A Senior Marketing Strategy Engagement, Built Around Your Business
For founders and CEOs who need marketing direction now, not a six-month onboarding process. The Strategy Engagement is a scoped, paid engagement that produces a real marketing strategy and a clear path forward.
Start With the Free Marketing Audit| What a Fractional CMO Actually Does
A Strategy Engagement at 360ROI is a paid, time-bounded engagement where a founder or CEO gets senior marketing strategy direction without committing to an ongoing retainer. It runs at one of three scope tiers (Foundation, Growth, or Transformation), produces specific deliverables including a marketing strategy document and prioritized action plan, and is the most common entry point into an ongoing Fractional CMO relationship. Delivery is direct with Jaron Mossman, not an account manager.
Quick Read. The Strategy Engagement is the right step if you are making marketing investment decisions without a strategic foundation, if marketing decisions are stacking up at the founder level, if you are preparing for a meaningful business transition, or if you want to evaluate a longer Fractional CMO relationship on defined terms. It produces a marketing strategy document and a prioritized action plan you can execute against, regardless of what comes after it. If you are still orienting, the free marketing audit is the cleaner first step. The full breakdown is below.
Most founders and CEOs who need marketing direction are not ready to sign an open-ended retainer with someone they have never worked with. The Strategy Engagement exists for that position. It is a real engagement with real deliverables, scoped to match the actual problem you are trying to solve.
The work is delivered by Jaron Mossman directly. There is no hand-off to a junior team after the sale. You are buying access to senior judgment applied to your business, on a defined scope, with a clear output.
The Strategy Engagement is also the most common path into an ongoing Fractional CMO relationship. It gives you a concrete deliverable up front and gives both parties the information needed to scope a longer engagement correctly, if that is the right next step.
Schedule a Strategy Engagement →What Does the Strategy Engagement Actually Produce?
Every Strategy Engagement, regardless of tier, ends with two core deliverables: a marketing strategy document and a prioritized action plan.
The strategy document defines what the marketing program should accomplish over the next 90 to 365 days, which channels deserve investment and why, how budget should be allocated across the program, and what the measurement framework looks like. It is written for a CEO, not a marketing manager. The output is a decision-making tool, not a channel playbook.
The action plan translates the strategy into sequenced priorities. It identifies what should happen in the first 30 days, what requires infrastructure before it can move, and what can be deferred without cost to the overall program. The format is built so you or a contractor can execute against it without another round of strategy work.
What Are the Three Engagement Tiers?
The tiers are scope-distinct, not budget-distinct. The right tier is determined by the complexity of the problem set and the breadth of the marketing program that needs to be addressed.
Foundation
A focused engagement for businesses with a defined problem set. Typically covers one to two channels or one strategic question requiring senior resolution. Three to five deliverables, four to six weeks of engagement. Common use cases: a business entering paid media for the first time, a founder who needs a clear ICP and positioning foundation before spending further, or an established business that needs one channel audited and redirected.
Growth
A broader engagement for businesses running multi-channel programs with compounding strategic questions. Includes a full marketing audit across all active channels, ICP and positioning refinement, channel portfolio review, and a 90-day action plan. Six to eight weeks. The most common entry point for founders who know they need senior leadership and want the engagement to confirm fit before committing to an ongoing retainer.
Transformation
A thorough engagement for businesses undergoing strategic shifts: funding rounds, market expansions, leadership transitions, or material changes in scale. Includes everything in the Growth tier plus annual marketing plan development, a sales-marketing alignment session, organizational structure review for the marketing function, and a 12-month roadmap. Eight to twelve weeks.
After any tier, businesses that proceed into ongoing Fractional CMO work convert into a retainer scoped around the engagement that just completed. The transition is direct because the strategy work has already produced the foundation the retainer runs on. The Marketing Audit Engagement is the alternative entry point when a deeper diagnostic is the right first move.
Who Is the Strategy Engagement Built For?
The buyer is a founder or CEO, not a marketing manager or director. The strategy engagement is the right fit for four specific situations.
You are making marketing investment decisions without a strategic foundation. Budget is going to channels based on instinct, vendor recommendations, or because it is what the business has always done. No one is looking across the full program and making allocation decisions against a defined strategy.
Marketing decisions are stacking up at the founder level. Positioning questions, channel investment calls, ICP definitions, and vendor accountability all flow back to you because there is no marketing leader to own them. The constraint is your bandwidth.
You are preparing for a meaningful business transition. Pre-launch, pre-funding, geographic expansion, or a new product line. Transitions that amplify the cost of operating without marketing strategy.
You want to evaluate a longer Fractional CMO relationship on defined terms. The Strategy Engagement is how we establish fit. You get a deliverable. We get the business context needed to scope an ongoing engagement accurately. The evaluation runs both directions.
If you are unsure whether the Strategy Engagement or the Marketing Audit Engagement is the right entry point, the qualification path clarifies it.
Get the Free Marketing Audit →What Happens During the Engagement?
The structure varies by tier but follows the same sequence across all three.
Discovery. The first week is intake: business context, marketing history, current channel performance, team structure, vendor relationships, competitive landscape, and the specific questions the engagement is designed to answer. This is not a questionnaire you fill out. It is a working session with the strategic questions on the table from the start.
Audit and analysis. For Growth and Transformation tiers, this includes a full marketing audit covering organic visibility, paid media structure, content, and measurement infrastructure. For Foundation engagements, the audit is scoped to the channels relevant to the problem set. Nothing is assumed. Performance data, analytics access, and existing strategy documents get reviewed before conclusions are drawn.
Strategy development. The marketing strategy document is built from the audit findings. The channel recommendations, budget allocation framework, and measurement benchmarks are grounded in what the business's data actually shows, not category averages or template outputs.
Delivery and walkthrough. Final deliverables are presented in a working session, not dropped in a shared folder. The walkthrough covers the strategy, the action plan, the prioritization logic, and the questions that typically surface when a CEO is deciding how to act on the work.
Transition conversation. At the end of every Strategy Engagement, we have a direct conversation about whether an ongoing Fractional CMO retainer makes sense. If it does, the scope is already defined by the work we just completed. If it does not, you leave with a strategy document you can execute against independently.
Why a Paid Engagement Instead of a Free Consultation?
The answer is scope and outcomes, not pricing structure.
A free consultation produces a conversation. A paid Strategy Engagement produces a marketing strategy document, a prioritized action plan, and a defined path forward. The deliverables require senior time, actual analysis of your business, and documented strategic thinking. That work is not a sales call.
The paid structure also filters the engagement for founders and CEOs who are ready to act on what the engagement produces. Discovery sessions that are really extended sales calls produce neither useful strategy nor accurate engagement scope. The Strategy Engagement is designed to be worth the investment on its own terms, regardless of whether it leads to an ongoing retainer.
That said, the free marketing audit is a genuine entry point for founders who are still orienting. If you are not certain the Strategy Engagement is the right fit, start there.
What Makes This Different From Other Strategy Consultants?
Two things that are specific to how this engagement is structured, not marketing positioning.
Direct delivery by a principal with enterprise-scale experience. Jaron Mossman spent time at Google managing multi-million-dollar programs for brands including Priceline, Travelocity, Kayak, Discount Tire, and BF Goodrich. Across 23 years, he has personally managed over $2.5 billion in ad spend. The strategy frameworks, performance discipline, and channel judgment that operate at Fortune 500 scale apply inside engagements where the entire marketing program is the size of a single enterprise channel. There is no account manager between you and that experience.
A live intelligence infrastructure, not static industry knowledge. 360ROI runs on a 70-plus skill AI-powered research system updated on biweekly cycles. Strategy recommendations reflect current platform behavior, algorithm changes, and competitive signals, not last year's conference materials. When a channel dynamic shifts mid-engagement, the strategy adjusts. Most boutique strategy consultants are working on a quarterly learning cadence. This one is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Strategy Engagement, Answered
What is a Strategy Engagement at 360ROI?
A Strategy Engagement is a scoped, paid engagement where a founder or CEO receives a marketing strategy document, a prioritized action plan, and a defined implementation roadmap. It runs at one of three tiers (Foundation, Growth, or Transformation) based on the complexity of the business's strategic questions. The engagement is delivered directly by Jaron Mossman and typically runs four to twelve weeks depending on the tier. It is a standalone deliverable with real business value, not an extended sales process.
How is a Strategy Engagement different from the free marketing audit?
The free marketing audit is a structured program health assessment that produces a prioritized action plan and identifies whether Fractional CMO is the right next move. It is the right entry point for founders still orienting. The Strategy Engagement goes deeper: it includes discovery, full channel audit (for Growth and Transformation tiers), strategy development built from your business's actual data, and a working session to deliver and pressure-test the output. The deliverable is a full marketing strategy, not an audit summary.
How is a Strategy Engagement different from the Marketing Audit Engagement?
The Marketing Audit Engagement is a deep diagnostic, producing channel-level findings, performance gaps, and a strategic prioritization framework. The Strategy Engagement takes that foundation further: it builds the marketing strategy document that tells you what to do and in what sequence, not just what the gaps are. Many clients move from the Marketing Audit Engagement into a Strategy Engagement when the audit surfaces the scale of strategic realignment needed.
Does the engagement guarantee a path to an ongoing retainer?
No, and that is intentional. The Strategy Engagement is structured to produce a deliverable worth the investment on its own terms. If an ongoing Fractional CMO retainer makes sense after the engagement, both parties have the information to scope it accurately. If it does not, you leave with a strategy document and action plan you can execute independently. The engagement is not contingent on what comes after it.
Who delivers the Strategy Engagement?
Jaron Mossman delivers the engagement directly. There is no account manager layer, no junior strategist doing the analytical work and surfacing it through a senior face. The discovery, audit analysis, strategy development, and final presentation are all delivered by the same person. This is the structural commitment of the boutique model.
What does the engagement require from me?
Access to performance data (analytics, ad account data, existing strategy documents if any), a working session for discovery, review time at delivery, and a leadership decision-maker in the room for the final presentation. The engagement does not produce useful strategy if the CEO is not engaged in the discovery and delivery sessions. The time commitment on your side is typically two to four working sessions over the engagement period.
Can I start with a Strategy Engagement if I am not sure about an ongoing retainer?
Yes. The Strategy Engagement is designed for exactly that position. You get a marketing strategy and action plan with direct business value. The ongoing retainer conversation happens at the end, based on what the engagement produced and whether the fit is right for both parties. Starting with the engagement does not commit you to anything beyond the engagement itself.
How do I know which tier is right for my business?
Foundation fits businesses with a focused, defined problem set (one to two channels or a single strategic question). Growth fits multi-channel businesses with compounding strategic questions or businesses that want a full audit as part of the process. Transformation fits businesses in active strategic transitions. If the right tier is not clear, schedule a brief call and we will scope it directly based on what you are actually dealing with. You can also complete the qualification path first.
Start with a real marketing strategy, built on your data.
If your marketing program needs strategic direction and the founder-CMO model is the constraint, the Strategy Engagement is the place to start. The output is a real marketing strategy built on your data, delivered by a senior principal, with a clear path forward regardless of what comes after it.
Schedule a Strategy Engagement →Still orienting? The free marketing audit is the right first step, and the qualification path helps if you are weighing Fractional CMO against other options. Prefer a direct conversation? Email jaron@360roi.co.