Maximize Effectiveness
Summary
Josh Ramsey explains why marketing performance often plateaus after an initial 3–6 month lift with an ad agency. The fix is not blind faith but planned pivots: reassessing channels (e.g., PPC vs. programmatic), tightening KPIs, and instrumenting the funnel to see where leads drop. As a fractional CMO, Josh audits strategy top-to-bottom, then builds a clear, ROI-focused plan—often starting with a one-time “starter plan” engagement (from $900) to determine whether to optimize the current agency or hire a better-fit partner.
Highlights
Chapters
00:00:01 Q: Why does hiring an ad agency often turn into “hope and wait”?
00:00:21 Q: What typically happens after the first 3–6 months with an agency?
00:00:32 Q: Why must strategy pivot (“what got you here won’t get you there”)?
00:00:46 Q: Should you diversify beyond AdWords (e.g., programmatic, other variants)?
00:00:56 Q: How do you build a system to track lead flow, drop-offs, and SEO health?
00:01:07 Q: What does a fractional CMO actually do differently?
00:01:20 Q: What are the one-time starter plans and cost?
00:01:31 Q: How do you end up with a clear plan—optimize current agency or hire anew?
Action Items
00:00:21 Schedule a 3–6 month performance review with your agency and require a pivot plan.
00:00:32 Refresh KPIs and growth milestones; don’t rely on the launch plan past month 6.
00:00:46 Audit channel mix (PPC, programmatic, other media) to expand beyond a single tactic.
00:00:56 Instrument the funnel: measure lead volume, drop-off reasons, and SEO status.
00:01:07 Bring in a fractional CMO to run a top-to-bottom audit and create a roadmap.
00:01:20 Consider a one-time starter engagement (from $900) to tailor next steps.
00:01:31 Decide: optimize current agency with the new plan or select a better-fit agency.
Josh Ramsey
Too often what happens is that you go to an ad agency and you sign a contract because you believe that’s what you should be doing, and you’re not quite sure if you’re going to get the result—but you just sit back, you cross your fingers, you pray, you cross your arms, and you hold on tight, praying and hoping that they’re going to take care of you and do a good job.
A lot of times what I see is ad agencies, when you start working with them, for the first three to six months do a good job. The problem is, after that first three to six months, they need to be able to pivot their strategy and change—because what got you here won’t get you there. That is a key thing to remember.
So if an ad agency is not shifting their strategy, then they don’t have a clear plan of growth for you. And sometimes, just because you’re running AdWords doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be running programmatic or another variant of marketing that can generate more sales for you, more leads.
And then build a system around when leads are coming in—how many are falling out, why are they falling out, where is your SEO? There’s so many things to think about in marketing that it can drive you crazy.
What I do as a fractional CMO is I come in and analyze, top to bottom, what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how you could improve. We lay out a plan for you, starting off with conversation.
If you like that conversation, I do starter plans. They’re one-time engagements—they start down at $900—and we work on specifics for your company, what makes sense for you, until we get to the point that you have a very clear plan of what to do either with your current agency or who to hire as the best agency.
I work with all sorts of businesses from A to Z; you name it, I’ve probably been in it. I would love to speak with you, share more of my experience. Also, check out my resume and my starter plans on this page, and I hope to talk to you soon. Have a great day.
