T50 Fractional CMO 90-day marketing plan
Fractional CMO 90-day marketing plan
The first 90 days of marketing at Castborn Metal Fabrication under a fractional CMO: what we will chase, what we will spend and how we will know it worked. Prepared by Halden Fractional for Castborn's CEO, Dolores Vance. Castborn had no dedicated marketing function before this engagement; the first quarter builds the foundation and lands two measurable wins.
Starting point
Castborn has no CRM, no tracked website analytics goal and a homepage last updated in 2020. Sales leads currently arrive through referrals and a general contact form with no routing. This plan assumes that baseline; if any of it has already changed, treat the affected workstream as Needs review before executing.
Sample template: the firm, people, clients and figures are fictional and shown for illustration only.
Live example from the Dashboards app, shown with Bellwether Health's demo data.
Workstreams over the quarter
gantt
title Castborn 90-day marketing plan
dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
section Foundation
CRM and lead routing setup :a1, 2026-09-28, 14d
Website homepage rebuild :a2, 2026-09-28, 28d
section Proof
First 2 case studies :b1, 2026-10-12, 21d
Capabilities page + spec sheets:b2, 2026-10-19, 14d
section Demand
LinkedIn outbound program :c1, 2026-10-05, 56d
Trade publication placement :c2, 2026-11-02, 21d
section Measurement
Monthly reporting cadence :d1, 2026-10-01, 84d
The foundation workstreams run first because outbound and paid activity cannot be measured without CRM routing and a website that converts. Case studies feed both the capabilities page and the LinkedIn program.
The bets
| Bet | Hypothesis | Investment | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| LinkedIn outbound to plant managers | Direct outreach to a named buyer list outperforms inbound for a low-search-volume category | $4,500 | Medium, first-time channel |
| Website rebuild with quote request flow | A modern site with a fast quote path converts better than the current contact form | $18,000 one-time | High |
| Two flagship case studies | Proof from named customers shortens the sales cycle for new prospects | $3,000 | High |
| Trade publication placement | One well-placed feature drives referral-quality inbound from an underserved channel | $6,000 | Medium |
We rate outbound at 3 of 5 because Castborn has no prior outbound history to validate list quality; the first 30 days is treated as a test, not a committed channel.
Budget, Day 1 to Day 90
| Line item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Website rebuild (design and build) | $18,000 | One-time, external contractor |
| Case study production (2) | $3,000 | Includes photography at one client site |
| LinkedIn Sales Navigator and outbound tools | $1,500 | Quarterly license |
| LinkedIn outbound program (agency support) | $3,000 | 8 weeks, Oct 5 to Nov 30 |
| Trade publication placement | $6,000 | One feature, includes ad add-on |
| Fractional CMO retainer (90 days) | $27,000 | 2 days/week at the agreed rate |
| Total 90-day spend | $58,500 | Approved by Dolores Vance, Sep 15, 2026 |
The first 90 days, month by month
Days 1 to 30. Stand up a CRM (HubSpot Starter) with lead routing to the two estimators. Kick off the homepage rebuild with the design contractor. Interview two reference customers for case studies. Finalize the LinkedIn target list of 180 plant managers and operations directors in the target verticals.
Days 31 to 60. Publish the first case study and launch LinkedIn outbound at 40 messages a week. Ship the new homepage and capabilities page. Submit the trade publication pitch. Begin monthly reporting to Dolores using the CRM as the source of truth.
Days 61 to 90. Publish the second case study and the trade feature if accepted. Review LinkedIn response rates and either scale the program or redirect the budget to paid search. Present the 90-day results and the Q1 2027 plan.
KPIs and targets
| Metric | Baseline | Day 90 target | Labelled as |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales-qualified leads | Not tracked | 40 | Target, CRM-tracked from Day 15 |
| Website conversion rate (visit to quote request) | Not tracked | 2.5% | Target, modeled from industry benchmark |
| LinkedIn response rate | N/A, new channel | 8% | Test target, will recalibrate at Day 60 |
| Case studies published | 0 | 2 | Committed deliverable |
| Average estimator response time to new lead | Untracked, believed 3 to 5 days | Under 24 hours | Target, once routing is live |
Risk: no historical baseline
Because Castborn has never tracked marketing-sourced leads, every target above except case study count is a first estimate, not a proven benchmark. We recommend treating Day 30 as a calibration checkpoint: if LinkedIn response rate is under 3% by then, we reallocate that budget to paid search rather than waiting to Day 90. Owner: Priya Sethi, with sign-off from Dolores Vance.
How to use this template
Duplicate this page for each new fractional CMO client at kickoff. Replace every value from the discovery call and the agreed statement of work; if a figure is not yet agreed, write Needs review rather than inventing a target.
| Variable | Meaning | Required |
|---|---|---|
{{client.name}} | Client the 90-day plan covers | Required |
{{plan.primary_goal}} | The single most important 90-day outcome | Required |
{{budget.total_amount}} | Total approved 90-day spend, with approver and date | Required |
{{workstream.schedule}} | Workstreams and their start and end dates for the gantt | Required |
{{kpi.target_list}} | KPI targets with baseline and whether each is modeled or committed | Required |
{{risk.calibration_checkpoint}} | The date and metric threshold that triggers a budget reallocation | Optional |
Never present a baseline as measured when the client had no prior tracking; label it as believed or estimated instead.