing, but the results are hard to explain and harder to improve.
Unaccountable Agency Spend
Retainers go out every month. Deliverables come back. Nobody internally has the context to audit the work or push back on the strategy.
CEO-Bottlenecked Strategy
Every campaign brief, copy revision, and vendor sign-off lands on your desk. You're paying executive wages to manage tactical execution.
Marketing and Ops Don't Speak the Same Language
Ideas get lost between your marketing team and your developers, vendors, or leadership. Nobody is translating.
Random Acts of Marketing
One week it's a podcast sponsorship, the next it's a new platform. Initiatives launch without a clear growth thesis or a measurable way to know if they worked.
A Full-Time CMO Isn't the Right Move Yet
You need senior marketing thinking, but a $200K+ salary isn't justified at your current stage.
WHAT MAKES THIS DIFFERENT
Most CMOs never ran
the work themselves.
Two decades running a full-service agency means I've been in every corner of the marketing operation, from writing strategy to troubleshooting email deliverability. That depth changes how I advise.
● THE DIFFERENTIATOR
Technical Depth That Shows Up on Your Bottom Line
Two decades running a full-service agency means I can read your marketing operation at a level most advisors can't. I've audited tech stacks and found real savings in hosting costs and tool spend that clients didn't know they were leaving on the table. I can tell you whether a vendor or platform actually fits before you commit, flag when high-cost resources are doing work that doesn't justify the rate, and review what your developers are building from a marketing standpoint. Email deliverability issues (MX records, DKIM, SPF) that usually get handed to IT? I work through those too.
20+
Years in full-service agency operations
$0
Extra cost to find savings already being lost
TYPICAL FINDINGS IN A FIRST AUDIT
- Hosting cost waste and plan mismatches
- High-rate resources doing low-rate work
- Vendor or platform fit issues before commitment
- Email deliverability and domain health gaps
Dev-to-Marketing Translation
The gap between what marketing needs and what developers build is one of the most expensive problems in growth-stage companies. I've lived on both sides of that table for 20 years.
Strategy Tied to Revenue
Every dollar spent should trace to a business outcome. I build the measurement framework before I build the strategy around it.
Vendor Accountability You Can't Get Internally
I know what good work looks like from agencies and contractors because I've been one. I can evaluate their output honestly and tell you when you're being oversold.
Systems That Outlast the Engagement
SOPs, documented processes, and measurement frameworks stay with your team. The goal is to make you less dependent on me over time.
AI-Era Marketing Judgment
AI tools have made execution easier. They haven't replaced the judgment to know which campaigns are worth running, which metrics are lying to you, or how marketing connects to your margins.
FREE TOOLS
Start with a free audit.
Run any of these tools in under two minutes. Then book a free 20-minute call and we'll walk through what they found together.
AI Crawlability Audit
See how AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews are reading and indexing your site - and where they're hitting walls.
On-Page SEO Audit
Check your page titles, meta descriptions, heading structure, content quality signals, and on-page optimization against current SEO best practices.
Technical SEO Audit
Surface technical issues that hurt search visibility: crawl errors, page speed problems, structured data gaps, mobile usability, and more.
Got your results? Book a free 20-minute call and we'll walk through what they mean for your business - no pitch, no pressure, just context.
HOW IT WORKS
Simple. No long intake process.
Most engagements start the same way: a focused strategy session to establish where things actually stand.
Book a Strategy Session
A 90-minute working session. We audit your current marketing, identify the real gaps, and map a clear path forward.
$1,000 flat
Get a Written Plan
Within 3 business days you receive a 1-2 page written summary: key findings, prioritized recommendations, and specific next steps, yours to keep.
Decide on Ongoing Support
If you want continued leadership, we move into a retainer, either advisory-level or full fractional CMO depending on your needs. No pressure either way.
START HERE
The Marketing Clarity Session
MARKETING CLARITY SESSION
$1,000
FLAT FEE · NO OBLIGATION
90 minutes. A written plan you keep.
A working session with a defined objective.
You leave with a written diagnosis of your current marketing and a prioritized set of recommendations.
- Pre-call questionnaire to maximize the 90 minutes
- Current marketing audit and gap diagnosis
- Strategic recommendations prioritized by impact
- Written 1-2 page summary within 3 business days
- One follow-up question via email within 30 days
ONGOING ENGAGEMENTS
Two engagement levels.
One scope line.
Strategy, vendor oversight, and execution coordination are in scope. Production stays out of scope.
PRIMARY - GROWTH-STAGE COMPANIES ($1M-$10M REVENUE)
ADVISORY RETAINER
Strategic direction and monthly guidance
$3,500-$5,000 / month
WHAT'S INCLUDED
3-month minimum, then month-to-month
FRACTIONAL CMO
Embedded marketing leadership
$7,000-$10,000 / month
WHAT'S INCLUDED
6-month minimum, then quarterly
ALSO AVAILABLE - MARKETING AGENCIES
AGENCY ADVISORY
Strategic guidance for agency owners
$2,500-$4,000 / month
3-month minimum
MARKETING COACHING
For early-stage agency founders
$1,000-$1,200 / month
Month-to-month, no minimum
SELECTED CLIENT RESULTS
4,956%
ROI ON COMBINED MARKETING SPEND
A combined SEO and Google Ads strategy generated $470,000 in closed project revenue over six months, producing a 4,956% return on total marketing spend.
Wake Forest, NC General Contractor / Design-Build Remodeling Company
$470,000 closed project revenue over six months · +135% Organic Search Sessions · +800% Google Business Profile Calls · 24 Total Leads · 5 Sales-Qualified Leads
FOOTHILLS ORAL SURGERY
1,897%
ROI
$492K New Patient Revenue
+300% More Calls · Healthcare / Oral Surgery
ABOUT BLAKE
20+ years on both sides of the table.
I built and ran Wahha Design, a full-service digital marketing agency in Wilmington, NC, for over two decades: SEO, paid search and social, web development, OTT/CTV advertising, branding, and AI-driven marketing. I've managed every corner of the marketing stack and built contractor and vendor networks across every major channel.
That background shows up in ways that matter. I know when an agency is overselling you because I've been one. And I understand the gap between what marketing needs and what a developer can build because I've worked on both sides of it for 20 years.
Wahha Design continues to serve a focused set of long-term retainer clients. My consulting and FCMO work runs on a separate track with dedicated time.
- 20+ years agency experience
- SEO, PPC, Web, OTT/CTV, Branding, AI
- Technical marketing depth: code, email infrastructure, dev processes
- Wilmington, NC, serving clients regionally and nationally
COMMON QUESTIONS
What people ask before reaching out.
What's the difference between this and hiring a marketing agency?
An agency executes tactics with a team of junior specialists managed by account executives who have rarely run full P&Ls. I step in as your strategic executive leader, auditing spend, vetting agency partners, setting clear KPIs, and ensuring your marketing budget directly drives profitable revenue.
How much of your time actually goes to my business?
Depending on your engagement level (Advisory vs. Embedded Fractional CMO), you get dedicated weekly strategic calls, direct async Slack/email access with guaranteed response times, and hands-on governance of your marketing roadmap and vendor relationships.
What does the onboarding process look like?
Simple and fast. We start with a 90-minute Marketing Clarity Session to audit your current stack, diagnose gaps, and deliver a written plan within 3 business days. No lengthy intake or months of discovery before getting actionable value.
Can you help evaluate and hire our internal marketing team?
Yes. I help define role scorecards, review candidate portfolios, conduct technical interviews, and onboard new marketing hires so you build enduring internal capability.
How does billing work and are there long-term contracts?
Advisory retainers are 3-month minimums, then month-to-month. Fractional CMO engagements have a 6-month minimum, then quarterly. There are no surprise fees or lock-ins beyond the initial commitment period.
GET IN TOUCH.
Let’s start with a conversation.
Tell me a little about where your business is and what’s not working. I’ll respond within one business day.
90 minutes + written summary. The fastest way to get clarity on what’s actually happening with your marketing.
© 2026 Blake Baxendell · Fractional CMO & Marketing Strategist · Wilmington, NC