A managing director I speak to often has some version of the same setup: Google Ads, social media, a monthly newsletter, an agency or two. Every supplier sends a report saying things are going well. Sales, meanwhile, are flat. Usually nobody has done anything wrong on purpose. It happened one sensible decision at a time.
That’s where a marketing growth strategy comes in. I look at where your money goes and what comes back, then write a strategy and plan you can actually follow, with a budget, clear priorities and the numbers to judge it by. In short, it tells you what to keep, what to change and what to stop.
I’m Caroline Allott, a marketing specialist, Fractional CMO (Chief Marketing Officer), which means part-time marketing help at senior level, and a Google Ads certified specialist. Prices start from £1,000 per month, and everything starts with a free consultation.
I mostly work with established, ambitious UK businesses, often with a turnover between £1m and £20m. I work UK-wide, not just in Yorkshire. You’ll probably recognise yourself in one of these:
You’re spending on marketing but can’t say with confidence what’s working and what isn’t.
You want a senior person to set direction, support your budget decisions and help the board understand the plan.
You need senior thinking, but a full-time marketing director isn’t needed yet, or isn’t easy to justify.
Start-ups without a marketing budget yet, and businesses looking for someone to post on social media every day. Both are perfectly reasonable needs. They’re just not what this service does.
None of these mean your marketing is bad. They mean it isn’t joined up.
If the first few sound familiar, I’ve written more about how to fix marketing that’s a pile of disconnected bits.
Every business is different, but the work follows the same order: measurement first, then budget, then channels. Here’s what it covers.
I look at every channel, supplier and pound of spend, plus your website, and work out what each is producing in enquiries and sales. If Google Ads is a big part of your spend, these nine Google Ads checks for business owners give you a flavour of what I look at.
Conversion tracking is how your ads and website know when someone has actually enquired or bought. If it’s wrong, every decision built on it is wrong too. I check it before anything else, because it’s often the reason good-looking reports don’t match the sales figures. Here’s why conversion tracking is broken in most accounts I audit.
The goals are qualified leads, sales and return on ad spend, which is how much revenue comes back for each £1 you spend on ads. Likes and follower counts can be useful signals, but they don’t pay the wages.
Written plainly, in a way your team and your suppliers can all work from.
How much to spend and where. As an example (not a client figure): if a qualified lead is worth £250 to you and you need eighty a month, that’s £20,000 of pipeline to aim for. From there you can work backwards to a sensible budget, rather than starting from last year’s number. There’s more on this in how much a £5m business should spend on marketing.
Google Ads, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), organic search, email and social media, where each is relevant to you. Some things will be working fine, and I’ll say so.
A practical list of what happens first, second and third, plus a short monthly report that shows what’s working and what isn’t, in plain English.
You talk me through what you’ve got. I tell you plainly what I’d change and what I’d leave alone.
I look at the numbers you have and make sure they can be trusted.
Not behind closed doors. I work alongside your in-house team and your existing suppliers.
Depending on what you need, that might be me managing your Google Ads, acting as your Fractional CMO, or training your team to run it themselves. Here’s what the first 90 days with a Fractional CMO look like.
Plans change when the numbers say they should, not when someone has a new idea in a meeting.
Rucklidge Law needed one senior person to own the whole marketing strategy and budget. The result is 30–50 qualified leads a month. Read how Rucklidge Law reached 30–50 qualified leads a month.
The Royal Armouries shop needed its tracking and campaigns fixed. Year on year, Google Ads return on ad spend is up 141% and Meta return on ad spend is up 246%. We’ve worked together since 2023. See the Royal Armouries Google Ads and Meta case study.
UMi: I was a specialist marketing adviser on a Department for Business & Trade initiative delivered by UMi, helping 75+ Yorkshire businesses adopt digital. More on my work with UMi helping Yorkshire businesses adopt digital.
You can find more marketing case studies and results on my work page.
You deal with me. The person who writes the plan is the person you speak to.
I’ll tell you plainly what to keep, change and stop. You’re welcome to ignore me.
I explain marketing and Google Ads so non-technical owners can follow every decision.
I bring senior strategy and hands-on Google Ads depth, so the plan doesn’t fall apart when it reaches the ads account.
Decisions rest on real numbers, so you’re not arguing about opinions.
The aim is that your people can keep improving without me.
Senior expertise at a fraction of the cost of a full-time hire, from £1,000 per month. If you’re weighing up options, read Fractional CMO or marketing agency: which you need.
I’ve helped hundreds of businesses all over the UK, and have a track record of guiding multi-million-pound UK businesses. If you’re comparing people, these questions to ask before hiring a marketing consultant are worth a look, including when you ask them of me.
It’s a written plan for how your marketing will help the business grow. It sets out who you’re selling to, how much to spend and where, what to keep, change and stop, and the numbers you’ll use to judge it.
More ads means more spend on whatever you’re already doing. A strategy decides first whether that’s the right thing to spend on. Sometimes the answer is more ads. Often it’s fixing tracking or stopping something that isn’t paying its way.
Prices start from £1,000 per month. The free consultation is where I’ll work out what you actually need and give you a clear price.
It depends on how much you have running and how reliable your current numbers are. Fixing measurement usually comes first, and that can take longer if the tracking is in a muddle. I’ll give you a realistic timeline after the free consultation.
Either. I can manage your Google Ads, act as your Fractional CMO, or train your team to run the plan themselves. Many clients use a mix.
Yes. I work alongside in-house teams and existing suppliers, not around them. Problems usually happen one sensible decision at a time, so this isn’t about blame.
The plan is only useful if it’s reviewed against real numbers, so I review monthly and adjust. We can talk through what suits you in the free consultation.
Access to your marketing accounts and reports, a rough picture of your spend, and an honest conversation about your sales figures and goals. A list of your current suppliers helps too.
The strategy and plan is the thinking and the roadmap. As a Fractional CMO I also own the marketing on an ongoing basis: managing the budget, directing suppliers and reporting to the board. Some clients start with one and move to the other.
No, I work with businesses UK-wide.
If this sounds like your business, book a free consultation. Talk me through what you’ve got, and I’ll tell you plainly what I’d change and what I’d leave alone. No obligation. You can also email me at hello@marketingbycaroline.co.uk.
Not ready yet? Here’s something to do this week. List every marketing cost from the last 12 months, and next to each one, write the enquiries or sales it produced. Leave a blank where you don’t know. The gaps will tell you a lot.
You can also see all my marketing and Google Ads services.